Besides, she would not be worth sending home."
"The brig is signalling to her consort, sir," Mr. Green said, coming
up.
"Ay, ay. I expect she wants help badly enough. I saw the chips fly
close to her waterline, as we gave her that last broadside."
"They are lowering a boat," one of the passengers said.
"So they are. I expect they haven't got more than one that can swim.
"I think she is settling down," the captain said, as he looked
earnestly at the wreck astern. "See how they are crowding into that
boat, and how some of the others are cutting and slashing, to get the
wreckage clear of her."
"She is certainly a good bit lower in the water than she was," the
first officer agreed. "The schooner has come round, and won't be long
before she is alongside of her."
There was no doubt that the brig was settling down fast. Men stood on
the bulwarks, and waved their caps frantically to the schooner. Others
could be seen, by the aid of a glass, casting spars, hen coops, and
other articles overboard, and jumping into the water after them; and
soon the sea around the wreck was dotted with heads and floating
fragments, while the wreckage of the mainmast was clustered with men.
When the Madras was a mile away, the schooner was lying, thrown up
head to wind, fifty yards from the brig; and her boats were already
engaged in picking up the swimmers.
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