pread in the same manner. Bob then flew to
the wheel, and Mark to his knight-heads again. Contrary to Mark's
apprehensions, he saw that the ship was luffing up close to the weather
ledge, leaving little danger of her going on to it. As soon as met by
the helm, however, she fell off, and Mark no longer had any doubt of
weathering the northern end of the inner ledge of this passage. The wind
coming in fresher puffs, this was soon done, when the ship was kept dead
away for the crater. There was the northern end of the reef, which
formed the inner basin of all, to double, when that which remained to do
was merely to range far enough within the reef to get a cover, and to
drop the anchor. In order to do this with success, Mark now commenced
hauling down the jib. By the time he had that sail well in, the ship was
off the end of the sunken reef, when Bob put his helm a-starboard and
rounded it. Down came the main-topmast staysail, and Mark jumped on the
forecastle, while he called out to Bob to lash the helm a-lee. In an
instant Bob was at the young man's side, and both waited for the ship to
luff into the wind, and to forge as near as possible to the reef. This
was successfully done also, and Mark let go the stopper within twenty
feet of the wall of the sunken reef, just as the ship began to drive
astern. The canvas was rolled up and secured, the cable payed out, until
the ship lay just mid-channel between the island and the sea-wall
without, and the whole secured. Then Bob took off his tarpaulin and gave
three cheers, while Mark walked aft, silently returning thanks to God
for the complete success of this important movement.

Important most truly was this change. Not only was the ship anchored,
with her heaviest anchor down, and her best cable out, in good holding
ground, and in a basin where very little swell ever penetrated, and that
entering laterally and diminished in force; but there she was within a
hundred and fifty feet of the island, at all times accessible by means
of the dingui, a boat that it would not do to trust in the water at all
outside when it blew in the least fresh. In short, it was scarcely
possible to have a vessel in a safer berth, so long as her spars and
hull were exposed to the gales of the ocean, or one that was more
convenient to those who used the island. By getting down her spars and
other hamper, the power of the winds would be much lessened, though Mark
felt little apprehension of the winds at