The mat was out of sight below the water, its bottom corner dragged taut against the ship's side by the bottom line passing under the keel and hauled taut on the opposite side of the deck, and the upper corner held in place by the depth-line. The fore and afters were the ropes secured to the side corners, and they, on being hauled taut and belayed, held it out square.
'Mat's placed, sir!' came Chase's voice again.
The wind had increased, and white-capped seas had replaced the smooth swell of an hour before. The ship, listing to an angle of about fifteen degrees, seemed to be remaining fairly steady, but she was appreciably lower in the water, and the starboard edge of the forecastle was barely six feet above the crests of the waves as they raced by.
The cutters at the davits had been turned out ready for lowering, but all the smaller boats, galley, whalers, and gigs, had been landed. Hatherley, who was working the steam boat-hoist used for getting out the heavier boats stowed on the booms between the after funnel and the mainmast, had the derrick topped and the largest rowing-boat in the ship—the forty-two-foot launch, which, at a pinch, could carry one hundred and forty men—hooked on all ready for swinging out into the water as soon as he got orders to do so.
Circling round the injured ship were a couple of light cruisers which had been sent by the vice-admiral to render what assistance they could. Flashing-signals were passing between them and the Belligerent, and they were evidently asking if they should lower their boats.
'Tell 'em to wait,' Pincher heard Captain Spencer say to a signalman, without a tremor in his voice. 'Tell 'em to wait. I think we shall be able to keep afloat.'
The sky was nearly overcast, and the night had become very dark, and all the remainder of the squadron had vanished. They were only acting in accordance with their orders, however, for since the loss of the Aboukir, the Cressy, and the Hogue in the North Sea the previous September, it had been definitely laid down that heavy, deep-draught ships were not to go to the assistance of vessels which had been torpedoed or mined, lest they should share the same fate. It went sadly against the grain for British officers to be forced to leave comrades in distress; but every one realised the necessity for the order, and the two small cruisers were the only ships available for the work of rescue.
'Messenger!' the captain called.
No reply.
'Here, boy, come here!' he went on, catching sight of Pincher on the starboard side of the bridge.