ory of the wreck of the
"Wolf King" gave me a pretty good notion of what was going on, and even
in the midst of our peril I found myself whispering to Jack--

"They're going to drop the anchor, you know, and blow down on to her--"

"Hope they've got rope enough," said Jack. For in the case of the "Wolf
King" it took three attempts to get within the right distance. The
coxswain of the "Dreadnought" was evidently determined not to fall into
his old error this time, and, with her head to the wind and the oars
holding the water, he allowed her to drift to within about eighty yards
of the wreck. Then he shouted--

"Pay away, there!" and instantly we heard the cable grinding over the
gunwale.

Would it hold? Even to inexperienced boys like Jack and me the suspense
was dreadful as the cable ran out, and the rowers kept the boat's head
carefully up.

The grinding ceased. There was a moment's pause, then came a welcome
"Ay, ay!" from the bows, and we knew it was all right.

It didn't take the wind long to drive us back on our cable, stern
foremost, on to the wreck, which now loomed out huge and ghostly on the
wild water. As we drifted down under her stern we were conscious,
amidst the smoke of the burning tar-barrels and the spray of the waves
which broke over her, of a crowd of faces looking over her sides, and
fancied we heard a faint cheer too. Our men still kept their oars out,
and when, always holding on to our cable, we had drifted some twenty
yards or so on to the lee side of the wreck, the order was given to pull
alongside.

It was no easy task in the face of the wind; but the men who had taken
the "Dreadnought" through the surf off Kingstairs jetty were not likely
to fail now. A few powerful strokes brought us close under the lee of
the wreck, ropes were thrown out fore and aft, and in a few minutes we
lay tossing and kicking, but safely moored within a yard or two of the
ill-starred vessel.

Half a dozen of our men were up her sides and on board in a moment, and
we could hear the cheers with which they were greeted as they sprang on
deck. No time was to be lost. The wreck was creaking in every timber,
and each wave that burst over her, deluging us on the other side,
threatened to break her in pieces. One mast already was broken short,
and hung helplessly down, held only by her rigging to the deck. The
other looked as though it might go any moment, and perhaps carry the
wreck with it.

If she wer