"I'll race you to the top," signaled Davis.
"Go you!" answered Sam, starting up the ladder at a lively clip. Dan was not caught napping. He was off with Sam. Every little distance up these masts is a landing made of woven leather strands, and a person mounting to the top has to cross each one of these, taking a ladder on the other side.
The Battleship Boys barely struck the high places in crossing the landings. It seemed as if they surely must fall.
"Look careful, aloft there!" roared a voice from the bridge.
"Aye, aye, sir," floated back the reply from Hickey.
They had reached next to the last landing, far up there in the spray-laden air, when a shout attracted all eyes aft.
A man was seen hanging from the platform by his feet. With each roll of the ship his body would swing far out from the mast, as he hung suspended between sea and sky.
"Man the main mast!" thundered an officer, his voice being heard above the roar of the storm.
Half a dozen jackies sprang for the mast.
"Who is the man aloft there?" demanded the captain.