winter midnight
Yet all these dangers were cheerfully faced by these men from a pure desire to serve their fellow-creatures , and without the slightest hope of reward , for they knew at the very outset that there would not be much hope of salvage , with a vessel on the sands in such a terrible gale . The wreck was now directly astern of the smack , and only about one hundred feet distant , so that she could be distinctly seen , as it fortunately happened that the sky had been steadily clearing for the last quarter of an hour , allowing the moon to peep out unobscured now and then through an occasional break in the clouds . By the increasing light the smack 's crew were not only enabled to note the exact position of the wreck , but they could also see that a considerable number of people were clustered upon the poop of the half-submerged hull , some of them being women and children . The poor souls were all watching with the most intense anxiety the movements of those on board the smack , and if anything had been needed to stimulate the exertions of her crew it would have been abundantly found in the sight of those poor helpless mothers and their little ones clinging there to the shattered wreck in the bitter winter midnight , exposed to the full fury of the pitiless storm . A light heaving-line was quickly cleared away , and one end bent to a rope becket securely spliced to a small keg , which was then thrown overboard and allowed to drift down toward the wreck , the line being veered freely away at the same time . The crew of the wreck , anxiously watching the motions of those on board the smack , at once comprehended the object of this manoeuvre , and , as the keg drifted down toward them , made ready to secure it . But the set of the tide , the wash of the sea , or some other unexplained circumstance caused it to deviate so far from its intended course that it passed at a considerable distance astern of the wreck , notwithstanding the utmost endeavours of those on board to secure it ; in consequence of which it had to be hauled on board the smack again , and thus valuable time was lost .