There was not a boat to be seen, with the exception of a schooner running down the river before the gale in the direction of the sea. The sea! Yes, it was only five miles off; and as Jamie recollected the fact, it seemed as if there must be something he could do to check his swift, dashing course toward it.
But he was quite powerless, and the Scud went whirling on, now bow first, now sidewise, yet ever moving on toward the ocean, between which and it there now loomed up the draw-bridge.
With wide-open, anxious eyes Jamie gazed at the latter as the schooner passed safely through, wondering in a dazed sort of way if the keeper would see him before he closed the draw.
"But how can I be sure of not missing it, even if it is open?"
The question was a momentous one, and, alas! how difficult to answer! And still onward sped the Scud, swiftly nearing the spot that now seemed more terrible to Jamie than the ocean itself.
The man had evidently seen him, for the draw remained wide open, but already the course of the boat was tending in such a way that a collision with the bridge appeared to be almost inevitable. Jamie sprang to the stern, and made a desperate effort to turn the rudder-post with his hands, but all in vain.
The bridge-keeper had by this time perceived the full extent of the lad's peril, but he could do nothing to help him—could only stand there on the draw with straining eyes fixed on the Scud.
Yet would the shock really be great enough to harm him? Jamie wondered; and for an instant or two he thought that the bridge might be the means of saving him from a worse fate, for perhaps the boat would remain unhurt, and he could manage to clamber up by the spiles. Then he noticed how rapidly he was passing each landmark on shore, and felt the full force of the gale as he turned to face it.
"The Scud can never stand it," he cried aloud in his excitement. "She's so old and leaky that at the first jar her timbers will give way, and I—"
But he was almost there now, and Jamie closed his eyes for an instant, as he fell to wondering vaguely whether the bridge-keeper would ever find him, or if he would be swept out to sea with the wreck. Then there came a sudden shock, which threw him from his feet, and caused him to put up his hands as if to ward off the mast, which he felt must now crash down upon him.