See!"
A great relieved, blasphemous roar came up the tube, and the next
instant the engines were laying down to their work.
The bow began to cut nicely into the waves, and Dan turned to the two
sailors.
"Here, you boys, tail on here and steer as I tell you." Whereupon,
fingering a pocket compass, he called the course, after which he
fastened the little instrument to the wreck of the binnacle.
"We will pull through," he said, turning to Mr. Howland, who, with his
daughter, had followed him to the bridge. "We are somewhere off the
Winter Quarter Shoals; if I can get the sun at noon I'll know exactly;
anyway, we will make Norfolk if that shaft holds. If it doesn't--well,
banking on that engineer you've got down below, I think it will hold."
Then inclining his head in the direction of Miss Howland, he added,
"I'd advise you to go below, Miss Howland." He thrilled as he uttered
her name, "You're wet; and then--I may have to swear."
"I should love awfully to hear some one swear to some purpose," she
replied. "Oh, I want to stay," she cried, speaking to her father, as
Dan suddenly turned his back and spoke to the second mate. "Father, I
am going to stay. The rest are seasick or frightened to pieces. I
feel braver up here."
She was perfectly candid. She did feel braver there on the bridge.
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