as
going ahead to accomplish all that was humanly possible. From now on
there was to be no doubting, no turning back. A voice, high-pitched,
echoed to me across the water, reaching my ears a mere thread of
sound, the words indistinguishable. It must have been an order, for, a
moment later, I distinguished the clank of capstan bars, as though men
of the crew were engaged in warping the vessel off shore for greater
safety. The movement was too deliberate and noiseless to mean the
lifting of the anchor, nor was it accompanied by any flapping of sail,
or shifting of yards to denote departure. Nevertheless even this
movement decided me to delay my attempt no longer, and, with strong,
silent strokes I swam forward, directly breasting the force of the
incoming sea, yet making fair progress. Some unconsidered current must
have swept me to the right, for, when the outlines of the bark again
became dimly visible through the night, I found myself well to
starboard of the vessel, and quite likely would have passed it by
altogether, but for the sudden rattle of a block aloft, causing me to
glance in that direction. As my eyes explored the darkness, yet
uncertain that I really beheld the _Namur_, a light flared for a brief
instant, and I had glimpse of a face illumined by the yellow glare, as
the single spark of flame ignited a cigarette. It was all over with
so swiftly, swallowed up in that blackness, as to seem a vision of
imagination. Yet I knew it to be real. Stroking well under water, and
with only my eyes exposed above the surface, I changed my course to
the left, and slowly and cautiously drew in toward the starboard bow.
A few moments later, unperceived from above, and protected from
observation by the bulge of the overhang, and density of shadow, my
hands clung to the anchor hawser, my mind busy in devising some means
for attaining the deck.

CHAPTER X

ON THE DECK OF THE NAMUR

It was here that fortune favored me, strengthening my decision, and
yielding a fresh courage to persevere. The pounding of the seas
against the bow rendered other sounds, for the moment, unnoticeable,
while the current swept so strongly against my submerged body as to
compel me to cling tightly to the swaying rope to prevent being
overcome. Close as I was the bark appeared scarcely more than a dense
shadow swaying above me, without special form, and unrevealed by the
slightest gleam of light, merely a vast bulk, towering between sea and