A hundred yards or so on the _Olivette's_ port bow was the barge, drifting broadside on to the current. Not so very far down-stream were three masthead lights, denoting that vessels were at anchor. Unless the derelict were promptly secured and towed out of the fairway there seemed no way of preventing the barge from crashing disastrously across the hawse of at least one of the three vessels. "Stop!" ordered Phil, putting the helm over gently. "Touch astern." In spite of his efforts the _Olivette_ bumped heavily against the side of the barge. In a trice Hemming jumped and gained the _Olivette's_ deck but not to stay. He too realized the danger of the heavily laden barge drifting upon the anchored ships. Picking up the bow-warp and taking a turn round the bitts, he jumped upon the deck of the barge and made the end of the warp secure to a bollard. "Come on, you fellows," he shouted. "Bear a hand." "Can't," replied Rayburn. "There are only two of us on board. Roche is at the motor and I at the wheel." Making his way aft, Flemming took another warp on board, so that the _Olivette_ was secured alongside the derelict. "All fast!" he shouted as he regained the _Olivette_. "Easy ahead!" ordered Phil. The initial excitement over, he was now as cool as the proverbial cucumber. Very gently Roche let the clutch in, throttling well down so that the strain on the two hawsers would be taken up gradually and evenly. A sudden jerk might result in both ropes carrying away, in which case the barge would be foul of the anchored vessels before she could be again secured. By this time the look-out on board the nearmost of the stationary craft realized that something was amiss. He began hailing in French, keeping up a torrent of exclamations until the _Olivette_ and her tow were clear. "What are we going to do with her?" asked Roche. "Tow her clear of the fairway, I suppose," replied Flemming. "We can't stem this tide; that's a cert. She has an anchor on board, but it's too heavy for me to drop overboard single-handed, or I'd have done so long ago." Slowly the _Olivette_ with her tow moved towards the right bank, then, starboarding helm, she only just held her own against the swift current. "Keep her like that!" shouted Flemming to the helmsman. "Now, Dick; you can leave the motor for a brace of shakes. Come and bear a hand with the mud-hook. Mind where you tread, old son; the barge is bunged up with things to trip you up. I've had some." Even with their united efforts the two Sea Scouts were only just able to topple the ponderous mass of iron over the bows. Then, having paid out twenty fathoms of cable, the lads cast off both warps and jumped on board their own craft.