"Let me go! let me go!" he screamed with the full strength of his lungs.
The effect was startling. In the prevailing silence the boy's voice was heard far out across the sea. Taken aback by such a show of resistance where none had before been offered, the captain promptly replaced the lad upon the seat.
"What's the matter with you? It was only a joke."
Bertie unclasped his arms. The expression of his face showed that it had been no joke to him. He looked like one who was not even yet quite sure that he had escaped from death.
The man at the helm was unable to see the seat on which they sat. The forward watch had been on the other side the ship. This man now advanced.
"What's the matter there?"
The captain met him with his most placid air.
"Did you hear my nephew's voice? He had no idea he spoke so loud; he was forgetting where we were."
The man advanced still closer.
"What's the matter with you, boy?"