Half a dozen had started without being asked; and Mark's overzealous friend was grabbed by the hair and arms and feet and rushed in in great style. He came up smiling as usual.
"Got out too far, b'gee!" he began. "Very foolish of me! Reminds me of a story I once heard—— Oh, say!"
This last explanation came as the speaker caught sight of the figure of the young girl; and his face lost its smile on the instant.
"She's alive, isn't she?" he cried.
"Don't know," said Fischer. "Here comes the doctor now."
"Well, she certainly is a beautiful girl!" responded Dewey, shaking his head. "B'gee, we don't want that kind to die!"
The doctor was coming on a run; and a minute later he was kneeling beside the young girl's body.
"Jove!" he muttered. "Almost a fractured skull! No, she's alive! See here, who got her out?"
"Mr. Mallory," responded the captain, turning toward where Mark had sat. And then he gave vent to a startled exclamation.
"Good heavens! He's fainted! What's the matter?"