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One of them seemed to come right aft and look over the stern, and then stooped to the cleat where the painter had been fast. Then both went to the helm, and bided there. Neither looked into the cabin hatch, so far as I could tell. A long, oily roller slipped from under me, and in its hollow I saw Dalfin.
Look at the boat knot, where the hitch is made in the rope itself; and the sheet bend toggle, where the ends of two ropes are attached together to a standard or cleat. Thus the conversation drifted from one subject to another, covering a variety of interesting topics. George reminded the Professor that he had not yet explained to them what the spectroscope was, and its uses.
Corkey is feeling about one of these yawls. He suspects that the lines are old. He steps to the other side. He strains at a rope. He strives to unloose it from its cleat. The line is stiff and almost frozen. "I'd be afraid to lower myself, anyhow," he observes, for he has the notion that everything about the Africa is insecure. The ship gives another lurch. Something must be done.
Of course, as soon as she struck Jack had shut off power, so that the boat was now lying like a stranded little whale. Paul brought up alongside, looking out that he did not strike the same unseen sandbar. "Take this rope, some of you, and make fast to that cleat at the stern," Paul called out, giving a whirl that sent it aboard the tilted motorboat.
"I made my skiff's painter fast to a cleat on the launch and climbed aboard. 'Gasoline? says I. 'Gasoline? Why, yes; I've got some gasoline over on my power-boat out yonder. Has yours give out? I should think you'd filled your tank 'fore you left home on such a trip as Provincetown. Maybe the pipe's plugged or something. Have you looked? And I caught hold of the handle of the cabin-door.
Yes, the place was naturally beautiful enough; but the Ariadne was home; her every deck plank was familiar to me; I knew each cleat about her fife-rails, every belaying-pin along her sides, every friendly projection from her deck that had a sheltering lee.
The man aloft pulls his line out and fastens it to the cleat which he tried to kick off. He seizes the stern of the yawl and hoists it far over the upper deck. The yawl falls outside the gunwale below, with a great crash and splintering of oars. "She's there!" says Corkey, feeling the taut line. "She's there, and the rope is good. The davit is good."
Making this securely fast to a cleat in the bulwarks, I glanced fore and aft to see whether I could discover any indication of the presence of human beings on board; but the deck appeared to be deserted; no gleam of light showed either forward or aft; and no sound broke the silence save the wash of the water along the bends, the choking gurgle of the scuppers, and the monotonous jerk-jerk of the spanker-boom at its sheet with the roll of the ship.
Toward evening when there came a gentle bump upon Gadabout's guard and the rattle of a chain upon her cleat, we went out to see what the supply boat had brought. As soon as we heard the troubled sputtering, "An' I mos' give up gittin' anything," we knew that the little shore-boat was a nautical horn of plenty. And so she proved as her cargo came aboard to an accompaniment of running comment.
"I couldn't see his face plain, but his voice had a funny tremble to it; reminded me of my own when I climbed out of that very cart after he'd jounced me down to Setuckit the day before. "'What? he says. 'Wh-what? What sheet? I don't see any sheet. What do you want me to do? "'Tie this line to that cleat. That cleat there! CLEAT, you lubber! CLEAT! That knob! MAKE IT FAST! Oh, my gosh t'mighty!
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