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boat, little by little, nearer to the vessel. The waves break over the boat, for the moment 

 bury it, and then as the sea rushes on, and breaks upon the wreck, the spray, flying 1 up, 

 hides the men lashed to the rigging- from the boatmen's sight. They hoist up a corner 

 of the sail to let the boat sheer in; all are ready; a huge wave lifts them. 'Pay out the 

 cable ! sharp, men ! sharp ! ' the coxswain shouts ; ' belay all ! ' The cable was let go a 

 few yards by the run, and the boat is alongside the wreck. With a cry, three men jump 

 into the boat and are saved ! ' All hands to the cable ! haul in hand over hand, for your 

 lives, men, quick ! ' the coxswain cries ; for he sees a tremendous wave rushing in swiftly 

 upon them. They haul in the cable, draw the boat a little from the wreck, the wave 

 passes and breaks over the vessel ; if the life-boat had been alongside she would have 

 been dashed against the wreck, and perhaps capsized, or washed over, and utterly destroyed. 

 Again the men watch the waves, and as they see a few smaller ones approaching, let the 

 cable run again, and get alongside ; this time they are able to remain a little longer by 

 the vessel ; and, one after another, thirteen of the shipwrecked men unlash themselves 

 from the rigging and jump into the boat, when again they draw away from the vessel in 

 all haste, and avoid threatened destruction." At last three Spaniards are left in the 

 rigging ; they seem nearly dead, and scarcely able to unlash themselves, and crawl down 

 the shrouds. The boat must be placed dangerously near the vessel, and two of the life- 

 boatmen must get on to the wreck and lift the men on board. They do it quietly, coolly, 

 determinedly. The last one left is a poor little cabin-boy; he seems entangled in the 

 rigging, and yet he holds fast to a canvas bag of trinkets and things he was taking as 

 presents to the loved ones at home. " God only knows," says Gilmore, " whether the 

 loved ones at home were thinking of and praying for him, and whether it was in answer 

 to their prayers and those of many others that the life-boat then rode alongside that wreck, 

 an ark of safety amid the raging seas. 



"They shout, the boy lingers still, his half-dead hands cannot free the bag from the 

 entangled rigging. A moment and all are lost ; a boatman makes a spring, seizes the lad 

 with a strong grasp, and tears him down the rigging into the boat too late, too late; 

 they cannot get away from the vessel ; a tremendous wave rushes on : hold hard all, hold 

 anchor ! hold cable ! give but a yard and all are lost. The boat lifts, is washed into 

 the fore-rigging, the sea passes, and she settles down again upon an even keel. Thank 

 God ! If one stray rope of all the torn and tangled rigging of the vessel had caught 

 the boat's rigging, or one of her spars if the boat's keel or cork fenders had caught 

 in the shattered gunwale, she would have turned over, and every man in her been shaken 

 into the sea to speedy and certain death. Thank God ! it is not so, and once more they 

 are safe." Look at the boat now ; thirteen of its own crew, eight of the Margate and 

 Whitstable men, the captain, mate, eight seaman, and the boy, thirty-two souls in all. 

 "Will she be able to bring all this human freight safely to land? Their dangers are not 

 yet over; in fact, to the poor Spaniards, the terrors of death have not yet passed 'a way; 

 for they know little of the grand properties of a first-class English life-boat. 



Now come the difficulties of clearing the wreck. The anchor holds, and there is no 

 thought of getting her up in such a gale and sea. The hatchet is passed forward ; there is a 

 moment's delay, a delay by which indeed all their lives are saved. Already one strand out of 



