The Wreck of the Mary Deare Read Online Free

if we could bring her into port under her own steam . . . I turned to Hal. ‘Do you think you could lay
Sea Witch
alongside her, close enough for me to get hold of one of those falls?’
    â€˜Don’t be a fool,’ he said. ‘There’s still quite a swell running. You may damage the boat, and if this gale—’
    But I was in no mood for caution now. ‘Ready about!’ I called. And then, ‘Lee ho!’ We came about on to the other tack and I sent Mike below to get Ian out of his bunk. ‘We’ll jog up to her close-hauled,’ I told Hal. ‘I’ll jump for the ropes as you go about.’
    â€˜It’s crazy,’ he said. ‘You’ve a hell of a height to climb to the deck. And supposing the wind pipes up. I may not be able to get you—’
    â€˜Oh, to hell with the wind!’ I cried. ‘Do you think I’m going to pass up a chance like this? Whatever happened to the poor devils who abandoned her, this is the chance of a lifetime for Mike and myself.’
    He stared at me for a moment, and then he nodded. ‘Okay. It’s your boat.’ We were headed back for the ship now. ‘When we get under her lee,’ Hal said, ‘we’ll be pretty well blanketed. I may have some difficulty—’ He stopped there and glanced up at the burgee.
    I had done the same, for there was a different feel about the boat now. She was surging along with a noise of water from her bows and spray wetting the foredeck. The burgee was streamed out to starboard. I checked with the compass. ‘You’ll have no difficulty standing off from her,’ I said. ‘The wind’s north-westerly now.’
    He nodded, his eyes lifting to the sails. ‘You’re still determined to go on board?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Well, you’d better not stay long. There’s some weight in the wind now.’
    â€˜I’ll be as quick as I can,’ I said. ‘If you want to recall me in a hurry signal on the fog-horn.’ We were doing all of four knots now and the ship was coming up fast. I went to the charthouse door and yelled to Mike. He came almost immediately. Ian was behind him, white-faced and still sweaty-looking from his bunk. I gave him the boat-hook and told him to stand by in the bows ready to shove off. ‘We’ll go about just before we get to her. That’ll take the way off her and you’ll be all set to stand-off again.’ I was stripping off my oilskins. Already the rusty sides of the
Mary Deare
were towering above us. It looked a hell of a height to climb. ‘Ready about?’ I asked.
    â€˜Ready about,’ Hal said. And then he swung the wheel.
Sea Witch
began to pay off, slowly, very slowly. For a moment it looked as though she was going to poke her long bowsprit through the steamer’s rusty plates. Then she was round and I made up the starboard rudder as the boom swung over. There was little wind now that we were close under the
Mary Deare
. The sails flapped lazily. The cross-trees were almost scraping the steamer’s sides as we rolled in the swell. I grabbed a torch and ran to the mast, climbed the starboard rail and stood there, poised, my feet on the bulwarks, my hands gripping the shrouds. Her way carried me past the for’ard davit falls. There was still a gap of several yards between me and the ship’s side. Hal closed it slowly. Leaning out I watched the after davit falls slide towards me. There was a jar as the tip of our cross-trees rammed the plates above my head. The first of the falls came abreast of me. I leaned right out, but they were a good foot beyond my reach. ‘This time!’ Hal shouted. The cross-trees jarred again. I felt the jolt of it through the shroud I was clinging to. And then my hand closed on the ropes and I let go, falling heavily against the ship’s side, the lift of a swell wetting me to my knees. ‘Okay!’ I