In the course of half an hour the hull of the vessel, which lay on its
bilge, began to turn on its keel, and the heads of the spars to rise
above the water. This was the easiest part of the process, all that was
required of the purchases being to turn over a mass which rested on the
sands of the bay. Aided by the long levers afforded by the spars, the
work advanced so rapidly, that, in just one hour's time after his people
had begun to heave, Spike had the pleasure to see the schooner standing
upright, alongside of his own brig, though still sunk to the bottom. The
wreck was secured in this position, by means of guys and preventers, in
order that it might not again cant, when the order was issued to hook on
the slings that were to raise it to the surface. These slings were the
chains of the schooner, one of which went under her keel, while for the
other the captain trusted to the strength of the two hawse-holes, having
passed the cable out of one and in at the other, in a way to serve his
purposes, as has just been stated.
When all was ready, Spike mustered his crew, and made a speech. He told
the men that he was about a job that was out of the usual line of their
duty, and that he knew they had a right to expect extra pay for such
extra work. The schooner contained money, and his object was to get at
it. If he succeeded, their reward would be a doubloon a man, which would
be earning more than a month's wages by twenty-four hours' work. This
was enough. The men wanted to hear no more; but they cheered their
commander, and set about their task in the happiest disposition
possible.
The reader will understand that the object to be first achieved, was to
raise a vessel, with a hold filled with flour and gunpowder, from off
the bottom of the bay to its surface. As she stood, the deck of this
vessel was about six feet under water, and every one will understand
that her weight, so long as it was submerged in a fluid as dense as that
of the sea, would be much more manageable than if suspended in air.
The barrels, for instance, were not much heavier than the water they
displaced, and the wood work of the vessel itself, was, on the whole,
positively lighter than the element in which it had sunk. As for the
water in the hold, that was of the same weight as the water on the
outside of the craft, and there had not been much to carry the schooner
down, beside her iron, the spars that were out of water, and her
ballast. This last, some ten or twelve tons in weight, was in fact the
principal difficulty, and alone induced Spike to have any doubts about
his eventual success. There was no foreseeing the result until he had
made a trial, however; and the order was again given to “heave away.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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