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Though

the

rest

of

her

sails

were

gone

,

the

jib

,

backed

to

windward

,

and

the

mainsail

hauled

down

flat

,

were

themselves

holding

,

and

holding

her

bow

to

the

furious

sea

as

well

.

I

looked

for

the

boat

,

and

,

while

Wolf

Larsen

cleared

the

boat-tackles

,

saw

it

lift

to

leeward

on

a

big

sea

an

not

a

score

of

feet

away

.

And

,

so

nicely

had

he

made

his

calculation

,

we

drifted

fairly

down

upon

it

,

so

that

nothing

remained

to

do

but

hook

the

tackles

to

either

end

and

hoist

it

aboard

.

But

this

was

not

done

so

easily

as

it

is

written

.

In

the

bow

was

Kerfoot

,

Oofty

--

Oofty

in

the

stern

,

and

Kelly

amidships

.

As

we

drifted

closer

the

boat

would

rise

on

a

wave

while

we

sank

in

the

trough

,

till

almost

straight

above

me

I

could

see

the

heads

of

the

three

men

craned

overside

and

looking

down

.

Then

,

the

next

moment

,

we

would

lift

and

soar

upward

while

they

sank

far

down

beneath

us

.

It

seemed

incredible

that

the

next

surge

should

not

crush

the

Ghost

down

upon

the

tiny

eggshell

.

Отключить рекламу

But

,

at

the

right

moment

,

I

passed

the

tackle

to

the

Kanaka

,

while

Wolf

Larsen

did

the

same

thing

forward

to

Kerfoot

.

Both

tackles

were

hooked

in

a

trice

,

and

the

three

men

,

deftly

timing

the

roll

,

made

a

simultaneous

leap

aboard

the

schooner

.

As

the

Ghost

rolled

her

side

out

of

water

,

the

boat

was

lifted

snugly

against

her

,

and

before

the

return

roll

came

,

we

had

heaved

it

in

over

the

side

and

turned

it

bottom

up

on

the

deck

.

I

noticed

blood

spouting

from

Kerfoot

's

left

hand

.

In

some

way

the

third

finger

had

been

crushed

to

a

pulp

.

But

he

gave

no

sign

of

pain

,

and

with

his

single

right

hand

helped

us

lash

the

boat

in

its

place

.

"

Stand

by

to

let

that

jib

over

,

you

Oofty

!

"

Wolf

Larsen

commanded

,

the

very

second

we

had

finished

with

the

boat

.

"

Kelly

,

come

aft

and

slack

off

the

main-sheet

!

You

,

Kerfoot

,

go

for

'

ard

and

see

what

's

become

of

Cooky

!

Mr.

Van

Weyden

,

run

aloft

again

,

and

cut

away

any

stray

stuff

on

your

way

!

"

And

having

commanded

,

he

went

aft

with

his

peculiar

tigerish

leaps

to

the

wheel

.

While

I

toiled

up

the

fore-shrouds

the

Ghost

slowly

paid

off

.

This

time

,

as

we

went

into

the

trough

of

the

sea

and

were

swept

,

there

were

no

sails

to

carry

away

.

And

,

halfway

to

the

crosstrees

and

flattened

against

the

rigging

by

the

full

force

of

the

wind

so

that

it

would

have

been

impossible

for

me

to

have

fallen

,

the

Ghost

almost

on

her

beam-ends

and

the

masts

parallel

with

the

water

,

I

looked

,

not

down

,

but

at

almost

right

angles

from

the

perpendicular

,

to

the

deck

of

the

Ghost

.

But

I

saw

,

not

the

deck

,

but

where

the

deck

should

have

been

,

for

it

was

buried

beneath

a

wild

tumbling

of

water

.

Out

of

this

water

I

could

see

the

two

masts

rising

,

and

that

was

all

.

The

Ghost

,

for

the

moment

,

was

buried

beneath

the

sea

.

As

she

squared

off

more

and

more

,

escaping

from

the

side

pressure

,

she

righted

herself

and

broke

her

deck

,

like

a

whale

's

back

,

through

the

ocean

surface

.

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Then

we

raced

,

and

wildly

,

across

the

wild

sea

,

the

while

I

hung

like

a

fly

in

the

crosstrees

and

searched

for

the

other

boats

.

In

half-an-hour

I

sighted

the

second

one

,

swamped

and

bottom

up

,

to

which

were

desperately

clinging

Jock

Horner

,

fat

Louis

,

and

Johnson

.

This

time

I

remained

aloft

,

and

Wolf

Larsen

succeeded

in

heaving

to

without

being

swept

.

As

before

,

we

drifted

down

upon

it

.

Tackles

were

made

fast

and

lines

flung

to

the

men

,

who

scrambled

aboard

like

monkeys

.

The

boat

itself

was

crushed

and

splintered

against

the

schooner

's

side

as

it

came

inboard

;

but

the

wreck

was

securely

lashed

,

for

it

could

be

patched

and

made

whole

again

.

Once

more

the

Ghost

bore

away

before

the

storm

,

this

time

so

submerging

herself

that

for

some

seconds

I

thought

she

would

never

reappear

.

Even

the

wheel

,

quite

a

deal

higher

than

the

waist

,

was

covered

and

swept

again

and

again

.

At

such

moments

I

felt

strangely

alone

with

God

,

alone

with

him

and

watching

the

chaos

of

his

wrath

.

And

then

the

wheel

would

reappear

,

and

Wolf

Larsen

's

broad

shoulders

,

his

hands

gripping

the

spokes

and

holding

the

schooner

to

the

course

of

his

will

,

himself

an

earth-god

,

dominating

the

storm

,

flinging

its

descending

waters

from

him

and

riding

it

to

his

own

ends

.

And

oh

,

the

marvel

of

it

!

the

marvel

of

it

!

That

tiny

men

should

live

and

breathe

and

work

,

and

drive

so

frail

a

contrivance

of

wood

and

cloth

through

so

tremendous

an

elemental

strife

.

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