ppeared, I dived back into the cave, much to Peterkin's relief, and
told him what I had seen. We sat down and had a long talk over this
matter, and then we agreed to make a regular, systematic search through
the woods, so as to make sure, at least, that you had not been killed.
But now we thought of the difficulty of getting out of the cave without
your help. Peterkin became dreadfully nervous when he thought of this;
and I must confess that I felt some alarm, for, of course, I could not
hope alone to take him out so quickly as we two together had brought him
in; and he himself vowed that, if we had been a moment longer with him
that time, he would have had to take a breath of salt water. However,
there was no help for it, and I endeavoured to calm his fears as well as
I could: 'for,' said I, 'you can't live here, Peterkin;' to which he
replied, 'Of course not, Jack, I can only die here, and, as that's not at
all desirable, you had better propose something.' So I suggested that he
should take a good long breath, and trust himself to me.

"'Might we not make a large bag of cocoa-nut cloth, into which I could
shove my head, and tie it tight round my neck?' he asked, with a haggard
smile. 'It might let me get one breath under water!'

"'No use,' said I; 'it would fill in a moment and suffocate you. I see
nothing for it, Peterkin, if you really can't keep your breath so long,
but to let me knock you down, and carry you out while in a state of
insensibility.'

"But Peterkin didn't relish this idea. He seemed to fear that I could
not be able to measure the exact force of the blow, and might, on the one
hand, hit him so softly as to render a second or third blow necessary,
which would be very uncomfortable; or, on the other hand, give him such a
smash as would entirely spoil his figure-head, or, mayhap, knock the life
out of him altogether! At last I got him persuaded to try to hold his
breath, and commit himself to me; so he agreed, and down we went. But I
had not got him half way through, when he began to struggle and kick like
a wild bull, burst from my grasp, and hit against the roof of the tunnel.
I was therefore, obliged to force him violently back into the cave gain,
where he rose panting to the surface. In short, he had lost his presence
of mind, and--"

"Nothing of the sort," cried Peterkin, indignantly, "I had only lost my
wind; and if I had not had presence of mind enough to kick as I did, I
should have