"Look out for the line," they heard him shout. The wind brought his voice plainly, but evidently he could distinguish no syllable of Brand's answering hail:
"Shall I make fast?"
"Can't hear a word," he cried. "If you can hear me hold a hand up."
Brand obeyed.
"Catch the line," he went on. "It is attached to a block with a running tackle. Haul in and make fast."
"The megaphone!" shouted Brand to Constance. She darted away to bring it, and when the adventurer clinging to the fore-mast had thrown a coil successfully, Brand took the instrument.
"Why don't you come this way? The others will follow," he bellowed.
"There are women and children down below. They must be saved first, and they cannot climb the mast," was the reply.
"All right, but send up a couple of sailors. We are short-handed here."
"Right-o," sang out the other cheerily, though he wondered why three men should anticipate difficulty.