Should the water
pour down this hatch, out would go my fires and maybe up would come
her b'iler.
"'Ease away on that guy and lower away easy,' I hollered to Bill. The
stone dropped to within two feet of the brig's deck and swung back and
for'ards. Then I heard Bill yell. I was expectin' it.
"'Water's comin' in!'
"I leaned over the brig's rail and could see the slop of the sea combin'
over the Screamer's fo'c's'le hatch. Bill's fires _would_ be out the
next minute. There was just two feet now 'tween the stone and the deck
where I stood--too much to drop; but there was nothing else to do, and
I hollered:
"'All gone.'
"Down she come with a run, struck the big timbers on the deck, and by
Jiminy! ye could a-heard that old brig groan from stem to stern.
"I jumped on top of the stone and threw off the shackles, and the
Screamer came up on an even keel as easy as a duck ridin' the water.
"You just oughter seen the Colonel when the old boat righted herself,
and he had climbed up and stood 'longside the Major a-talkin' it over.
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