A sharp loud snap, and the top of the tree came down, the big leafage hiding Ned; but he was standing up close to the broken-off tree, which was now like a thick pole, and rubbing himself hard, with the sailors about him, when the lookers-on reached the spot.
“Oh, Ned!” cried Jack, who was first up.
“Yes, sir, it is ‘Oh, Ned!’” replied the man angrily.
“Hurt?” cried the others in a breath.
“Don’t know yet, Sir John,” said the man, “I think my right leg’s broke, though.”
“Here, let me see,” cried the doctor eagerly.
“No, it ain’t, sir,” said Ned, giving a kick. “It’s the left one.”
“Bah!” roared the doctor; “how could you stand upon it and kick out like that if it were broken?”
“Right you are, sir; of course I couldn’t. But something’s broke, for I heard it go. Maybe it’s my arms.”
“Maybe it’s your head,” said the doctor sarcastically, “for you are talking in a very crack-brained fashion. Let me buckle your belt round it tightly to hold it together.”