ull him in by the life-line.'

"I could see heads bobbin' back an' forth, an' a whuff or two o' strong
words. Then Bell said: 'They'll not trust themselves--one of 'em--in
this waiter--except Kinloch, an' I'll no spare him.'

"'The more salvage to me, then,' I said. 'I'll make shift solo.'

"Says one dock-rat, at this: 'D' ye think she's safe?'

"'I'll guarantee ye nothing,' I said, 'except maybe a hammerin' for
keepin' me this long.'

"Then he sings out: 'There's no more than one lifebelt, an' they canna
find it, or I'd come.'

"'Throw him over, the Jezebel,' I said, for I was oot o' patience; an'
they took haud o' that volunteer before he knew what was in store, and
hove him over, in the bight of my life-line. So I e'en hauled him upon
the sag of it, hand over fist--a vara welcome recruit when I'd tilted
the salt watter oot of him: for, by the way, he could na swim.

"Syne they bent a twa-inch rope to the life-line, an' a hawser to that,
an' I led the rope o'er the drum of a hand-winch forward, an' we sweated
the hawser inboard an' made it fast to the Grotkau's bitts.

"Bell brought the Kite so close I feared she'd roll in an' do the
Grotkau's plates a mischief. He hove anither life-line to me, an' went
astern, an' we had all the weary winch work to do again wi' a second
hawser. For all that, Bell was right: we'd along tow before us, an'
though Providence had helped us that far, there was no sense in leavin'
too much to its keepin'. When the second hawser was fast, I was wet wi'
sweat, an' I cried Bell to tak' up his slack an' go home. The other man
was by way o' helpin' the work wi' askin' for drinks, but I e'en told
him he must hand reef an' steer, beginnin' with steerin', for I was
goin' to turn in. He steered--oh, ay, he steered, in a manner o'
speakin'. At the least, he grippit the spokes an' twiddled 'em an'
looked wise, but I doubt if the Hoor ever felt it. I turned in there an'
then, to young Bannister's bunk, an' slept past expression. I waukened
ragin' wi' hunger, a fair lump o' sea runnin', the Kite snorin' awa'
four knots an hour; an' the Grotkau slappin' her nose under, an' yawin'
an' standin' over at discretion. She was a most disgracefu' tow. But the
shameful thing of all was the food. I raxed me a meal fra galley-shelves
an' pantries an' lazareetes an' cubby-holes that I would not ha' gied to
the mate of a Cardiff collier; an' ye ken we say a Cardiff mate will
eat clinkers to save waste. I'm sa