In desperation she worked her way to the steps and peered down upon the
deck. She heard nothing but the wind and the waves. And then with her
hair streaming wild, with lips bloodless, she stood upright and rushed
to the deck. The wind tore at her, flying water buffeted her, and the
hulk swayed under her feet; but, as though endowed with superhuman
power, as though scorning the elements to which she had bowed through
the night she ran forward, heedless of everything but that her
companion was in danger.
Where she was going she knew not, nor cared. A hand grasped the end of
her slicker and brought her to a halt. She looked down and saw Dan
stretched upon the deck, the mast lying across his legs. She knelt at
his side.
"Dan!"
He drew her head down so that her ear was near his mouth.
"Not hurt," he said coolly. "The wave knocked the mast across me just
as I had almost cut it through. Find the axe. Two strokes will free
me. Hurry. Another wave may drown me."
The girl swept her hands hastily over the deck. She found the axe a
few feet from Dan, and with that frenzied, nervous strength which comes
to women in times of stress, she hacked at the mast, which Dan had
almost cut through when the wave struck him. Three times the edge of
the implement glanced.
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