Down a Galloping Sea

I saddled me an Arab steed and saddled her another,
And off we rode together just like sister and like brother,
Singing, "Blow ye winds in the morning!
Blow ye winds, hi ho! Brush away the morning dew,
Blow ye winds, hi ho!"
--Blew Ye Winds.

With anxiety that was almost despairing Mayo looked up at the shrouds,
stays, and halyards, which were set like nets to right and left and
overhead.

A big roller tumbled inboard and filled the space forward of the break
of the main-deck. The swirling water touched the sides of the long-boat
and then receded when the stricken schooner struggled up from the
welter. A scuttle-butt was torn from its lashings and went by the board,
and other flotsam followed it.

Mayo found that spectacle encouraging. But the longboat sat high in its
chocks; when it did float it might be too late.

Another wave roared past, and the long-boat quivered. Then Mayo took a
chance without reckoning on consequences. He made a double turn of the
cable around his forearm and leaped out of the boat and stood on deck,
his shoulder against the stem. The next wave washed him to his waist,
tore at him, beat him against the long-boat's shoe, but he clung fast
and lifted and pushed with all his strength.

That push did it!

The boat needed just that impetus to free her from the chocks. She
lifted and rushed stern foremost to lee, and the young man dragged after
her.