Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/78



full half a minute Billy was quite certain that he was drowned and did not like it at all. The wet ropes and the heavy canvas clung to him, apparently determined that once  he went down he should never come up again. For a gasping moment he managed to get his head above water, had a sharp, clear vision of  the wide sea, the cloudy sky and Appledore  Island with its green slopes and wooded hills:  then he went down again. His next attempt was more fortunate, however, for he came up  clear of the wreckage and not far from the  boat, which was still afloat, bottom upwards. He swam to her in a few strokes and, after one or two efforts, managed to clamber up her  slippery hull. What was his joy and relief, on scrambling high enough to peer over the  centreboard, to see Captain Saulsby slowly and  laboriously crawling up the other side.

“Give us a hand up, boy,” he said a little breathless, but speaking in the calmest and 62