"Would you leave him where he is, Sir?" he asked, after he had told
everything.
"The night's fine," said the Captain. "You may as well leave the poor
devil there."
He turned, and went aft, slowly. The man who was holding the light,
swept it round so that it showed the place where Williams had struck the
deck.
The Second Mate spoke abruptly.
"Get a broom and a couple of buckets, some of you."
He turned sharply, and ordered Tammy on to the poop.
As soon as he had seen the yard mast-headed, and the ropes cleared up,
he followed Tammy. He knew well enough that it would not do for the
youngster to let his mind dwell too much on the poor chap on the hatch,
and I found out, a little later, that he gave the boy something to
occupy his thoughts.
After they had gone aft, we went into the fo'cas'le. Every one was moody
and frightened. For a little while, we sat about in our bunks and on the
chests, and no one said a word. The watch below were all asleep, and not
one of them knew what had happened.
All at once, Plummer, whose wheel it was, stepped over the starboard
washboard, into the fo'cas'le.
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