As Will made his daring plunge Josh Heist on rushed to the side, and
stood with starting eyes gazing at the disturbed water. Then turning
fiercely upon the skipper, he caught him by the shoulder, gave him a
twist, and dragged him within reach of his deformed arm, the hand of
which fastened upon his waist-belt, and held him perfectly helpless,
although he seemed to be a much stronger man.
"This was your doing!" cried Josh angrily, but with quite a wail in his
intoned words. "You drove him to do that gashly thing!"
"Don't be a fool, Josh! Here, let go! Do you hear, let go!"
"If he don't come I'll send you after him!" cried Josh, with his face
flushed with anger.
"Do you want the lad to drown for want of help?" cried the skipper; and
his words acted like magic. Josh loosed his hold, and once more ran to
the side.
Meanwhile the pumping had been kept up, and a constant stream of
air-bubbles could be seen ascending; but the men who had hauled upon the
life-line had kept it taut, and were still hauling as those who were
gazing down into the clear water, vainly trying to make out the
movements of the two divers, suddenly uttered a shout.
"Here he comes!" cried the skipper; and Josh, who had been holding his
breath in the agony of suspense, gave a loud expiration as the lad
suddenly appeared above the surface, panting for breath, and swam to the
ladder, shaking the water from his eyes and hair.
"Slack the line!" he cried; "it's round a rock. Give me one of those
leads."
Josh, who had been the first to oppose the descent, was now the first to
help, by seizing the back lead left upon the barrel head, and, with
cat-like agility, leaping to the ladder and going down to the swimmer.
A dozen voices were shouting words of advice to Will, but the lad paid
no heed; he merely drew himself up on the ladder, saw that the life-line
was slack, and, clasping the leaden back-piece with both hands, with the
life-line running loosely between his arms to act as a guide, he once
more plunged into the sea, the weight seeming to take him down with
tremendous force.
One instant the ponderous lead struck the water, the next there was a
confused foam on the surface, and Will was gone.
The moments that followed seemed prolonged to hours. There was an
indistinct movement visible in the disturbed water; the bubbles of air
seemed to be lashing up more fiercely as the life-line was drawn rapidly
through the hands that held it, and then, once more, Will's head
appeared, and he swam towards the ladder.
He could not speak, but made a sign with one hand.
"Haul!" cried Josh; "haul away!" as he reached out, caught Will's arm,
and drew him to the ladder; holding him up, for he was utterly
exhausted, and could hardly get his breath.
And there they stayed while the line was hauled up, and the diver once
more appeared above the surface; the poor fellow being hoisted on deck
and his helmet rapidly unfastened and removed.
The men looked helplessly from one to the other as they lifted their
eyes from the blackened countenance that one of the lighter's men was
supporting on his arm. No one seemed to know what would be best to do,
and a couple were ordered into the boat to row ashore for the doctor.
"Why don't you take off them gashly things?" cried Josh, who had now
helped Will to the deck, where he stood holding on by a stay, trembling
in every limb.
Two men immediately began to take off the heavy india-rubber diving
suit, with its copper collar and heavy leaden-soled boots, with the
result that when the poor fellow was freed from these encumbrances and
once more laid upon the dock, the lifting and moving he had received
proved so far beneficial that he uttered a low sigh, and the purple
tinge began to die out from his face.
"He's a coming to!" said the skipper eagerly; and his words proved to be
right, for at the end of half an hour the poor fellow had recovered
consciousness, and was able to say that his life-line had become hitched
round a mass of rock, to which was attached some very long grown strands
of sea-weed, and these had been swept by the water right over the line.
Then when he had tried to free it his hands only came in contact with
the loose slimy wrack, and after a trial or two he had become confused
and excited.
"And you know I've allus told you as a diver should be as cool as a
cucumber," said his chief.
"Yes, I know all about that," said the diver huskily, "and so I meant to
be; but when you're shut-up in one o' them soots and are down in three
or four fathom o' water, and thinking your life-line's fast, you don't
seem as if you could be cool, mate."
"But you ought to be," said the chief severely; "and now, all along o'
your getting in a flurry, here's the newest helmet with a great dent in
the neck, so as it won't screw down on the collar, and I shall have to
pay damages out o' my wage."
"Better than having to pay to keep my wife and weans," said the diver
huskily; "and now I want to have a look at that young chap as dived and
set free the line."
"Here he be!" cried Josh eagerly, hauling at Will's arm; "here he be,
lad. Ain't much of a chap to have done it, be he?"
Josh laughed, and gave Will a thrust forward, much to the lad's
discomfort, for there was a low murmur of admiration from the little
group around.
"Oh, it's nothing to make such a fuss about!" said Will, whose cheeks
were burning now, as he stood there with the sea-water slowly soaking
from his clothes, and making a little puddle on the deck.
"No!" said the diver huskily; "it's nothing to make a fuss about; only
one man saving another man's life, when nobody else knew what to do!"
"Oh, it was an accident!" said Will kindly; "and they hadn't time to
think."
"Yes," said the diver, looking softly up at Will; "an accident, my lad,
and nothing to make a fuss about; but there's some one at home as would
have made a fuss about it, and you've done more than save me, my lad;
you've saved a poor woman from a broken heart, and six bairns from
wanting charity; that's all. Let's shake hands!"
He held out his hand to Will in the midst of a strange silence, and held
that of the young man with a very strong grip, before sinking back with
his head upon a ship's fender, and closing his eyes.
"He arn't a bad sort of chap," said Josh softly, as Will drew back; "but
I don't hold with a fellow, even if he have just been drowned, coming to
life again and calling a boy like you a man. You're wain enough as it
is, and you've no call to be. So come along ashore, and get home and
change them wet clothes."
Will said a word to the chief of the divers about where the lead weights
lay, and then stepped over the side to Josh, who was already in the
lugger's boat, without letting any one know that he was going.
Josh thrust off the boat, let his oar fall with a splash, and Will
followed his example; but they were not a dozen yards from the lighter
before they were missed, and divers and crew rushed to the side and gave
a tremendous cheer.
"Here, come back!" cried the skipper; "come back!"
"Arn't got time," roared Josh, frowning; and then, as the men cheered
again: "Well, of all the gashly fuss as was ever made this is about the
worst! Pull hard, my lad, and let's get out of it. I want to go home."
"And I want to get warm, Josh," said Will laughing. "I'm glad that poor
fellow came round before we left."
"Well, I dunno," said Josh, sourly. "Of course you liked it because he
called you a man. He ought to have knowed better, at his time o' life.
Lor', Will, what a gashly peacock of a chap you would grow if it warn't
for me."