or I felt as if my mouth and
throat were quite dry, and there I stood hanging on to the rope, till in
a curious hoarse whisper the man said--

"I'd say make fast the end o' the rope about me; but--"

"Can you hold on the while?" I said; for my voice came back at this.

"Try, lad."

I don't know how I did it in so short a time; but it was Bob Hampton's
teaching that made me so quick, as, leaving Mr Frewen to hold up the
bight, I seized the end, passed it round the man's chest, and made it
fast, and as I finished he said softly--

"Here goes!"

Then he began to climb, and as he went up I soon found that the rope was
being drawn through our hands. But we kept our touch of it, so that if
he fell we could still let it glide till he reached the water, and then
hold on till a boat was lowered to save him. Up he went, breathing very
hard, higher and higher, with a loud, rustling noise. Then he stopped a
little, and we tightened our hold, for we thought he was gone; but he
struggled on again, up and up, and at last hung quite still, and now we
felt that it was all over, for he was exhausted. I listened for the
horrible splash, but it did not come, for he began again, and we heard
one of his hands give a sharp smack.

"What's that?" whispered Mr Preddle through the opening, but neither of
us replied.

We could not, though we knew that Bob Hampton must have loosened his
grip of the rope with one hand to make a dash at the top of the
bulwarks. Then there came a faint scraping sound, and I turned giddy
from the cessation of the intense drag upon my brain. For I knew that
the poor fellow had reached the deck. In proof thereof the rope was
shaken sharply, and then jerked out of our hands. A faint scraping
sound followed, and I knew it was being drawn up.

I heard no more till Mr Frewen spoke to me; his voice sounding strange
through a peculiar, loud, humming noise in my ears.

"Feel better, my lad?"

"Better!" I said wonderingly. "I'm not ill."

"Oh no," he said, "not ill; only a little faint."

"Here," I said sharply, "why did you lay me on the floor?"

"You fell," he said; "or rather you slipped down. There, drink a little
of this water."

"Is he all right again?" came out of the darkness in a sharp whisper.

"Yes, coming round now," I heard Mr Frewen say.

"Yes, I remember now," I cried quickly. "But Bob Hampton, did he get up
safely?"

"Yes, quite safely."

Just then there was a sharp rattling