Saving a Brother’s Life.
There was a moment’s dead silence after Mark had, in his excitement, cried for help. Then the word “Fire!” was uttered sharply, and there was the deafening report of a gun, whose shot again passed between the schooner’s masts, but without doing the slightest harm. Then, almost mingled with the bass roar of the cannon, the captain’s orders rang out; the boatswain’s pipe sounded shrilly, and as the Nautilus was thrown up into the wind, and her sails began to shiver, down went the boat with its crew, Mark, at a sign from the captain, who gave him a friendly smile, having sprung in. Then there was a quick thrust off by the coxswain, the oars fell on either side with a splash, and the young midshipman stood up, balancing himself on the thwart in the stern-sheets, directing the officer who held the rudder-lines how to steer, for far-away on the moonlit water, when the swell rose high, he could still see the dark head and the rippling made by the swimmer struggling for his life.
“Starboard!” shouted Mark. “Pull, my lads, pull. Starboard a little more.”
“Starboard it is,” cried the officer. “See him still?”
“Yes,” cried Mark. “Oh, pull, my lads, pull, or he’ll go down before we get to him. Now port a little: they’re pulling stronger on one side than on the other—not too much. That’s right. Yes, I can—no, he is down in the hollow. There he is again. Pull your hardest,” he cried, excitedly; and the men jerked at their oars as they cheered.
“Hold on; we’re coming,” cried Mark to the drowning man, thoughtless of the fact that the negro would not understand his words, even if he heard them, which was doubtful in the wild agony of his struggle, as with breath growing short, weak as he was from confinement, he struck out more quickly, and fought hard with the waves for his unhappy life.
“See him still?” cried Mark’s companion, as the boat made the water foam.
“Yes—no—no,” said Mark, hoarsely; “he’s down in the hollow again. Straight on. We’re going right for him, and—”
“Don’t say he has gone down,” cried the officer.
“No; I shall see him directly. We must be close to him now. Ready there with the boathook.”