“Well, lad, since that hulking coward is afraid, I’ll give you a chance. Get in and look slippy. We’ve no time to lose.”
Jack shoved the big sailor aside while the fellow scowled and swore.
“Get forward, you!” roared little Mr. Brown. “I’ll attend to you when we get back. Now, youngster.”
But Jack was already in the boat. There was a shouted order and the falls began to creak in the quadrant davits. For an instant they hung between wind and water. Mr. Brown watched with the eye of a cat the proper moment to let go.
Suddenly the Ajax gave a roll far out to leeward. The boat dropped like a stone. The patent tackle set her free.
“Give way, men!” shouted the officer; and in the nick of time to avoid being shattered against the steel side of the tank by a big sea, the boat put forth on its errand of mercy.
CHAPTER XI.
TO THE RESCUE.
Had the seas been breaking, the boat could not have lived a minute. The moment that she struck the water would have been her last.