He was not the one to let a chance slip when there seemed a prospect of safety, however remote that prospect might be! Rapidly attaching a rope round the bale of sealskins that were amidships, thinking these more adapted for his purpose than the oars, which he had first intended using, he hove the mass overboard, gently poising it on the side and letting it slip gradually into the water.

He did this in order that he might not disturb the balance of the boat, which any sudden rash movement would have done, causing her probably to heel over--for the waves, when they raced by, came level with her gunwale, and an inch more either way would have swamped her.
In a few seconds after this impromptu anchor was tried, the effect on the whale-boat's buoyancy became marvellous.
Swinging round by degrees, Eric helping the operation by an occasional short paddle with one of the oars he had handy, the little craft presently rode head to sea, some little distance to leeward of the sealskins whose weight sunk them almost to the level of the water; and then, another unexpected thing happened.
The oil attached to the still reeking skins came floating out on the surface of the sea, so calming the waves in their vicinity that these did not break any longer, but glided under the keel of the boat with a heavy rolling undulation.
"This is more than I hoped!" exclaimed Eric joyfully.

"Why, we'll be able to ride out the gale capitally now; and, as soon as the wind chops round--as it has already done in the upper currents of air, a sure sign that it will presently blow along the water from the same quarter--why, we can up anchor and away home!" "How shall we ever know the proper direction in which to steer ?" asked Fritz, who was still faint-hearted about the result of the adventure.
"We won't steer at all," said Eric.

"There are no currents to speak of about here; and as we have run south-westwards before the north-easter, if we run back in an opposite direction before the south-wester, which is not far off now from setting in, why we must arrive pretty nearly at the same point from which we started." "But we may then pass the island by a second time and be as badly off as we are now." "What an old croaker you are!" cried Eric impatiently.

"Won't I be on the look-out to see that such an accident as that shan't happen?
We'll have to be very careful in turning the boat however--so as to bring the wind abeam when we get up abreast of the island, in order to beat into the bay--for the poor craft is so leaky and cranky now that she'll not stand much buffeting about." "Can't I do anything ?" asked Fritz, beginning to regain his courage and bestir himself, now that he reflected that their chances of getting back to the island were not so precarious and slight as he had at first imagined.
"Yes, you can bale out the boat, if you like," said Eric.