Part 18 (1/2)

”He has prevented your committing murder, if that's what you mean. You ought to thank him.”

”Take care, sir!” thundered the captain, ”or I may put you in irons, also.”

”I reckon you might find a little opposition,” said the Yankee, quietly. ”I'm a pa.s.senger on this vessel, Captain Hill, and your authority doesn't extend to me.”

”We'll see about that, sir,” said the captain, and he grasped Stubbs by the collar.

Now, the Yankee was not a heavy man, but he was very strong and wiry, and, moreover, in his early days, like Abraham Lincoln, he had been the best wrestler in the Vermont village in which he was born. He was a very quiet, peaceable man, but he was accustomed to resent insult in an effective way. He wrenched himself free by a powerful effort; then, with a dexterous movement of one of his long legs, he tripped up the captain, who fell in a heap upon the deck. The shock, added to the effects of his intoxication, seemed to stupefy the captain, who remained where he fell.

”Boys,” said Stubbs, coolly, to the two sailors, who had been ordered to put Harry in irons, ”hadn't you better help the captain into his cabin? He seems to be unwell.”

Just then the mate came on deck. He didn't make inquiries, but took in the situation at a glance, and a.s.sisted the captain to his feet.

”Shall I help you downstairs, sir?” he asked.

The captain silently acquiesced, and the prime actor in this rather startling scene left the deck.

Jack Pendleton scrambled down from his elevated perch with the agility of a cat. He ran up to Harry, and grasped his hand with evident emotion.

”You have saved my life!” he said. ”I will always be your friend. I would lay down my life for you.”

”It's all right, Jack,” said Harry, rather shyly. ”You would have done the same for me.”

”Yes, I would,” answered Jack, heartily, ”But there's no one else who would have done it for me.”

”Are you going to leave me out, my boy?” asked the Yankee, with a smile on his plain but good-natured face.

”No, sir,” responded Jack. ”You stood up to the captain like a man. He didn't frighten you.”

”No, I wasn't much scared,” drawled Stubbs, contorting his features drolly. ”But, I say, young man, I've got a piece of advice to give you. You don't seem to be much of a favorite with the captain.”

”It doesn't look so,” said Jack, laughing in spite of the danger through which he had pa.s.sed.

”Just you keep out of his way as much as you can. When a man gets as full as he does, he's apt to be dangerous.”

”Thank you, sir; I will.”

Among the spectators of the scene just described, the most panic-stricken, probably was Montgomery Clinton, the Brooklyn dude.

After the captain had gone below, he walked up to Harry, whom he regarded with evident admiration.

”I say, you're quite a hero. I was awfully frightened, don't you know, when that big bully aimed at the sailor boy.”

”You looked a little nervous, Mr. Clinton,” said Harry, smiling.

”You were awfully brave, to knock the pistol out of his hand. I don't see how you dared to do it.”

”I didn't stop to think of danger. I saw that Jack's life was in danger, and I did the only thing I could to save him.”