."

The _Bessy_ was now running almost before the wind. Every moment the
great waves loomed up high behind her stern, and looked as if they would
dash down upon her deck, but she slipped easily away. The clouds had
broken up much now, but the wind had in no way abated. A gleam or two of
sunlight made its way through the rifts of the clouds, and threw light
green patches upon the gray and angry sea.

"She is a splendid sea-boat this of yours," the captain said. "I would
hardly have believed such a small craft would have made such good
weather in such a sea."

"There are few boats will beat a bawley," Ben said. "Well handled, they
will live through pretty near anything."

"I can quite believe that. Which of you was it who sprang overboard to
get our line?"

"It was not either of us," Ben said. "Neither Tom nor I can swim a
stroke. It was my nephew Jack--that lad who has just come out of the
fo'castle."

"It was a gallant action," the captain said. "I should have thought it
well-nigh impossible to swim in such broken water. I was astonished when
I saw him leap overboard."

"He saw that the spar had drifted with the tide to windward of you and
there was no other way of getting at it."

"I was in hopes of seeing you throw the lead-line over our line. You
might have hauled it in that way."

"So we might," Ben agreed, "if we had thought of it, though I doubt
whether we could have cast it so far. Still we ought to have tried. That
was a stupid trick, to be sure. I allow I should have thought of it any
other time; but we had had such a dusting in getting up to you that our
brains must have gone wool-gathering."

"One cannot think of everything," the captain said. "You had your hands
full as it was. Is there anything else I can do at present? If not, I
will just go below for a minute and see how my wife and the passengers
are getting on, and have a cup of that cocoa, if there is any left."

They were now in the Knob Channel, and the sea, although still heavy,
was more regular. As they passed the Mouse Light-ship there were
several large steamers at anchor there, but it was now a straight run
down to the Nore and they held on.

Ben Tripper had already asked the captain where he would like to be
landed. "I can put you either into Sheerness, Southend, or Leigh," he
said. "Tide is high now, and you can land at any of them without
difficulty. But you would get more quickly up to town from Southend or
Leigh; and I shoul