glass. "I guess the ship must be going to pieces too fast to allow for another trip. You've got to save two at once."
"And we can do it!" cried the captain. "All together, now, boys! But they're going to get wet!"
By reason of the added weight the rope was sagging badly, and the men clinging to the buoy could be seen half in and half out of the water.
"Lively, men, or they'll drown!" yelled the captain.
Hardy and intrepid as were the life-savers and the volunteers who had assembled to help them, they paused a moment now. It seemed impossible that the two in the buoy could be pulled ashore in time to be saved.
Over them broke great seas, the waves hissing and foaming as though angry at being cheated of their prey. The storm-swept waters seemed to seize on the rope, as though to pull it beneath the billows. The anchor that held the rope which passed over the "shears" seemed to be pulling out of the sand packed around it.
"Come on, men!" cried the captain. "Take a brace now, and we'll have 'em ashore in a jiffy!"
"But she's slipping!" cried a grizzled seaman. "She can't hold any longer. The whole business is going!"
