tern
came the voices of the men in boat and dory, warning each other to
hang on when they felt her jibing. Some of them must have come near to
being jerked overboard. "Why in God's name don't you slack that
painter?" came the voice of the skipper from the boat.

I leaped to give them more painter, and "Draw away your jib--draw away
your jumbo," came from aloft. Sheets were barely fast when it was:
"Steady at the wheel, George--steady her--ste-a-dy--Great God! man, if
you can't see can't you feel that fellow just ahead? And, skipper,
tell them to close their jaws astern there--water won't hurt 'em.
Ready all now?"

"Ready!" roared back the skipper.

"All right. Down with your wheel a bit now, George. Down--more yet.
Hold her there."

The vessels that we had dodged by this bit of luffing were now
dropping by us; one red light was slowly sliding past our quarter to
port, and one green shooting by our bow to starboard. Evidently Clancy
had only been waiting to steer clear of these two neighbors, for there
was plenty of fish in sight now. The sea was flashing with trails of
them. Clancy now began to bite out commands.

"Stand ready everybody. In the boat and dory there--is everything
ready, skipper?"

"All ready, boat and dory."

Out came Clancy's orders then--rapid fire--and as he ripped them out,
no whistling wind could smother his voice, no swash of the sea could
drown it. In boat, dory and on deck, every brain glowed to understand
and every heart pumped to obey.

"Up with your wheel, George, and let her swing by. Stea-dy. Ready in
the boat. Steady your wheel. Are you ready in the boat? Let her swing
off a little more, George. Steady--hold her there. Stand by in the
boat. Now then--now! Cast off your painter, cast off and pull to the
west'ard. And drive her! Up with the wheel. More yet--that's good.
Drive her, I say, skipper. Where's that dory?--I don't see the dory.
The dory, the dory--where in hell's the dory?--show that lantern in
the dory. All right, the dory. Hold her up, George. Don't let her
swing off another inch now. Drive her, boys, drive her! Look out now!
Stand by the seine! Stand by--the twine--do you hear, Steve! The
twine! Drive her--drive her--blessed Lord! drive her. That's the
stuff, skipper, drive her! Let her come up, George. Down with your
wheel--down with you wheel--ste-a-dy. Drive her, skipper, drive her!
Turn in now--in--shorter yet. Drive her now--where's that dory!--hold
her up!--not