"There's more danger of bein' swamped while runnin' up or down the coast, than in makin' a try for it here. Let her go in on the swell, an' when the water shoals we can jump over to lighten her so she'll strike well up on the shore where there'll be no trouble in savin' everything."
"I don't like the idea," Jake replied. "We can't tell what a fellow might meet with, an' to be swung agin one of them rocks would be hard lines."
The sailors were determined to make the attempt regardless of his warnings, and after a few moments he refused to argue longer.
"You ought to know better than I," he said, "an' its no more'n right you should have your own way without any fuss; but the boys an' I will stay here till she strikes. That is a better plan than goin' over the side when you know nothing about the shore, and besides, I can't see the advantage of lightenin' her."
"So she'll strike higher up on the beach, of course, otherwise she'd be stove before you could say Jack Robinson."
"Do as you please, an' so will I. Shall I steer her in now?"
The sailors kicked off their boots, and began pulling vigorously at the oars while Jake said in a low tone to the boys:
"Be ready to jump the minute she strikes; but not before. Look out for the rocks, and take care the swell don't drag you back."
The heavy waves were rolling up on the shore with a roar that rendered conversation difficult, and as he glanced ahead at the foaming waters in which it did not seem possible the little craft could live for a single moment, Teddy pressed Neal's hand as if to say good-by.
Neal gave him one quick, hopeful glance; pointed shoreward to intimate that they must watch every motion of the boat in order to be prepared when the most favorable time arrived, and, following Jake's example both arose from the thwart, standing in a stooping posture in order to steady themselves by the rail.
Carried on the crest of an enormous wave the tiny craft hangs as if poised in mid-air for an instant, and as the vast body of water is dashed forward the three sailors leap into the boiling, swirling foam.
Teddy fancied he heard a muffled cry of agony; but just at that moment he could think only of saving his own life, and there was no time to so much as glance around.