fire.

“Heave away, heave away!” Dolores’s voice rang out on the hubbub, forcing obedience even in face of terror. The capstan went round to the urge of a dozen pair of fear-stimulated arms; and fathom by fathom the great cable came in dripping and glistening; fathom after fathom was heaped on the deck, and still the schooner remained fast. And ever from aloft came Stumpy’s hail, reporting Milo’s flare fast fading in the distance.

“You can’t do it! I knew it!” shouted Peters defiantly.

“Peace, sheep!” answered Dolores, slapping him upon the mouth. She stood at the wheel, and no part of the vessel’s situation escaped her. She had yet a trump to play: a hazardous one, truly, but the big one.