"I ain't so certain 'bout that, though I'll admit that a man couldn't keep his footin' there, an' 'tend to much of anything else; but the tide is ebbin' now, an' it'll be within an hour of low water by the time that 'ere dory gets here. I'm thinkin' you'll be able to see quite a bit of Carys' Ledge by that time. Has Cap'n Eph made out anything new?"
"I didn't stop to ask him when I came up, and I may as well go back now."
Mr. Peters did not attempt to detain the lad; he was so deeply engrossed with the problem which presented itself, that it made little difference whether he was alone, or surrounded by the entire crew.
When he entered the keeper's room Captain Eph asked sharply:
"What's Sammy doin'?"
"Trying to figure out how he can help those who are in the dory, if she strikes the ledge, sir."
"I knew he was up to somethin' of that kind! Sammy may be pig-headed an' irritable at times, but let anything like this come up, an' his heart swells out till it's too big for his body. He never counts the danger if there's a show for helpin' them as are in trouble."
"He asked if you had made out anything new, sir."
"There's no question about men bein' in the dory—two of 'em, an' one's alive, for I saw him climb over the for'ard thwart. I allow they're hopin' the boat will drift this way, believin' we can pick 'em up."
Until this moment there had been a faint hope in Sidney's heart that the dory might have no living freight, and now he grew literally sick with fear. It would be far more horrible for the men to be thrown up on the ledge when nothing might be done to aid them, than when the Nautilus foundered, for then the sufferers could not be seen.