ow. I'll be back in a brace of shakes. Just keep your
eye on him, Chips," I whispered to the carpenter, who was at the wheel.
"I'll not be gone more than half a minute."

"Right you are, sir," responded the carpenter, turning his quid in his
mouth as the skipper obediently seated himself on the wheel grating,
while I made a rush for the companion. I turned up the cabin lamp,
procured a tumbler, and was in the act of measuring out a liberal dose
of lime juice when I heard the carpenter's voice suddenly upraised in
accents of panic.

"Man overboard! Man overboard!!" he shouted. "Mr Temple, come on
deck, sir; the skipper's been and throwed hisself over the lee rail!"

Flinging down the tumbler and bottle of lime juice, I mounted the
companion ladder in two jumps, nearly dashing my brains out against the
slide in my haste, and stared stupidly about me for a moment, being more
than half-stunned. Then, as I pulled myself together, I heard Chips
repeating, parrot-wise:

"He just laid his han's upon the rail and swung hisself clean overboard,
like a boy jumpin' a gate."

"Down helm, man; down helm and round her to!" I roared. And rushing to
the main rigging I let go the lee braces and began to drag frantically
upon the weather ones in an ineffectual effort to back the topsail.
Then I remembered that the weather studdingsails were set, being
reminded thereof, in fact, by the snapping of the topmast
studdingsail-boom, as the schooner, with her helm hard a-lee, rushed
furiously up into the wind, and her topgallantsail, topsail, and
squaresail flew aback, and the broken spar began to thresh spitefully
against the fore rigging in the fresh breeze. I saw at once that I had
made a mess of things to no purpose, and also stood to make a far worse
mess of them if I was not careful; for the amount of sail which the
schooner could carry while running off the wind was altogether too much
for her when brought to, and she was now lying over with her lee rail
buried, with the possibility that her masts might go over the side at
any moment if she were not relieved in one way or another. As for
saving the skipper, that was impossible: for--as I had forgotten for the
moment--we were now, owing to the loss of six of our foremast men,
short-handed, and we could not possibly launch a boat until the schooner
was snugged down; and by the time we had done that we should be miles
away from the spot where the skipper had gone overboard, wi