Then the dory was raised high in the air by a huge comber, and Mr. Peters ran swiftly forward, knowing when that crest of water fell, the frail craft would be dashed upon the rocks.
There was an instant of agonizing suspense, and then the brave light keeper was lost to view amid the swirl of water and foam.
While one might have counted ten, neither men nor boat could be distinguished in the turmoil, and then came a sudden jerk on the line as the undertow carried Mr. Peters seaward, when Captain Eph shouted hoarsely:
"Haul! Haul for your life, Zenas!" and Sidney grasped the line, putting forth all his strength with the keepers, that their comrade might the more quickly be drawn to the surface.
The strain upon the rope seemed to be enormous; it was quite as much as the three could do to gather in any of the length, and Captain Eph was muttering half to himself that the line was not sufficiently large to bear the weight, when Uncle Zenas cried excitedly:
"He's got one of 'em! He's got one, an' what's more, the little runt looks as if he was all right. Sammy Peters isn't anybody's fool, an' that's a living fact!"
Now the rope came in more readily, and as the three hauled, more gently after a time lest their comrade be dragged too roughly across the jagged rocks, Mr. Peters staggered to his feet as he held close to his breast the man whose life he had saved at the peril of his own.
"The waves won't bother him now; don't do any more than take in the slack!" Captain Eph cried, and, raising his voice, he shouted as the wind lulled for an instant, "What about the other one, Sammy?"
"He was the same as dead before the boat struck, so this fellow tells me, leastways, I didn't see anything of him," Mr. Peters replied as he staggered onward toward the tower, and when he reached the base it could be seen that he was unfastening the rope from his body.
"What's goin' on now?" Captain Eph demanded.
"I'll send this man up first, for I ain't sure as he has got strength enough left to make himself fast," Mr. Peters replied, and a moment later he gave the word, "Haul away!"
"Stand by to fend off, Sonny," Uncle Zenas cried, and just as Sidney stepped to the window in obedience to the command, the head of the rescued man appeared above the sill.