And, without so much as a hint of hesitancy, the little fellow shoved a boat hook back at me with the word to keep by the steamer, which had not yet quite lost her way.
I believe it was really because he caught sight of the girl, who was naturally terrified. Anyway, the officer shot out a sharp order, and next instant the coils and rungs of a rope boarding ladder came swaying down to us.
“Come on, Stella,” chuckled the owner, taking her arm and trying hard to repress his gleeful satisfaction at the way things were going. “Keep a stiff upper lip, girl, and hold tight. There’s really no danger, and you are as spry as a monkey. Up you go!”
And up she did go with an agility and grace that only a man who knows a rope ladder could appreciate.
The owner followed her immediately; and, the instant he was fairly on his way to the deck of the steamer above us, I got my next surprise.
“Shove off!” snapped Stevens, in a sharp whisper to me.
Almost mechanically I did so; for I was in that particular daze of unreality we are all familiar with.
“Full speed ahead!” came the next quick command; and I threw the gear from the “neutral.” The cogs caught nicely, and we gathered instant motion.
And in less than a minute thereafter we were speeding away, the steering gear working like new.
In my day I have known more conventional ways of taking passage to Portland, Maine.