160 Chapter V. 



It was the hardest row I ever had a hand in. It went 

 pretty well to begin with ; we had the current with us, 

 and got quickly out from land ; but presently the wind 

 rose, the current slackened, and wave after wave broke 

 over us. After incredible toil, we had at last only 

 a short way to go. I cheered up the good fellows as 

 best I could, reminding them of the smoking hot tea that 

 awaited them after a few more tough pulls, and picturing 

 all the good things in store for them. We really were all 

 pretty well done up now, but we still took a good grip of 

 the oars, soaking wet as we were from the sea constantly 

 breaking over us, for of course none of us had thought 

 of such things as oilskins in yesterday's beautiful weather. 

 But we soon saw that with all our pulling and toiling the 

 boat was making no headway whatever. Apart from the 

 wind and the sea we had the current dead against 



o 



us here ; all our exertions were of no avail. We 

 pulled till our finger-tips felt as if they were bursting ; 

 but the most we could manage was to keep the boat 

 where it was ; if we slackened an instant it drifted 

 back. I tried to encourage my comrades : " Now 

 we made a little way! It was just strength that was 

 needed ! ' But all to no purpose. The wind whistled 

 round our ears, and the spray dashed over us. It was 

 maddening to be so near the ship that it seemed as 

 if we could almost reach out to her, and yet feel that 

 it was impossible to get on any farther. We had to 

 go in under the land again, where we had the current 



