Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/168

 fore another comber broke, she was at a safe distance from the cutter and heading straight into the breakers.

The ship’s light was trained on her. On she went, now up, now down, breasting the roaring waves, shooting through the smother of foam, riding safely where it seemed impossible for a boat to live, under the skillful guidance of the experienced boatswain. Swiftly she drew toward the Capitol City, which no longer lay at right angles to the beach, but had worked a little to one side, making a lee where the water was calmer. Toward this the boatswain drove the surfboat. Into it the little craft shot safely, while a sigh of relief went up from the deck of the Iroquois.

Through powerful glasses, Henry watched breathlessly while the surfboat drew close to the protected side of the Capitol City. A line was thrown to the little boat, and a sailor in the bow caught it. Then the surfboat was drawn close beside the stranded steamer, and a sailor scrambled down from the rigging and dropped into it.

From seaward a giant comber was rushing toward the tiny craft. If it caught her, it would crush her against the side of the larger ship as an eggshell is crushed underfoot. On the Iroquois not a soul breathed. The onlookers