174 Studies in Rat Catching, [ch. x. 



young men, had shoved off the only boat on 

 the beach that had the faintest hope of hving 

 in a storm like this, and had been waiting in 

 it close to the harbour mouth some minutes 

 before the yacht struck. But so small was 

 the chance of that frail boat living in such a 

 sea, that many of the most experienced of 

 the sailors made signals to prevent the men 

 starting off to meet what they thought was 

 certain death. Others thought it might be 

 done, and waved contrary signals ; and it was 

 then that one saw what sort of women our 

 sailors* wives are, for though many standing 

 there with us had near and dear ones in that 

 boat, and were suffering tortures of anxiety, 

 not a word was spoken, but all was left for 

 the men to do as they thought right. 



" As the yacht struck, a deep, wailing shout 

 went up from all on land, and those in the 

 boat knew what had happened, and the next 

 moment we saw the boat plunge into the 



