"Stand by there!" he shouted to the two seamen who had been ordered to receive the securing ropes.
There was no reply. Rogers and Payne were not likely to maintain a sullen silence when within hailing distance of Captain Stormleigh.
"Perhaps it's the noise of the motors," remarked Ranworth. "Stop her, Guy."
Guy obeyed promptly. The _Bird of Freedom_ was now to leeward of the ship, and comparatively safe from any more squalls.
Leaving the helm, Ranworth agilely ascended the steel ladder communicating with the almost flat roof. As his head and shoulders drew clear of the circular hatchway, he saw that Rogers and Payne were no longer there.
A coil of rope hurtled through the air. Securing the end, he took a couple of turns round a bollard. As he did so, Ranworth noticed that most of the men of the _Polarity_ were aft, their eyes fixed in a certain direction.
A dozen boats' lengths from the ship was the _Polarity's_ cutter. The boat's crew were backing slowly, while Travers, the second mate, was standing in the stern sheets and steadying himself with the yoke-lines.
"We've lost them, sir," shouted Captain Stormleigh. "They must have sunk like stones."
The gust that had blown the _Bird of Freedom_ upon her beam ends had precipitated Rogers and Payne into the bitterly cold water. Weighed down by their heavy clothing and sea boots, they had sunk immediately.
Having made fast the second line, Ranworth hurried below to acquaint Leslie and Guy with the news of the fatality.
"Do not say a word about the insubordination of those poor fellows," he warned them. "It will do no good. We are not here to condemn our fellow-creatures."
He could say no more. The suddenness of the calamity had temporarily unnerved him.
By this time, Leslie had nearly recovered from the effects of the _Bird of Freedom's_ attempt to turn turtle, but on the back of his head a lump the size of a pigeon's egg had already appeared, while his left hand was grazed from wrist to elbow.
"What luck, sir?" asked Captain Stormleigh, as Ranworth came over the side. "I fear our efforts have met with failure."
"Your efforts?" inquired Ranworth. "Why, Captain, you must have done splendidly, fetching Desolation Creek in this time. How did you manage it?"