"The sticks will never bear it, sir," answered I. "Look at our topmasts now; they are bending like fishing-rods as it is; and unless we rig the preventers pretty quickly we shall lose them, in my opinion."
"The Log of a Privateersman"
Harry Collingwood
"Then get up your preventers at once, my dear fellow," answered the skipper; "and be as smart as you please about the job.
"The Log of a Privateersman"
Harry Collingwood
When the men had dined, Spike brought one of his purchases to the windlass, and the other to the capstan, though not until each was bowsed taut by hand; a few minutes having brought the strain so far on everything, as to enable a seaman, like Spike, to form some judgment of the likelihood that his preventers and purchases would stand.
"Jack Tier or The Florida Reef"
James Fenimore Cooper