"Yes; all the ships of the squadron but one get away."
"How long shall you be gone?"
"Six months at least---- Great God!"
He had not taken the glasses from his eyes as they talked, but had
watched the yacht as she came on to get under the lee of the high shore
at their right. He had noticed that one of those sudden fierce winds,
called Southerly Busters, was sweeping down towards the craft, and would
catch it when it came round sharp, as it must do. He recognised the boat
also. It belonged to Laura Harman's father, and her brother Archie was
in it. The gale caught the yacht as Dibbs foresaw, and swamped her.
He dropped the glass, cried to the girl to follow, and in a minute had
scrambled down the cliff, and thrown off most of his things. He had
launched a skiff by the time the girl reached the shore. She got in
without a word. She was deadly pale, but full of nerve. They rowed hard
to where they could see two men clinging to the yacht; there had been
three in it. The two men were not hauled in, for the gale was blowing
too hard, but they clung to the rescuing skiff. The girl's brother was
not to be seen. Instantly Dibbs dived under the yacht. It seemed an
incredible time before he reappeared; but when he did, he had a body with
him. Blood was coming from his nose, the strain of holding his breath
had been so great. It was impossible to get the insensible body into the
skiff. He grasped the side, and held the boy's head up. The girl rowed
hard, but made little headway. Other rescue boats arrived presently,
however, and they were all got to shore safely.
Lieutenant Archie Harman did not die. Animation was restored after great
difficulty, but he did not sail away with the Ruby next morning to the
Polynesian Islands. Another man took his place.
Little was said between Commander Dibbs and Laura Harman at parting late
that night. She came from her brother's bedside and laid her hand upon
his arm. "It is good," she said, "for a man to be brave as well as
ambitious. You are sure to succeed; and I shall be proud of you, for--
for you saved my brother's life, you see," she timidly added; and she
was not often timid.
.........................
Five months after, when the Ruby was lying with the flag-ship off one
of the Marshall Islands, a packet of letters was brought from Fiji by a
trading-schooner. One was for Commander Dibbs. It said in brief: "You
saved my brother's life--that was brave. You saved his honour--that was
noble. He has told me all. He will resign and clear you when the
Admiral returns. You are a good man."
"He ought to be kicked," Dibbs said to himself. "Did the cowardly beggar
think I did it for him--blast him!"
He raged inwardly; but he soon had something else to think of, for a
hurricane came down on them as they lay in a trap of coral with only one
outlet, which the Ruby had surveyed that day. He took his ship out
gallantly, but the flag-ship dare not attempt it--Dibbs was the only man
who knew the passage thoroughly. He managed to land on the shore below
the harbour, and then, with a rope round him, essayed to reach the flag-
ship from the beach. It was a wild chance, but he got there badly
battered. Still, he took her with her Admiral out to the open safely.
That was how Dibbs became captain of a great iron-clad.
Archie Harman did not resign; Dibbs would not let him. Only Archie's
sister knew that he was responsible for the accident to the Ruby, which
nearly cost Dibbs his reputation; for he and Dibbs had surveyed the
passage in the Barrier Reef when serving on another ship, and he had
neglected instructions and wrongly and carelessly interpreted the chart.
And Dibbs had held his tongue.
One evening Laura Harman said to Captain Dibbs: "Which would you rather
be--Admiral of the Fleet or my husband?" Her hand was on his arm at the
time.
He looked up at her proudly, and laughed slyly. "I mean to be both, dear
girl."
"You have an incurable ambition," she said.