CHAPTER X
ON BOARD THE "EMMA FARLEIGH"
I AWOKE to consciousness with the sensation of being tossed upon the waves, though, fortunately, not in them.
I was lying upon the wet deck of a small fishing craft; my head was supported by a coil of rope, while my coat and doublet had been removed and a bandage placed around my shoulder. My left arm was in a sling.
A man was kneeling by my side to prevent my being slung bodily to lee'ard with the heel of the craft, for a steady breeze hummed through the rigging, making the vessel lie over to it as she tore on her course, while ever and again a sting of salt spray came dashing over the low bulwark.
It was just growing light, a grey misty morning, while in the east a rosy red betokened the dawning of a stormy day.
"Better?" asked the man with a peculiar grunt, as I opened my eyes.
"Where am I?" I asked drowsily.
"Safe aboard th' Emma Farleigh," he remarked, "an' well-nigh half-way over."
"Over where?" I exclaimed wonderingly.