With a stroke or two of the oars Job swung the stern of the boat to the rocks. He kept her hanging in this position until the water fell back and gathered in a new wave; then he lifted his oars. Donald was crouched on the stern seat, waiting for the moment to rise and spring.
The boat moved in, running on the crest of the wave which would a moment later break against the rock. Donald stood up, and fixed his eye on the ledge. He was afraid; all the strength and courage he possessed seemed to desert him. The punt was now almost on a level with the ledge. The wave was about to curl and fall. It was the precise moment when he must leap––that instant, too, when the punt must be pulled out of the grip of the breaker, if at all.
Billy Topsail and Jimmie Grimm were at this critical moment hanging off Grief Island, in the lee, whence they could see all that occurred. They had come out to watch the issue of Donald’s courage.
Courtesy of “The Youth’s Companion”
PLUCKING UP HIS COURAGE, DONALD LEAPED FOR THE ROCK.
“He’ll never leap,” Jimmie exclaimed.
“He will,” said Billy.
“He’ll not,” Jimmie declared.