Gaskette, who
usually went in that boat on important occasions, would have required to do
it, the cutter was ready to be dropped into the water when the order was
given.
The captain and the second officer continued to watch the party on the
wreck, expecting every moment to see some of them swept into the savage
waves that beat against their frail support. The ship went at full speed on
her course; for the commander would not waste an instant while the lives of
so many human beings depended upon his action.
"Can you make out what they are clinging to, Mr. Gaskette?" asked the
commander of the only person besides the two quartermasters who remained
with him in the pilot-house.
"Yes, sir; I am just getting an idea in regard to it, though the thing is
awash so that I can hardly make it out," replied the second officer. "I
think it is the bottom of a rather small vessel, upside down; for I see
something like a keel. The party have two ropes stretched the whole length
of the bottom, to which they are clinging."
"You are right; that is plainly the bottom of a vessel, and I wonder that
the craft has not gone down by this time. How she happens to be in that
situation, and why she has not sunk, are matters yet to be explained. Go
aft, if you please, and see that both cutters are ready to be lowered into
the water, Mr.
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