“Aye!” replied the skipper, not quite making out what the other was driving at. “I’m captain of this ship!”
“Merciful Heavens!” cried the rescued man, falling on his knees on the deck and bursting into a passion of sobs. “Thanks be to God! Yes, thanks be to God! You will save her, captain. You will save her?”
The skipper thought the evident suffering he had gone through had turned his brain.
“Save who?” he asked, adding in a kinder tone: “Of course, we’ll do anything and everything we can for you, but I must know my bearings first, my friend.”
The man was on his feet at once.
“I am not mad, captain, as you appear to think. I can see from your manner you think so,” he said. “I want you to save my Elsie, my only child, my little daughter, whom those villains, those black devils, are carrying off!”
“Your only child, your daughter—black devils,” echoed Captain Applegarth, astonished at the poor man’s speech and at his wild and agonised look. “What do you mean, sir?”
“Heavens! We’re losing time while those scoundrels are getting away with the ship!” exclaimed the other frantically and walking to and fro in a most excited state. “Fire up the engines, pile on the coals and steam like the devil! and go in chase of her, my good captain, you will? For Heaven’s sake, captain, for the love of God, start at once in chase of her!”
“In chase of whom?” asked Captain Applegarth, still believing him to be out of his mind. “In chase of whom?”
The man uttered a heart-rending cry, in which anger, grief and piteous appeal were alike blended.