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Tales of the Fish Patrol | Jack London | |
Charley's Coup |
Page 8 of 9 |
But the Greeks were undaunted. Unable, at the increased speed, to draw themselves nearer by means of their hands, they rigged from the blocks of their boat sail what sailors call a "watch-tackle." One of them, held by the legs by his mates, would lean far over the bow and make the tackle fast to the float-line. Then they would heave in on the tackle till the blocks were together, when the manoeuvre would be repeated. "Have to give her the staysail," Charley said. Ole Ericsen looked at the straining Mary Rebecca and shook his head. "It will take der masts out of her," he said. "And we'll be taken out of her if you don't," Charley replied. Ole shot an anxious glance at his masts, another at the boat load of armed Greeks, and consented. The five men were in the bow of the boat - a bad place when a craft is towing. I was watching the behavior of their boat as the great fisherman's staysail, far, far larger than the top-sail and used only in light breezes, was broken out. As the Mary Rebecca lurched forward with a tremendous jerk, the nose of the boat ducked down into the water, and the men tumbled over one another in a wild rush into the stern to save the boat from being dragged sheer under water. "That settles them!" Charley remarked, though he was anxiously studying the behavior of the Mary Rebecca, which was being driven under far more canvas than she was rightly able to carry. "Next stop is Antioch!" announced the cheerful sailor, after the manner of a railway conductor. "And next comes Merryweather!" "Come here, quick," Charley said to me. |
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Tales of the Fish Patrol Jack London |
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