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Yis, we wor aboord her roight enuf; an' Oi heerd the bo'sun poipe to `make sail, an' the order guv 'way aloft, lay out on the yards an' loose tops'ls. Thin Oi thinks ez how Oi'm ashore, ez will ez aboord; an' Oi says the Active a-sailin' out o' harbour, ez nate ez ye plaize wid all her upper sails an' flyin' jib, an' fore-topmast stays'l set!"
Well, Ireson he said there warn't any sense to reskin' a boat in that sea; the men they wouldn't hev it; and he laid it before them to stay by the Active till the sea run daown a piece. They wouldn't hev that either, hangin' araound the Cape in any sech weather, leak or no leak. They jest up stays'l an' quit, nat'rally takin' Ireson with 'em.
If we'd been driving her going to Iceland that time we'd have had the stays'l and balloon to her and she'd have gone right along with them, too." Mrs. Miner looked around at her yachting friends to see if they were getting all that. "There was one day that passage it blew a bit," exclaimed Clancy. "And that was the day we thought we saw a fellow to the east'ard.
"Ha, I told you he was yellow!" shouted Code in glee. "Somebody's cut away one edge of the stays'l. Now we've got 'em!" And they had; for within a quarter of an hour they left the Nettie B. astern, finally defeated, Nat Burns's last act of treachery gone for nothing. But the mystery schooner would not be denied.
I paid out some sheet from the bitt by the wheel-box, unbuttoned the after stays'l tack, jumped forward and loosed up halyards till her kites dropped limp. "Down with your balloon there and at the wheel there, jibe her over. Watch out for that fellow astern he's pretty handy to our boat. Watch out in boat and dory!" The last warning was a roar.
"Yes," said a youth, "I f'und one of 'em an' he told me the Hawk's luck was Jonahed this trip." "Where's the packet lyin'?" "About twelve mile sou'east near the edge of the Bank." Nat went to the wheel himself. "Up jib an' fores'l," he sung out, "and sway 'em flat! Mains'l and tops'ls after that! Raymond, overhaul the balloon, stays'l, and trys'l!
The rigging dripped clammy drops, and the men lounged along the lee of the house all save Uncle Salters, who sat stiffly on the main-hatch nursing his stung hands. "Guess she'd carry stays'l," said Disko, rolling one eye at his brother. "Guess she wouldn't to any sorter profit. What's the sense o' wastin' canvas?" the farmer-sailor replied.
Make fast the stays'l halyards to the dory's warp! Now, then, unreeve y'r halyards! all clear there! pass the end for'd outside the rigging! outside! you fools! Make fast to the bits for'ard let go y'r line that'll do. Soh soh. There, she's coming up." The dory had been towing astern, and the seas combing over her had swamped her.
Call the gang and make sail stays'l and balloon everything we'll go home, I guess." Clancy snapped the pipe out of his mouth and hove it over the rail. Then he went for the forec's'le gangway. In two jumps he was there. "Up, you loafers on deck and make sail. 'To the east'ard, says the skipper, and over the shoals we'll put her to-night." "Home!
Dad's put this duckin' act up on him two trips runnin'. Hi! That found him where he feeds." Uncle Salters had taken refuge by the foremast, but a wave slapped him over the knees. Disko's face was as blank as the circle of the wheel. "Guess she'd lie easier under stays'l, Salters," said Disko, as though he had seen nothing.
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