"
"Is it rising or falling water, Miles?"
"The ebb is nearly done--they'll never be able to get the ship up on
the shelving rock where they had the Sea-Otter, until the water rises
ten or twelve feet."
"Thank God for that! I was afraid they might get her on that accursed
bed, and break her back at once."
"Is it of any importance to us, Mr. Marble? What hope can we have of
doing anything against such odds, and in our circumstances?"
"The odds I care nothing for, boy. My lads are screwed up so tight,
they'd lick the whole North-West Coast, if they could only get on deck
without having their fashion-pieces stove in. The circumstances, I
allow, must count for a great deal."
"The ship is moving fast towards the island--I see no hope for us,
Mr. Marble!"
"I say, Miles, it is worth some risk to try and save the craft--were
it not for fear of you, I would have played the rascals a trick half
an hour since."
"Never mind me, sir--it was my fault it has happened, and I ought to
suffer for it--do what duty and discretion tell you is best."
I waited a minute after this, in intense expectation, not knowing what
was to follow, when a report made me fancy for an instant some attempt
was making to blow up the deck. The wails and cries that succeeded,
however, soon let me into the real state of the case.
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