"She sees us!" I cried. "God be praised! Mary, darling, she sees us!"
I waved the lamp furiously. But there was no need to wave it any longer. The red light drew nearer and nearer; the throbbing of the engines louder and louder, and the revolutions of the propeller sounded like a pulse beating through the water.
The shadow broadened and loomed larger. I could hear the water spouting out of her side and the blowing off of the safety-valve.
Soon the vessel grew a defined shape against the stars, and then a voice, thinned by the distance, shouted, "What light is that?"
I cried to the boatswain, "Answer, for God's sake! My voice is weak."
He hollowed his hands and roared back, "We're shipwrecked seamen adrift in a quarter-boat!"
Nearer and nearer came the shadow, and now it was a long, black hull, a funnel pouring forth a dense volume of smoke, spotted with fire-sparks, and tapering masts and fragile rigging, with the stars running through them.
"Ease her!"
The sound of the throbbing grew more measured. We could hear the water as it was churned up by the screw.
"Stop her!"