a good breeze, had
not a sea taken her on the bows, thrown her aback, and driven her stern
first against the one exposed portion of the reef, tearing away her
rudder, and smashing all the upper part of her stern. Yorke, who was
half-stunned by the boom swinging over, and striking him on the head as
he was rising to his feet after being hurled along the deck, felt that
he had received an injury to his hand, which was bleeding profusely.
But just then he gave no thought to it, for the next two or three seas
fortunately carried the cutter over the reef into deep water and safety.
When he came to examine his hand, he found it had been crushed, probably
by a piece of the heavy hardwood rail, and several splinters were
protruding from the back and wrist. These he had succeeded in
extracting, but the pain continued to increase day by day, and the palm
of the hand began to swell and gather.

"Perhaps there's a bit of timber in there yet," he remarked to us.

I thought so also, and so did Guest, and after torturing the poor fellow
a few minutes, I located the exact spot--just below the ball of the
thumb.

"Captain Yorke," I said, "I can cut it out, I am sure. But, frankly,
the thumb is a dangerous thing for an amateur surgeon to meddle with,
and----"

"I know," he interrupted quietly, "but I'd rather run the risk of
lockjaw than the certainty of blood poisoning, and I know that that
is what it will turn to. Last night I made up my mind to cut into the
damned thing this morning if that last poultice I put on had no effect.
Now go ahead. There's a bottle of carbolic acid below, which will be
useful, and my pocket-knife has a razor-edge."

In less than five minutes I set to work, and in a few more, to my
intense satisfaction--for I felt nervous--the thing was done, and I had
extracted a piece of wood half an inch long, and as thick as a small
quill. Then Guest and I carefully washed the wound over and over again
in a solution of carbolic acid, and in half an hour the hand was bound
up _pro tem_. Poor Yorke bore the pain without the twitching of an
eyelid, and I felt a sincere thankfulness when, two hours later, we saw
the change that relief from intense physical suffering had effected in
his features.

When we reached the brigantine, I was able to bandage the injured hand
in a more shipshape and proper manner, as we had an ample supply of
lint and other requirements; and within ten days he could use his hand
freely, though