And quick as he could move Clif sprang to the pilot house, and signaled to stop, and the vessel swung round toward the stranger.
The die was cast, for good or evil. They had given up!
For perhaps five minutes there was an anxious silence upon the vessel. Every one was waiting anxiously, while the ship rolled in the trough of the sea and shook with the crashes of the waves. Her small crew were picturing in their minds what was taking place out there in the darkness, their comrades struggling to get a small boat out in that heavy sea.
And then they fancied them buffeting their way across, blinded by the spray and half swamped by the heavier waves.
"They can't be much longer," muttered Clif, impatiently.
"Ahoy there! A ladder!"
It seemed to come from right underneath the lee of the merchantman. And it was shouted in a loud, peremptory tone that was meant to be obeyed. A moment later the rope ladder was flung down. Clif peered over the side when he dropped it.
He could make out the shape of the boat tossing about below; he could even distinguish the figures of the men in the boat.
And then he made out a man climbing hastily up.
He stepped back to wait for him. He saw a blue uniform as the officer clambered up to the deck.