“Shall I help you downstairs, sir?” he asked.
The captain silently acquiesced, and the prime actor in this rather startling scene left the deck.
Jack Pendleton scrambled down from his elevated perch with the agility of a cat. He ran up to Harry, and grasped his hand with evident emotion.
“You have saved my life!” he said. “I will always be your friend. I would lay down my life for you.”
“It’s all right, Jack,” said Harry, rather shyly. “You would have done the same for me.”
“Yes, I would,” answered Jack, heartily, “But there’s no one else who would have done it for me.”
“Are you going to leave me out, my boy?” asked the Yankee, with a smile on his plain but good-natured face.
“No, sir,” responded Jack. “You stood up to the captain like a man. He didn’t frighten you.”
“No, I wasn’t much scared,” drawled Stubbs, contorting his features drolly. “But, I say, young man, I’ve got a piece of advice to give you. You don’t seem to be much of a favorite with the captain.”
“It doesn’t look so,” said Jack, laughing in spite of the danger through which he had passed.