A head bobbed up near Madden, and Caradoc's voice observed collectedly.
"They're chewing it up with a machine gun. You'd better dive
again--travel most of the way to the tug under water. They'll be picking
us up, one at a time, in a moment, with the same stream of steel."
CHAPTER XVIII
NERVE VERSUS GUNPOWDER
Fifteen minutes later a dozen men were kicking exhaustedly in the water
on the port side of the _Vulcan_, shouting in urgent voices for
ropes. A few were already clambering up the bobstays. There was no reply
from the utterly terrorized men on the tug, then came the whiz of
missiles thrown through the air.
"Hogan! Mulcher! Galton! Ropes! Give us your ladder!" bawled Madden at
the top of his authority.
"Is--is that you, Misther Madden?" chattered Hogan.
"Yes, yes, ropes, before we drown!"
"Was that you shootin' at us over there?"
"They were shooting at _us_! They hit two or three of us! Hurry!"
"And who's all that wid ye? Faith, the wather's alive wid min!"
"We're the crew of th' _Vukan_!" "Throw down ropes!" "Shut up and
throw down ropes, ye bloody Irishman!" howled an angry chorus.
"Th' crew o' th' _Vulcan_, and thim all dead, these weeks ago! Sure
if it's a lot o' ghosts----"
But others of the crew summoned enough courage to fling down aid to
their old comrades, and soon the men came crawling up the dark sides of
the tug and dropped limply inboard.
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