Suddenly the wind freshened, and the engineer on the rock grew apprehensive of the _Smeaton_ dragging her cables. A party at once put off from the rock in one of the three boats and regained the ship, but were scarcely aboard when the cables parted, and the vessel, caught by the wind and tide, made off. Before the men regained control of her she had drifted some three miles to leeward. Meantime on the rock the situation was growing serious. Only Mr. Stevenson, who was supervising operations on the spot, and the landing-master were aware of its gravity. The masons were so busy hewing, boring and chiselling, that they had not noticed the _Smeaton’s_ drift. But the engineer, observing the flowing of the tide, realized that the rock must be submerged before the ship could be brought up again. He racked his brains to find some means of getting his gang of men off safely in the nick of time, but it was a searching problem to solve with only two boats, which, at the utmost, could carry twenty-four persons. To make matters worse, one of those mists which are so peculiar to the Scottish coast began to settle down, blotting everything from sight. The water rose higher. The men toiling on the lowest levels receded higher and higher before the advancing tide, though still too deeply occupied in their labours to bestow a thought upon the _Smeaton_. At last the smith’s forge was quenched, and this was the general signal to the men to prepare to leave the rock. Tools were collected, and the party strode towards the landing-stage to enter the boats. Conceive their consternation when they saw that one boat was missing! When they glanced over the water the _Smeaton_ was not riding in her usual place--in fact, was nowhere to be seen! One and all gathered around the engineer to learn the reason for this remarkable breach in the arrangements for their safety, and yet all were too dumbfounded to question or protest. As for the luckless engineer, he was at his wits’ end and could not offer a word of explanation to the inquiring looks that besieged him. One and all, as the water lapped their feet, realized the hopelessness of the position. Suddenly, when they were beginning to despair, one of the men described the phantom form of a vessel making for the rock. “A boat!” he shouted in exultation. Sure enough the shadow matured into the familiar form of the Tay pilot-boat, the master of which, observing the workmen on the rock, the rising tide, and the absence of the _Smeaton_, had realized that something must have gone wrong, and approached the rock to make inquiries. He came up at the critical moment. The men were drenched, and, their feelings having been strung to a high pitch with anxiety, they nearly collapsed at the arrival of this unexpected assistance. The pilot-boat, after taking off the men, awaited the return of the _Smeaton_, which took them on board about midnight.