“You scoundrel! you infernal scoundrel!” he exclaimed, as with one hand he wrenched away the revolver, while with the other he seized the fellow by the throat and shook him savagely. “What do you mean by such infamous conduct? Do you realise that you might have killed one of us? Have you gone mad; or what is the matter with you? Answer me, quick, or I will choke the life out of you!”
And, with a final shake that went near to dislocating Potter’s neck, Leslie flung the fellow furiously from him, dashing him against the rail with such violence that, after staggering stupidly for a moment, he sank to the deck, sitting there in a dazed condition.
The mate and three or four of the crew came running aft at this juncture, with some indefinite idea of interfering; then paused, gazing uncertainly from one to the other, evidently undecided as to what action, if any, they ought to take. They looked at the mate; and the mate looked at Leslie.
“You had better take him below, and let him lie down for a while, Mr Purchas,” said Leslie, assuming quite naturally the direction of affairs. “And when you have done so,” he continued, “I shall be obliged if you will kindly afford me the opportunity for a few minutes’ conversation.”
“All right,” answered the mate, “I will. Yes, that’ll be best; let’s take him below into my cabin. Lay hold here, Bill, and give me a hand to get the skipper down the companion ladder.”
With some difficulty they got Potter below and into the mate’s cabin, where they laid him in the bunk and, making him as comfortable as they could, left him to recover his scattered faculties. Meanwhile, Leslie, catching sight of the ship’s telescope hanging in beckets in the companion-way, took possession of it and, slipping the revolver into his jacket pocket, again ascended to the main-top; from which elevation, and with the aid of the telescope, he quickly satisfied himself that there certainly was at least one living person clinging to the wreckage and intermittently waving what looked like a strip of canvas, with the evident design of attracting the brig’s attention.
By the time that he had assured himself of this fact, Purchas had returned to the deck; seeing which, Leslie beckoned him up into the top.
“Look here, Purchas,” he said, as the mate scrambled over the rim and stood beside him, “I was right in my surmise, there is some living person, or persons, on that wreckage. Take the glass and satisfy yourself of the truth of my statement.”
The mate took the glass, and presently, removing the instrument from his eye, turned to Leslie.
“You are right, Mr Leslie,” he said, “there is somebody there, I can see him wavin’ something. Now, the question is, what’s to be done? The sun’s pretty near settin’, and it’ll be dark in half an hour or thereabouts.”