Page:At the Fall of Port Arthur.djvu/39

Rh would only call when in dire peril. He ran out on the slippery deck in double-quick order.

"Hullo, where are you?" he yelled.

"Here! Help!"

The young second mate caught sight of the captain not a moment too soon. Another lurch of the Columbia had thrown him completely over the rail, and there he clung with one hand, while the spray was flying all over him.

Not waiting to count the possible cost, Larry slid rather than ran to the rail. Years before he had learned a trick which now stood him in good stead. He wound his legs around the under rail, catching the upper one with his left hand. Then he clutched Captain Ponsberry by the tangled-up arm.

"On deck there!" he yelled. "Throw a rope this way, and hurry up about it!"

"What's the trouble?" came from Tom Grandon, who had been in another part of the ship and had not heard the captain's cry.

"The captain is almost overboard. Throw us a rope."

Tom Grandon was quick to act. The rope came whizzing toward Larry, and in a twinkling he had it around his body and also around the captain.

"Haul in!" he called, and Grandon and two