"The pilots," said R——, out of King's hearing, "wish now to run back into the Fiord; but if King is not rallying, I think we had better go on. We may get through it somehow."
"I am willing," I replied, "to do anything you propose; but I am sure if we be not at Bergen to-morrow, King will be dead."
"I agree with you," answered P——.
"Very well, then," said R——, "as far as we three are concerned, it's a bargain."
"It is," we both replied.
"I will now hear what the men say," R—— continued, smiling with his wonted lively air, "for I can't drown them all without giving them a little time to pipe to prayers."
Approaching King, he observed, as light-heartedly as the occasion would give cause,
"Keep up your courage, King; we shall be at Bergen to-morrow morning by daylight."
"Shall we, my Lord? Thank God!" said the poor fellow solemnly. "But, my Lord," he went on saying, with a forced smile, "though I am sick, I am a sailor. I know this channel well, my Lord—it is narrow, full of blinders, and,—"
"Never mind the blinders," replied R——, with gaiety; "if your messmates will thrash through them, I will."