"I can hear the rushing of water, somewhere below.

Now, the first thing is to move these bales." They worked for a time, and then Bill returned on deck to fetch two more hands.

They brought hand spikes and bars, as the bales were wedged so tightly together that it was difficult, in the extreme, to move them.

It took two hours' hard work before they reached the leak.

As the captain had supposed, the head of one of the planks had been started, at the stern post, by a blow from the wreck of the mizzen; and the water was rushing in with great force.
"A few hours of this would have settled her," Bill said.