Her
poles were completely bare and by the way she pitched and tossed Cap'n
Abe knew she must have two anchors out and that they were dragging.
She was so far away that she looked like a toy on the huge waves that
rolled in from the horizon line. Now and then a curling wave-crest hid
even her topmasts. Again, the curtain of mist hanging above Gull Rocks
shrouded her.
For the craft was being driven steadily upon the rocks. Unless the
wind shifted--and that soon--she must batter her hull to bits upon the
reef.
The storekeeper, who knew this coast and the weather conditions so
well, saw at once that the schooner had no chance for salvation. When
the wind backed around into the northeast, as it had on this occasion,
it foreran a gale of more than usual power and of more than twenty-four
hours' duration.
"She's doomed!" he whispered, and wagged his head sadly.
The might of the sea made him tremble. The thought of what was about
to happen to the schooner--a fate that naught could avert--sickened
him. Yet he walked on to join the nearest group of anxious watchers,
the spray beating into that face which was strangely marred.
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