During such a time as one might have counted ten she was literally high and dry, and in that short interval Ned had sufficient presence of mind to shout:
“Jump! Jump now while you’ve got the chance, an’ I’ll catch you!”
One of the two obeyed, throwing himself, rather than leaping, from the deck, which was almost perpendicular, and Ned rushed forward, seizing him by the coat just as the waves returned with an angry howl and roar.
Instantly on touching the sand the sufferer staggered forward and fell on his face, where he lay like one dead; but Ned managed to drag him beyond the reach of the surf and turned his attention to the other.
“When the water goes back you must jump!” he shrieked, and this command was emphasized by the violent rolling of the little craft as the sea nearly turned her over. “One more wave like that an’ it will be too late!”
The words were understood, and two minutes afterward Ned was dragging the second body high up on the beach; but whether or no he had succeeded in saving life it was impossible to say.
Both the rescued ones lay on the sand as if dead, and Ned gazed at them helplessly, not knowing what should be done.
To his surprise, for until this moment he had not had any time to note details, he saw that both were boys about his own age, and even at this dreadful moment, when it was a question whether they were yet alive, he wondered how it was that two young fellows should be alone on a yacht like the one which promised speedily to become food for the waves.
While he stood looking at them helplessly, the one who had first reached the shore opened his eyes, stared around in alarm, and then attempted to rise to his feet.
He was too nearly exhausted to permit of such an exertion, and would have fallen backward had Ned not seized him by the coat collar again.