"A good deal of it; the boat has dragged her anchor, and at this rate will be upon the rocks in fifteen minutes! Come, be alive, and don't stand there like a log."
"What shall I do? You are the skipper, and I am ready to do anything you say," replied John, who was by this time fully awake.
"Can we pay out any more cable?"
But this was a useless question, for Paul knew very well that the cable was all out. Our young readers may not all understand the meaning of Paul's question. If the vessel rides at anchor with a short cable, her motion, as she rises and falls with the sea, raises up the shaft of the anchor, which has a tendency to detach the flukes, or points from the bottom. But Paul had been careful the night before to give the Fawn all the cable he could spare; and it was evident, therefore, that the anchor was not heavy enough, or that there was no holding-ground at the bottom.
"There is only one thing we can do, John," said Paul, desperately, after he had fully examined the situation of the boat.
"Say on, then," replied John; "I am ready for anything that you say."
"We must get up the anchor, and leave this place."
"Up it is, then."
"But this is an awful bad time, and an awful bad place to hoist a sail."