“Mr. Merrill, accept my congratulations upon as plucky a deed as I ever beheld,” and Captain De Long grasped the hand of the young midshipman.
“Thank you, sir; but I saw that he was hurt and could not swim,” said Mark modestly.
“You found him readily, it seems?”
“Yes, sir, and he was unconscious, so I had no trouble in keeping him up until the lifeboat took us in.”
“May I ask if you knew who it was when you made your leap to the rescue?”
“Yes, sir.”
Just then a cadet came up and said:
“Pardon, sir, but the surgeon asks to see Mr. Merrill.”
“Go below, Mr. Merrill, and then you had better turn in for the night. To-morrow morning report to me at eight bells.”
Mark departed from the quarter-deck and sought the surgeon’s quarters.