'It's a boat, surely!' said my grandfather 'Look, Jem!
CHAPTER III.
THE BUNDLE SAVED.
It _was_ a boat of which I had caught sight--a boat bottom upwards. A
minute afterwards it swept close past us, so near that we could almost
touch it.
'They've lost their boat. Pull away, Jem!'
'Oh, grandfather!' I said,--and the wind was so high, I could only make
him hear by shouting,--'grandfather, do you think the boat was full?'
'No,' he said. 'I think they've tried to put her off, and she's been
swept away. Keep up, Jem!' For Jem Millar, who was not a strong man,
seemed ready to give in.
We were now considerably more than half-way between the boat and the
ship. It seemed as if those on board had caught sight of us, for another
rocket went up. They had evidently kept one back, as a last hope, in
case any one should pass by.
As we drew nearer, we could see that it was a large ship, and we could
distinguish many forms moving about on deck.
'Poor fellows! poor fellows!' said my grandfather. 'Pull away, Jem!'
Nearer and nearer we came to the ship, till at length we could see her
quite distinctly. She had struck on Ainslie Crag, and her stern was
under water, and the waves were beating wildly on her deck. We could see
men clinging to the rigging which remained, and holding on to the
broken masts of the ship.
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