Wildly I grasped at the shrouds and halyards within reach. I gasped, turned blue and pale, and felt as if I was dying.
"Hold up!" cried the steward, who had come out behind me. "Don't try to kill yourself, young fellow! You're too venturesome. Here, let me lead you to the companion, and sit there by the steps."
He assisted me to the companion stair, and placed me in safety by the entrance to the little saloon.
The captain was on the bridge close by, over the chart-house. The ship was flush-decked, broken only by the commander's cabin, the charthouse, and the skylights, masts, and funnel. Forward was the men's berth and hatch. I could only observe these points when the captain hailed me.
"Hallo, my lad, are ye practisin' for the slack-wire? Would ye like a sling for yer legs?"
I blushed because the mate and steward laughed. The sailor at the wheel grinned silently.
"All right, captain," I replied, "I'll have a sling, please. Hoist away!"
The mate—I thought him the mate—on the deck laughed again, but in a different key. The captain spoke to him in a low tone. The officer came aft and beckoned to me to approach the bulwarks.
I staggered up as bidden, and in a moment he had secured me with a rope to a belaying pin amidships, beneath the bridge. The rope hurt me, and pressed hard upon my waist in front.
"Let me go," I cried, struggling to reach the deck, from which I was just lifted by the rope; "I can't breathe."