, and
received on board a large but light new steel towing hawser, which was
coiled down in long flakes fore and aft the boat, and with this she once
more went alongside the barque, to leeward of her this time, however--
that is to say, alongside the vessel's upturned bilge. A rope's-end was
hove into her by the little working party in the main-chains, and by
this means the end of the hawser was hauled on board, and, with some
labour and difficulty, eventually made fast round the mainmast head,
just above the truss of the main-yard. This done, a signal was made to
the _Flying Cloud_, which had meanwhile drifted some distance away, and
the ship thereupon filled her main-topsail and bore up, waring short
round upon her heel. At the same time the crew hauled up the courses,
clewed up royals and topgallant-sails, and, in short, reduced the canvas
to the three topsails, jib, and spanker. She was now upon the larboard
tack. Having stood on a sufficient distance, Captain Blyth went in
stays, and the ship was again headed for the barque. Now came the only
delicate part of the operation. But the skipper was an accomplished
seaman, and he managed his part of the work to perfection, bringing the
_Flying Cloud_ up alongside the barque so close to leeward that there
was only bare room for the boat between the two hulls; and at the proper
moment the main-topsail was backed and the way of the ship stopped. A
rope's-end, to which the other end of the hawser was attached, was then
promptly hove from the boat alongside and smartly hauled inboard over
the ship's bows, and several turns of the hawser were taken round the
windlass-bitts. Then, by carefully manipulating the canvas, the _Flying
Cloud_ was brought head to wind, or with her bows towards the derelict,
until, dropping to leeward all the time, the hawser was tautened out and
a strain brought upon it. The topsails were then laid flat aback, and
the result was awaited with some anxiety; the boat meanwhile remaining
alongside the derelict to take off Mr Gaunt and his little party in the
event of any accident happening. For a few minutes no visible result
attended these manoeuvres; but at length a shout from Mr Gaunt of
"Hurrah, there she rises! Be ready to let go the hawser on board there
when I give the word" was followed by a barely perceptible indication
that the vessel was righting. The movement increased; and then, still
gradually, the masts rose out of the water unti