Junior High School Literature, Book 1Elson, William H. (William Harris)
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Junior High School Literature, Book 1
Elson, William H. (William Harris)
American literature; English literature; Readers
I had looked anxiously toward the Surf-boat, while we were rigging our
mast, and observed, with a feeling of great relief, that the men in
her—as soon as they discovered what we were about—were wise enough to
follow our example. They got on faster than we did; being less put to it
for room to turn round in. We set our sails as nearly as possible about
the same time; and it was well for both boats that we finished our work
when we did. At noon the wind began to rise again to a stiff breeze,
which soon knocked up a heavy, tumbling sea. We drove before it in a
direction North by East, keeping wonderfully dry, considering all things.
The mast stood well; and the sail, small as it was, did good service
in steadying the boat and lifting her easily over the seas. I felt the
cold after the loss of my coat, but not so badly as I had feared; for
the two men who were with me in the stern-sheets, sat as close as they
could on either side of me, and helped with the warmth of their own
bodies to keep the warmth in mine. Forward, I told off half a dozen of
the most trustworthy of the men who could still muster strength enough to
keep their eyes open, to set a watch, turn and turn about, on our frail
rigging. The wind was steadily increasing; and if any accident happened
to our mast the chances were that the boat would broach-to, and that
every one of us would go to the bottom.
So we drove on—all through that day—sometimes catching sight of the
Surf-boat a little ahead of us—sometimes losing her altogether in the
scud. How little and frail, how very different to the kind of boat that
I had expected to see, she looked to my eyes now that I was out of her,
and saw what she showed like on the waters for the first time! But to
return to the Long-boat. The watch on the rigging was relieved every
two hours, and at the same regular periods all the brightest eyes left
amongst us looked out for the smallest vestige of a sail in view, and
looked in vain. Among the passengers, nothing happened in the way of a
change—except that Miss Coleshaw seemed to grow fainter, and that Mrs.
Atherfield got restless, as if she were waking out of her long dream
about the Golden Lucy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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