We felt on
the floor and sides, but found nothing, and it was hard to
move among so many people--we had sixty or seventy on
board.
"Down we went and presently floated, with our ropes still
holding us, the exhaust washing us away from the side of
the vessel and the swell of the sea urging us back against the
side again. The result of all these forces was an impetus
which carried us parallel to the ship's side and directly under
boat 14, which had filled rapidly with men and was coming
down on us in a way that threatened to submerge our boat.
" `Stop lowering 14,' our crew shouted, and the crew of
No. 14, now only twenty feet above, shouted the same. But
the distance to the top was some seventy feet and the creaking
pulleys must have deadened all sound to those above, for
down she came, fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet and a stoker
and I reached up and touched her swinging above our heads.
The next drop would have brought her on our heads, but just
before she dropped another stoker sprang to the ropes, with
his knife.
JUST ESCAPED ANOTHER BOAT
" `One,' I heard him say, `two,' as his knife cut through the
pulley ropes, and the next moment the exhaust stream had
carried us clear, while boat 14 dropped into the water, into
the space we had the moment before occupied, our gunwales
almost touching.
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