We reached it and flung them in.

Just at that moment a gun sounded over the water.

It was from the ship--the signal of alarm--the summons from the captain for our return.

We saw now that she had been drifting since we left her, and had moved southwest several miles.

The row back promised to be far harder than the pull ashore, and, what was worse, the wind was coming up, the sea was rising, and the snow was thickening.