This was a dangerous job, and one
requiring considerable power and ingenuity, for the strain on the
line imposed by the waters was terrific; and the breaking seas
rendered work on the piers extremely hazardous. However, the life-
saving captain took charge confidently enough. His crew began to
struggle out the pier, while volunteers, under his personal
direction, manipulated the reel.
A number of the curious lingered about the SPRITE. Marsh and Orde
were in consultation over the smashed stern, and did not look as
though they cared to be disturbed. Harvey leaned out his little
square door.
"Don' know nuffin 'bout it," said he, "'ceptin' she done rolled 'way
over 'bout foh times. Yass she did, suh! I know. I felt her doin'
it."
"No," he answered a query. "I wasn't what you-all would call
scairt, that is, not really SCAIRT--jess a little ne'vous. All I
had to do was to feed her slabs and listen foh my bell. You see,
Cap'n Ma'sh, he was in cha'ge."
"No, sir," Captain Marsh was saying emphatically to his employer.
"I can't figure it out except on one thing. You see it's stove from
UNDERNEATH. A sea would have smashed it from above."
"Perhaps you grounded in between seas out there," suggested Orde.
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