A NARROW ESCAPE.
By the time the sun went down we were well out of sight of land. Here the breeze was even stronger; and at last several of the sailors prevailed upon the man at the wheel to send down word to the captain that sail must be shortened.
Lowell came on deck with the captain, and both had been drinking heavily.
"Shorten sail!" roared the captain. "Not a bit of it. If the mast goes, let her go."
Nevertheless, the wind soon freshened so much that several of the sails were reefed. I watched the performance from the bow.
"Here you, why don't you get to work?" cried Lowell savagely, as he came forward.
"I don't know what to do," I replied quietly.
"Don't know what to do? You're too lazy to do anything. Get aloft there!"
"Where?"
"There."
He pointed up to one of the masts. I looked in the direction indicated.
As I did so he caught me by the waist.
"I'll teach you to hit me!" he hissed.
"Here, hold up!" I cried, in alarm.
"Shut up!"
He placed one of his brawny hands over my mouth, thus endeavoring to silence me, but with an effort I cast the hand aside.
"Let me go!"
"I'll let you go when I'm done with you!" he whispered.
He was evidently in a very ugly mood, and I saw that he did not intend to treat me with any show of gentleness. Nevertheless, I was hardly prepared for what followed.
Once again he placed his hand over my mouth, and this time, in spite of my struggles, he managed to keep it there. Then he gradually forced me close to the rail.
In vain I tried to break away from him. He exerted all of his strength, and being but a boy, I was no match for him. In another moment he had me hard against the rail.
I endeavored to turn my head to see if our struggle was not noticed by some of the others. But Lowell kept my eyes turned seaward, and now he caught me about the arms and the waist.
"I'll fix you!" he went on, with a hiccough. "I'll teach you to hit me!"
"Let—let me go!" I managed to gasp.
"Oh, I'll let you go!" he went on, sarcastically. "I'll let you go quicker than you expect, you imp! How do you like that, eh?"
And the next instant he had hurled me bodily over the side. I went spinning through the air, and then fell with a splash into the waters of Long Island Sound!
