"They couldn't; the breakers would sweep them away in a minute."
"Look!"
For man is brave and man does fight, even in the face of injustice, in
the face of odds. Thus did Martin Loughran, in the fore rigging of the
_Zeitgeist_, as with set jaws he struggled upward toward the stump of
the topmast. Between the trucks of the fore and maintopmasts ran a
horizontal line of wire. It is called the "triatic stay," and Loughran
was climbing to it. Dan--all the _Fledgling's_ crew and the crew of
the _Sovereign_--foresaw his intention, and stentorian shouts, "You
can't do it!" bounded over the water. But the sailor did not pause,
if, indeed, he heard their warnings.
Slowly, laboriously he climbed. He stretched up one hand and grasped
the stay. Up went the other hand. Then out against the glooming sky
was limned the swaying form, working its way along the triatic stay
hand over hand, in an effort to reach the mainmast. A faint cheer came
from the men in the main rigging, while two of the _Fledgling's_ crew
cheered, and two bowed their heads in agony, and Dan sobbed aloud.
"Look at him," cried Dan. "Oh, God!"
"A sandy man cashin' in," muttered Mulhatton solemnly.
Out, out worked the swaying form. But he had more than one hundred
feet to go. Twenty-five feet--progress ceased.
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