"Do you mean to tell an old seaman like me that this cutter could live in those breakers?"
"I do not, sir.
I think she would fill and swamp if driven into the first line of them; I am certain she would never reach the shore on her bottom, if fairly entered.
I hope to keep her clear of them altogether."
"With a drift of her length in a minute?"
"The backing of the anchors does not yet fairly tell, nor do I even hope that they will entirely bring her up."
"On what, then, do you rely?
To moor a craft, head and stern, by faith, hope, and charity?"
"No, sir, I trust to the under-tow.
I headed for the bluff because I knew that it was stronger at that point than at any other, and because we could get nearer in with the land without entering the breakers."
This was said with spirit, though without any particular show of resentment.
Its effect on Cap was marked, the feeling that was uppermost being evidently that of surprise.
"Under-tow!" he repeated; "who the devil ever heard of saving a vessel from going ashore by the under-tow?"
"This may never happen on the ocean, sir," Jasper answered modestly; "but we have known it to happen here."
"The lad is right, brother," put in the Sergeant; "for, though I do not well understand it, I have often heard the sailors of the lake speak of such a thing.
We shall do well to trust to Jasper in this strait."
Cap grumbled and swore; but, as there was no remedy, he was compelled to acquiesce.
Jasper, being now called on to explain what he meant by the under-tow, gave this account of the matter.
The water that was driven up on the shore by the gale was necessarily compelled to find its level by returning to the lake by some secret channels.
This could not be done on the surface, where both wind and waves were constantly urging it towards the land, and it necessarily formed a sort of lower eddy, by means of which it flowed back again to its ancient and proper bed.
This inferior current had received the name of the under-tow, and, as it would necessarily act on the bottom of a vessel which drew as much water as the Scud, Jasper trusted to the aid of this reaction to keep his cables from parting. In short, the upper and lower currents would, in a manner, counteract each other.
Simple and ingenious as was this theory, however, as yet there was little evidence of its being reduced to practice.
The drift continued; though, as the kedges and hawsers with which the anchors were backed took the strains, it became sensibly less.
At length the man at the lead announced the joyful intelligence that the anchors had ceased to drag, and that the vessel had brought up!
At this precise moment the first line of breakers was about a hundred feet astern of the Scud, even appearing to approach much nearer as the foam vanished and returned on the raging surges. Jasper sprang forward, and, casting a glance over the bows, he smiled in triumph, as he pointed exultingly to the cables.
Instead of resembling bars of iron in rigidity, as before, they were curving downwards, and to a seaman's senses it was evident that the cutter rose and fell on the seas as they came in with the ease of a ship in a tides-way, when the power of the wind is relieved by the counteracting pressure of the water.
"'Tis the undertow!" he exclaimed with delight, fairly bounding along the deck to steady the helm, in order that the cutter might ride still easier.
"Providence has placed us directly in its current, and there is no longer any danger."
"Ay, ay, Providence is a good seaman," growled Cap, "and often helps lubbers out of difficulty.
Under-tow or upper-tow, the gale has abated; and, fortunately for us all, the anchors have met with good holding-ground.
Then this d----d fresh water has an unnatural way with it."
Men are seldom inclined to quarrel with good fortune, but it is in distress that they grow clamorous and critical.
Most on board were disposed to believe that they had been saved from shipwreck by the skill and knowledge of Jasper, without regarding the opinions of Cap, whose remarks were now little heeded.
There was half an hour of uncertainty and doubt, it is true, during which period the lead was anxiously watched; and then a feeling of security came over all, and the weary slept without dreaming of instant death.
CHAPTER XVIII.
It is to be all made of sighs and tears;
It is to be all made of faith and service;
It is to be all made of phantasy;
All made of passion, and all made of wishes;
All adoration, duty, and observance;
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience;
All purity, all trial, all observance.
SHAKESPEARE.
It was near noon when the gale broke; and then its force abated as suddenly as its violence had arisen.
In less than two hours after the wind fell, the surface of the lake, though still agitated, was no longer glittering with foam; and in double that time, the entire sheet presented the ordinary scene of disturbed water, that was unbroken by the violence of a tempest.
Still the waves came rolling incessantly towards the shore, and the lines of breakers remained, though the spray had ceased to fly; the combing of the swells was more moderate, and all that there was of violence proceeded from the impulsion of wind which had abated.
As it was impossible to make head against the sea that was still up, with the light opposing air that blew from the eastward, all thoughts of getting under way that afternoon were abandoned.
Jasper, who had now quietly resumed the command of the Scud, busied himself, however, in heaving-up the anchors, which were lifted in succession; the kedges that backed them were weighed, and everything was got in readiness for a prompt departure, as soon as the state of the weather would allow.
In the meantime, they who had no concern with these duties sought such means of amusement as their peculiar circumstances allowed.
As is common with those who are unused to the confinement of a vessel, Mabel cast wistful eyes towards the shore; nor was it long before she expressed a wish that it were possible to land.