Stick to it, boys; row your hardest; it is on us now and in earnest, I fear." The three men bent to their oars, but Archie felt that they were no longer making headway.

The boat was wide and high out of the water; a good sea boat, but very hard to row against the wind.
Although the men strained at the oars, till Archie expected to see the tough staves crack under their efforts, the boat did not seem to move.

Indeed it appeared to Archie that in the brief space when the oars were out of the water the wind drove her further back than the distance she had gained in the last stroke.

He hoped, however, that the squall was merely temporary, and that when it subsided there would still be no difficulty in gaining the land.

His hope was not realized.