tirely spoil his figurehead, 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 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 again, 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 only lost my wind,
and if I had not had presence of mind enough to kick as I did, I should
have bu'st in your arms!"

"Well, well, so be it," resumed Jack with a smile.--"But the upshot of
it was that we had to hold another consultation on the point; and I
really believe that had it not been for a happy thought of mine, we
should have been consulting there yet."

"I wish we had!" again interrupted Peterkin with a sigh.--"I'm sure,
Ralph, if I had thought that you were coming back again I would
willingly have awaited your return for months rather than have endured
the mental agony which I went through.--But proceed."

"The thought was this," continued Jack--"that I should tie Peterkin's
hands and feet with cords, and then lash him firmly to a stout pole
about five feet long, in order to render him quite powerless and keep
him straight and stiff. You should have seen his face of horror, Ralph,
when I suggested this! But he came to see that it was his only chance,
and told me to set about it as fast as I could; `for,' said he, `this is
no jokin', Jack, _I_ can tell you, and the sooner it's done the better.'
I soon procured the cordage and a suitable pole, with which I returned
to the cave, and lashed him as stiff and straight as an Egyptian mummy;
and, to say truth, he was no bad representation of what an English mummy
would be, if there were such things, for he was as white as a dead man.

"`Now,' said Peterkin in a tremulous voice, `swim with me as near to the
edge of the hole as you can before you dive; then let me take a long
breath; and as I sha'n't be able to speak after I've taken it, you'll
watch my face, and the moment you see me wink--dive! And oh,' he added
earnestly, `pray don't be long!'

"I promised to pay the strictest attention to his wishes, and swam with
him to the outlet of the cave. Here I paused. `Now, then,' said I,
`pull away at the wind,