"Stay behind, and brace yourself against the hatch-cover.

I'll get underneath and lift.

Once on the rail the two of us must shove it free overboard.

Here, keep a grip on this line, so the raft can't float away." She understood instantly, and, with a single swift glance at her dimly revealed figure, West straightened up, bearing the full weight on his shoulders, every muscle strained to the utmost, as he thus pressed it over inch by inch across the wooden barrier.

Twice he stopped, breathless, trembling in every limb, seemingly unable to exert another pound of strength.