stepp'd

Updated: May 17, 2025

We caught at the rope, and stopp'd it just in time: but the pulley above creak'd vociferously. I turn'd my head. The man in the bows had not mov'd. "Now either I am mad or dreaming," thought I: for that the fellow had not heard our noise was to me starkly incredible. I stepp'd along the deck toward him: not an inch did he budge. I touch'd him on the shoulder. He fac'd round with a quick start.

Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch - The Splendid Spur