"Job for that engineer and his fireman," said the carpenter coolly; and very soon after the panting of the donkey-engine, the rattle of the pump, and the vigorous splashing down of clear water betokened the relieving of the gunboat's lower parts of some portion of their burden, as Poole said, but only to be met by a damping remark from Fitz. "Not much good," he said, "if the water runs in as fast as it runs out." As time could be the only test for this, the little party of examiners descended now into one of the schooner's boats, the carpenter standing up in her bows and passing her along to make fast by one of the ringbolts of the stern-post, and giving the two lads a peculiar look as he proceeded to examine the propeller. "Well, how does it seem?" said the mate. "Seem, Mr Burgess, sir?" said the carpenter dryly, "don't seem at all, sir. There's nothing here but the biggest ball o' string I ever see. Would you mind coming forard, Mr Butters, sir, and seeing what you can make of it?" The boatswain passed over the thwarts and joined his comrade of the past night's work, stood looking down for a few moments, and then took off his cap and scratched one ear. "You young gents had better come and have a look," he said; "you had the designing on it." The boys did not wait for a second invitation, but hurriedly went forward, to find that their scheme had acted far beyond their expectations, for the fans of the propeller had wound up the thick soft cable so tightly that the opening in which the fish-tail mechanism turned was completely filled with the tightly-compressed strands of rope, so that Poole suggested that all that needed was to get hold of one end, and then as soon as the steam was well on to reverse and wind the cable off in a similar way to that in which it had been wound on. "Hah, to be sure," said the boatswain, giving his leg a sailor's slap, "there's nothing like a bit o' sense, Mr Poole, sir; that nice noo Manilla cable's been twisted round my heart, sir, ever since it was used, and made me feel quite sore. Nothing I hates worse than waste." "It wasn't waste," said Fitz, impatiently. "You might just as well say the bait was wasted when you have been fishing. Don't you get something good in return?" "Ah, but that's fishing, young gentlemen, and this aren't," said Butters, with a very knowing smile. "Not fishing!" cried Fitz. "I think it was fishing. You used the cable, and you've caught a gunboat." "But s'pose we've got the gunboat and the bait back as well, how then?" cried the boatswain. "Look ye here, my lad, I'm going to have that there end of the cable taken a turn round the steam-capstan, and as soon as the chaps have got full steam on, the screw shall be turned, and we'll wind it off fine and good as noo." Fitz shook his head as he gazed down through the clear water at the mass of rope, and exclaimed-- "I know it won't do."