Sam gathered the boy in his arms for an instant, but made no reply, and during those few seconds it seemed as if the two were nearer in spirit than they had ever been before. “She’s struck!” the surfman cried at length, referring to the lighter, and Benny saw a huge cloud of spray rise in the air as if against the base of a cliff. “When we first went adrift, Joe Cushing figgered that the danger of bein’ washed away wouldn’t be very great, provided she went clear of the steamer, for the deck is so broad, and her depth so great, that the waves won’t make a clean breach over her. In their places, I’d take the chances of stayin’ there till the tide falls, rather than trust to a hand-rope through the surf.” Sam continued to gaze first at the huge hulk and then at the shore, regardless of his own danger, until Benny recalled him to the fact that the life-boat was being driven directly toward a cliff of brown rocks a quarter of a mile beyond where the life savers ashore were stationed. “Hold on where you are till I give the word,” Sam cried as he unshipped one of the spare oars from its beckets and swung it out over the stern. “I’m not certain one man can do much more than hold this boat before the wind, and if we find that she ain’t to be turned from her course, we’ll try the surf again.” “Can’t I help you?” “Not a bit, lad, except by sittin’ still an’ obeyin’ orders. Don’t be frightened, for----” “There’s nothing to scare me now you’re here,” Benny replied with sublime confidence, and the surfman muttered a few words under his breath, the purport of which Benny failed to hear. From this moment the two in the boat ceased to pay any attention to their comrades either on shore or aboard the lighter; their own situation demanded every thought, and while Sam Hardy would not have admitted as much to his companion, he was seriously concerned regarding the possibility of warding off the threatening danger. Freighted with water as the life-boat was, she sailed sluggishly before the blast, with not sufficient headway to prevent the waves from breaking over her continuously, and it was necessary her crew should exercise every care to prevent themselves from being washed overboard. There was no deviation from the course, however; straight toward that frowning cliff the wind and waves forced her, and the surfman knew full well, although he refrained from giving words to the fact, that it was not in the power of man to aid them if they struck the rocks, where the waves would beat them to and fro until life was crushed out. “We must take to the water, Benny,” Sam Hardy said at length, doing his best to speak in a cheery tone. “It ain’t an overly pleasant idee; but goes ’way ahead of stayin’ aboard till we can’t help ourselves. Can you swim any?” “A little in smooth water.” “You’ve got a cork jacket on?” “Yes, sir, and it kept me up in great shape before, so you needn’t bother about me, for I sha’n’t drown so long as I keep my courage.”