He felt himself grasped and held strongly by hands from above, and then slowly hauled upward. He saw the whole boat lifted on a giant sea and then swept wildly against the ship’s steel side. A crash of splintered wood. Then all was darkness.
Phil opened his eyes in his own room, with Sydney and Marshall bending over him and a doctor binding up a cut over his temple. Two or three times he attempted to speak, to find out the worst. He knew that the life of every man sacrificed was caused by his impulse. He had given the order to lower the boat directly contrary to the stated instructions of the officer of the deck.
He had not the courage to ask of the fate of his men. He had seen the boat go to pieces with his own eyes, surely some of the crew had been drowned.
He could not stand the suspense a moment longer. He must know all. It would be better than this uncertainty.
“Syd, tell me what happened?” he whispered hoarsely.
“All were saved,” Sydney answered. “We abandoned the boat, of course. You were struck by a splinter as you were being hauled on board. You are the biggest man on this ship to-night, Phil.”
The joyful news made the overwrought boy tremble. He turned his face away to hide his emotion.
Greatly strengthened by the happy tidings, he put on dry clothes and, despite Sydney’s offer to stand the remainder of his watch, made his way to the bridge to report his return to Lazar. It seemed an age since he had responded to that terrifying cry, but the clock told him it had been but scarce a half hour ago.
What would Lazar say? Would not success wipe away the guilt of disobedience? What was the loss of a boat compared to the loss of a human life?
With a cheerful ring in his voice he reported his return to duty.