Fathom after fathom the line was reeled in. So tight grew the strain that they felt sure it must break. But it did not. Presently they came to a knot and the end of a heavier line.
Attaching this to the capstan, they reeled in rapidly until they came to the place where the line was double, the added strand much larger than the other.
“Big one’s for the pulley to ride on; the little one’s to pull them in by,” explained Pant. “Now, all together, let’s draw her tight!”
Round and round went the capstan. Up—up—up rose the dripping rope until, at last, it swung entirely free from the sea.
Seizing a lantern, Pant alternately dimmed and brightened it. This he repeated several times.
“Giving them the signal for O. K.,” he explained.
He then watched their light as it dimmed and brightened.
This time by hand they reeled in the smaller cord. Length after length of it was drawn in and coiled on the rocks. When, for a moment, there was a heavy back-pull, they knew that the men on the swaying rope-hung pulley had been dipped beneath a giant wave. They redoubled their efforts, and presently had the pleasure of seeing five half-drowned men drop down by a line from the pulley to the sandy beach.
This time it was Pant’s turn to signal “Heave away.”
The signal was obeyed. The swinging car was hauled back and loaded once more with human freight.
This was repeated over and over again until the last man was ashore. When this last man cupped his hands and shouted up to them, “All safe,” the two boys dropped down upon the rocks exhausted.
“Well,” said Johnny, after a time, “we’ve got them. Question is, what are we going to do with them?”
“More than likely it is, ‘What are they going to do with us?’” grumbled Pant. “There are twenty or more of them to our three. Their ship is a hopeless wreck. It will, half of it, be on the beach in pieces by morning. We have the only means of transportation. The only way to leave the island is by plane. Question is, what will they do about that?”
It was, indeed, a serious situation. Johnny’s brow wrinkled as he took in the full significance of it.
“Might as well go down and mingle with them,” he said, presently. “There’s no better way to judge of a man’s character than by listening to what he says in the dark.”