"How did you get there?"
"Fell here, sir. I didn't jump, sir. Honest, I fell off the ship. I might have been going yet if——"
"That will do," commanded the officer in a stern voice. "Get off the steamer's hood, and be quick about it!"
Sam slid down a stanchion, causing the small steamer to careen dangerously. Two sailors grabbed him by the legs and hauled him aboard, Hickey's head and shoulders being plunged into the sea as they did so.
Sam came aboard choking, sputtering and threatening to thrash the whole steamer's crew.
"Silence in steamer number one!" roared an officer.
"Aye, aye," answered Sam.
"You shut up!" ordered the coxswain. "Do you think you are running this boat?"
"I nearly ran my head through the roof of the confounded thing," retorted Sam, wringing the water out of his red hair. "What's all this row about, anyway? I don't see any fire or anything else worth getting out of bed for at this time of night."
"Sam, is that you making all that noise?" questioned Dan Davis, from a whaleboat that had pulled alongside.