A tree hit them. They will go,
The main hawser has parted. What does the Sahib do?
An immensely complex plan had suddenly flashed into Findlayson’s
mind. He saw the ropes running from boat to boat in straight lines and
angles--each rope a line of white fire. But there was one rope which was the
master rope. He could see that rope. If he could pull it once, it was
absolutely and mathematically certain that the disordered fleet would reassemble itself in the backwater behind the guard-tower. But why, he wondered, was Peroo clinging so desperately to his waist as he hastened down the bank? It was necessary to put the Lascar aside, gently and slowly, because it was necessary to save the boats, and, further, to demonstrate the extreme ease of the problem that looked so difficult. And then--but it was of no conceivable importance--a wire-rope raced through his hand, burning it, the high bank disappeared, and with it all the slowly dispersing factors of the problem. He was sitting in the rainy darkness--sitting in a boat that spun like a top, and Peroo was standing over him.
The main hawser has parted. What does the Sahib do?
An immensely complex plan had suddenly flashed into Findlayson’s
mind. He saw the ropes running from boat to boat in straight lines and
angles--each rope a line of white fire. But there was one rope which was the
master rope. He could see that rope. If he could pull it once, it was
absolutely and mathematically certain that the disordered fleet would reassemble itself in the backwater behind the guard-tower. But why, he wondered, was Peroo clinging so desperately to his waist as he hastened down the bank? It was necessary to put the Lascar aside, gently and slowly, because it was necessary to save the boats, and, further, to demonstrate the extreme ease of the problem that looked so difficult. And then--but it was of no conceivable importance--a wire-rope raced through his hand, burning it, the high bank disappeared, and with it all the slowly dispersing factors of the problem. He was sitting in the rainy darkness--sitting in a boat that spun like a top, and Peroo was standing over him.