The helm was put on the yacht, and she payed off on the opposite tack to that on which she had before been sailing.

As soon as the jib filled, Tom gave two vigorous blows with his hatchet on the hawser, and, as he lifted his hand for a third, it parted.

Then came the sharp rattle of the chains as they ran round the hawser holes.

The trysail was hoisted and sheeted home, and the Seabird was under way again.

Tom, as before, conned the ship from the bow.