And the men bent to the oars with a will. Sims took the craft out toward the open ocean, then turned her, and with the swells at her stern started to ride in slowly, keeping his eyes pinned on the sloping trough of rock into which each big wave plunged and surged aloft with a gurgling hiss. Nearer and nearer they drew, the men rowing with short strokes and keeping their great bodies alert and ready to obey Sims’ orders. Mr. Warner had decided to try first, in spite of the Irishman’s protests, and he stood waiting in the bow, one foot on the gunwale and his hand resting on Big O’Brien’s shoulder to steady himself.
Sims watched the waves with calculating eyes. Not a muscle in his face moved. Not a nerve in his body quivered. Closer and closer to certain destruction moved the pitching boat. A great wave raised it, held it trembling aloft for a moment, then slipped out from under it and shot into the trough, spurting foam and water aloft and drenching the entire crew. And the moment its force had been spent and the water began to suck backward Sims gave the expected order.
“Yo-heave-ho!” he roared and bent his body forward. The oars dug deep and the whaleboat shot forward! Mr. Warner hesitated a moment, then jumped! Into the trough he dropped and up the slippery granite he scrambled. He reached the first niche, the second, the third. He was ten feet up, twelve, and now fifteen. Then Sims shouted:
“Back, boys, back water quick. Here comes another.”
The oak oars bent and creaked under the strain. The whaleboat shot backward and full into the oncoming wave. For a fraction of a second it stopped dead and every timber quivered. Then with a rush it shot backward again and the wave slipped under it and hurled itself into the trough, its great curling tongue licking up the side of the rock as if seeking to tear Mr. Warner from the little niches to which he clung.
But the engineer was safe. He was drenched with foam and spray, but he was well out of the way of the dangerous water. Up he climbed, slower now, feeling his way from place to place; while the boat backed off to a safe distance and the crew watched his progress. Finally he gained the top and stood erect. Then, what a shout went up from the men in the whaler!