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"It appears to me that the only way is for me to climb up to the skylight, open it, and lower myself down into the cabin by means of a rope's-end, plenty of which are lying about athwart the deck. That skylight undoubtedly will give me access to the cuddy, and from that I shall probably be able to make my way into the other cabins.
No, strange to say, it shot away the knot of the rope's-end that was passed across my mouth to gag me, relieving me at once from considerable pain." "Did he not fire again?" "No," replied the Spaniard, his countenance lighting up with a sort of ferocious joy that made me think for the moment he had gone suddenly mad at the recollection of his past sufferings.
'We must go after the next big wave runs back, Elzevir shouted. 'Jump when I give the word, and get as far up the pebbles as you can before the next comes in: they will throw us a rope's-end to catch; so now good-bye, John, and God save us both! I wrung his hand, and took off my convict clothes, keeping my boots on to meet the pebbles, and was so cold that I almost longed for the surf.
Then while, half-dazed, he strove to rise, I kicked him down again, and setting my foot upon his chest, caught up the rope's-end he had dropped and beat him therewith until he roared, until he groaned and lay writhing, face hid beneath his crossed arms.
He saw that rope's-end hanging over the stern long before he came to it, you may depend; and now inboard he goes, and there he stands on the poop without so much as a touch of the boat against the wreck. And there goes the boat round into the sheltered lee of the hull, where she will lie quite comfortably. And thither we will go, too, in readiness to pick them up when they shove off again."
As with gathering passion the eyes of Darius assaulted the window-pane, Darius had a painful intense vision of that miracle, his own career. Edwin's grand misfortune was that he was blind to the miracle. Edwin had never seen the little boy in the Bastille. But Darius saw him always, the infant who had begun life at a rope's-end.
We walked the beach till daylight, and then we saw that the mast had disappeared. None ever saw more a timber or a rope's-end of the Lively Nan. She had been staked and won; but the greasy cards, mates, lay wet and dank upon the beach, and we left them to wither there among the sea-weed.
"Aye, aye, sir, I knows what you want," answered Jorrocks, who then proceeded to crawl as carefully towards the fore-chains, as the carpenter had come aft bending down beneath the protection of the weather-bulwarks as he crept along the waist, and holding on by a stray rope's-end here and there to preserve his balance although he did this as much to prevent exposing his body as leverage for the wind to force the vessel over to leeward before the proper time, as to shield himself from its boisterous buffeting.
"I've seen 'em at Beachampton," said our friend. "You don't know how they came aboard, eh?" "No, I can't say as how I can say, 'zactly, cap'en." "Well, then tie 'em up to the windlass and fetch me a rope's-end. Now, my jokers," added he, turning to us, "I've sworn to larrup every stowaway I ever finds in my brig, and I'm a going to larrup you now!"
But, greatly to my astonishment, my watch-mate raised a rope's-end which he held in his outstretched hand and proceeded to lay it across my shoulders; the beggar giving me several sharp cuts with the "colt" ere I realised what he was up to. "That will teach you not to supplant me and go in my boat again, you young rascal!" he cried, pegging away merrily with the rope's-end on my bare back.
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