noon
This , and the smell of hot iron , was all that there was to tell of our smouldering coal below , but ` Frisco men from the Water Front are sharp as ferrets , and very little would give them an inkling of the state of affairs . Presently we raised the land broad on the port bow , and two of us were perched on the fore-to ` gal ` nt yard to look out for the pilot schooner ; or , if luck was in our way , a tow-boat . The land became more distinct as the day wore on , and the bearing of several conspicuous hills gave the Captain the position he sought . Before noon we reported smoke ahead , and the Mate , coming aloft with his telescope , made out the stranger to be a tow-boat , and heading for us . We were called down from aloft , and the ship was put about . We were now , for the second time , heading away from our port ; and when the Mate set us to slap the paint on the burned patch , we understood the Old Man 's manoeuvre , which had the object of preventing the tow-boat from rounding to on our starboard side . Her skipper would there have assuredly seen evidences of our plight , and would not have been slow to take advantage of it .