ow.

"A man overboard!" The most thrilling words that can be uttered at
sea--words which chill the hearers for a moment and then are followed by
a wild feeling of excitement which pervades more than runs through a
ship, awakening it as it were with one great throb from frigid silence
to excited life. In this instance, as Frank Murray made his spring, his
words seemed to be echoed by Tom May in a deep roar as he too sprang
upon the rail, from which he leaped, throwing his hands on high as he
described a curve outward from the _Seafowl's_ side, and then in the
reverse of his position as his fingers touched the water there was a
heavy splash, and those who ran to the side caught sight of the soles of
his feet as he too disappeared for a short space beneath the rippled
sea.

There was but a trifle of confusion on deck: the orders rang out, but
almost before they were uttered the men were running to their stations
in connection with one of the boats, which was rapidly manned; the
blocks of the falls creaked as she sank down and kissed the water; the
varnished ash blades flashed in the sunshine as they were seized and run
from the rowlocks into regular double lines; and then, as they dipped,
the cutter seemed to be endued with life, and darted forward to the
rescue.

Meanwhile, confused by his sudden drag from daylight into semi-darkness
and confusion, Roberts had recovered himself sufficiently to begin
trying to free his wrist from the thin line which cut into it deeply as
tug, tug, tug, it was drawn tighter and tighter by the harpooned fish,
into whose back the barbed iron prongs had plunged deeply, and, far from
robbing it of life, seemed only to have nerved it and stimulated it with
a power that was extraordinary in a creature of its size. For the
midshipman, as he struck out with one arm, felt himself dragged beneath
the surface by his victim, whose efforts were directed entirely towards
sounding deeply to seek the safety offered by the darkness fathoms
below.

Tug and jerk, tug and jerk, in the midst of a confusion that grew more
and more wild, as the midshipman strove to free himself from the bond
which held him fast. The water thundered in his ears in a series of
strange sounds which deepened into one deafening roar. The power of
thinking of his position was rapidly passing away; the water above him
grew darker and darker; and at last in one involuntary effort the lad
ceased his struggle to free his wrist, a