These words which Robbins had spoken were ringing in the lad’s ears as he was plunged head foremost into the boiling waters, and he strove rather to keep his wits about him than to strike out for the shore.
He was conscious of coming in contact with the bottom, and then, as he rose to the surface, of being drawn back forcibly by the undertow, after which he threw his arms above his head lest he should be dashed against a rock.
It seemed as if he was whirled to and fro violently, then flung inshore, only to be dragged back again, and after that came a bewildering, sickening sensation, until it seemed as if some heavy object was pressing directly above him.
Involuntarily he clutched at it, and found a rope in his grasp.
An instant of confusion, and then he realized that he was floating by the side of the life-boat.
The craft had righted itself after being up-ended, for, unless serious damage had been done her hull, she would always swim in proper fashion, and it so chanced the waves had carried her directly over the lad who, by remaining passive in the surf, had done exactly that which was best calculated to insure his safety.
“I won’t lose my courage!” Benny said stoutly, and his own words served to animate him.
He hauled on the rope until finding that it was made fast inside the craft, when, by exerting all his strength, it was possible to clamber inboard, although by so doing the boat was filled to the gunwales with water.
“With this jacket on, and in a life-boat, I can’t sink, and the only fear is that I’ll be thrown against the rocks, the same as a life saver whom Mr. Hardy knew,” Benny said to himself.
Then, clutching the thwart, the lad looked around him with the idea that he might be able to render assistance to those of his companions who had not succeeded in gaining a place of safety.