? ? ? ? There was the mainmast, fifteen inches in diameter at what was now the butt, still sixty-five feet in length, and weighing, I roughly calculated, at least three thousand pounds. And then came the foremast, larger in diameter and weighing surely thirty-five hundred pounds. Where was I to begin? Maud stood silently by my side while I evolved in my mind the contrivance known among sailors as 'shears.' But, though known to sailors, I invented it there on Endeavor Island. By crossing and lashing the ends of two spars and then elevating them in the air like an inverted V, I could get a point above the deck to which to make fast my hoisting-tackle. To this tackle I could, if necessary, attach a second tackle. And then there was the windlass!
? ? ? ? Maud saw that I had achieved a solution, and her eyes warmed sympathetically.
? ? ? ? 'What are you going to do?' she asked.
? ? ? ? 'Clear that raffle,' I answered, pointing to the tangled wreckage overside.
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