Charlie to the Rescue | Page 9

companion, and saw that a stout rope with two loops on
it had been fixed to the stump of the mast. Just as he noted this with
satisfaction a large block with a thin line rove through it emerged from
the boiling sea. It had been attached by the men on shore to the rocket
line which Charlie had been hauling out with so much energy. Its name
was indicated by the skipper.
"Here comes the whip," he cried, catching hold of the block when it
reached him. "Hold me up, lad, while I make it fast to them loops."
While Charlie obeyed he saw that by fixing the tail-lines of the block
quickly to the loops prepared for them, instead of winding them round
the mast,--a difficult process in such a sea--much time was saved.
"There, our part o' the job is done now," said the skipper, pulling off his
sou'-wester as he spoke and holding it up as a signal to the men on
shore.
Meanwhile those to whom he signalled had been watching every
movement with intense eagerness, and with the expressions of men
whose gaze has to penetrate with difficulty through a haze of blinding
spray.
"They've got the block now," cried one man.
"Does that young feller know about fixin' of it?" asked another.
"Clap a stopper on your mugs; they're a-fixin' of it now," said old

Grinder. "There's the signal! Haul away, lads!"
We must explain here that the "whip" above mentioned was a double or
endless line, passing through the block which had been hauled out to
the wreck by our hero.
By means of this whip one end of a stout cable was sent off to the
wreck, and on this cable a sling-lifebuoy was hung to a pulley and also
run out to the wreck. The working of the apparatus, though simple
enough to seamen, would entail a complicated, perhaps
incomprehensible, description to landsmen: we therefore pass it by with
the remark that, connection with the shore having been established, and
the sling-lifebuoy--or life-saving machine--run out, the crew received it
with what was meant for a hearty cheer, but which exhaustion modified
to a feeble shout.
"Now, lads," cried the skipper to his men, "look sharp! Let out the
passengers."
"Passengers?" exclaimed Charlie Brooke in surprise.
"Ay--my wife an' little gurl, two women and an old gentleman. You
don't suppose I'd keep 'em on deck to be washed overboard?"
As he spoke two of the men opened the doors of the companion-hatch,
and caught hold of a little girl of about five years of age, who was
handed up by a woman.
"Stay! keep her under cover till I get hold of her," cried the skipper.
As he was passing from the mast to the companion a heavy sea burst
over the bulwarks, and swept him into the scuppers. The same wave
wrenched the child from the grasp of the man who held it and carried it
right overboard. Like an eel, rather than a man, Charlie cleft the foam
close behind her, caught her by the skirt and bore her to the surface,
when a few strokes of his free arm brought him close under the lee of
the wreck just in time to prevent the agonised father from leaping after
his child. There was terrible suspense for a few minutes. At one

moment our hero, with his burden held high aloft, was far down in the
hollow of the watery turmoil, with the black hull like a great wall rising
above him, while the skipper in the main-chains, pale as death but
sternly silent held on with his left hand and reached down with his
right--every finger rigid and ready! Next moment a water-spout, so to
speak, bore the rescuer upward on its crest, but not near enough--they
went downward again. Once more the leaping water surged upwards;
the skipper's strong hand closed like the grip of death on the dress, and
the child was safe while its rescuer sank away from it.
"Help him!" shouted the skipper, as he staggered to the shelter of the
companion.
But Charlie required no help. A loose rope hanging over the side
caught his eye: he seized it and was on deck again in a few seconds. A
minute later and he was down in the cabin.
There, terror-stricken, sat the skipper's wife, never venturing to move,
because she had been told to remain there till called. Happily she knew
nothing of the incident just described.
Beside her sat the other women, and, near to them, a stern old
gentleman, who, with compressed lips, quietly awaited orders.
"Come, quick!" said Charlie, grasping by the arm one of the women.
It was the skipper's wife. She jumped up right willingly and went on
deck. There