His words were calm and dignified, and I felt sure that in the common danger that threatened us he had forgotten any animosity he might have felt towards me. So I sprang to my station, and saw that our yawl was lowered into the tossing sea.
Master Marshall was first off, clearing from the brig’s side without mishap, and then my men tumbled into their waiting craft.
“Ready, sir,” I reported to the skipper, who still stood near the cabin as though loath to leave his vessel.
“All right,” he responded pleasantly, coming promptly over to the rail. “You are younger and sprier than I, Master Dunn, and so I’ll swing down first, and you may follow.”
“Certainly, sir,” I answered, and watched him as he disappeared in the darkness down the rope. I even took hold of the line to steady it, for it was swaying violently with every heave of the boat.
A moment later I knew he had reached the yawl in safety, for the cord was relieved of his weight, and so I swung myself over the rail to follow him. The next instant the rope parted below my feet and I was left dangling in the air. For a minute I knew not what to do, then thinking if the line had given away at the stern of the craft, her bow was probably still holding fast, I drew myself up as best I could to the deck, and hurried over to the other fastening. Swinging for the second time over the rail, I endeavored to lower myself down to the yawl, but as I did so I became aware of two things: this rope was also loose, and someone else as well as myself was clinging to it. Before I had recovered from my astonishment at these discoveries, the voice of Bill Howard cried out just below me:
“Go back, sir! For God’s sake, go back, sir! The Capt’n has cut you loose!”
CHAPTER IV
A DASTARDLY TRICK
It was neither the time nor the place to question this astounding announcement, so I drew myself back to the deck of the brig as best I could, and the next moment Bill Howard landed beside me.
“What is it you say, Bill?” I now demanded. “The Captain cut me loose? Then how come you here? Tell me all about it,” for though I knew Captain Weston was angry with me, I could hardly believe he would vent his spite in an act which imperiled my life.