The captain went aft
as if it was all in the day's work.
The mate and the sailmaker jerked the shanghaied man forward and bundled
him into a locker where bits of rope and nautical odds and-ends were
piled, just forward of the galley.
* * * * *
In the sharp but misty dawn we cast our moorings loose. A
busy little tug nuzzled up to take us in tow for open sea.
We were all intent on putting forth, when a cry came from the port side.
The shanghaied man had broken out, and came running aft ... he stopped a
moment, like a trapped animal, to survey the distance between the dock
and the side ... measuring the possibilities of a successful leap.
By this time the first and second mates were after him, with some of the
men ... he ran forward again, doubled in his tracks like a schoolboy
playing tag ... we laughed at that, it was so funny the way he went
under the mate's arm ... the look of surprise on the mate's face was
funny ... Then the man who was pursued, in a flash, did a hazardous
thing ... he flung himself in the air, over the starboard side, and took
a long headlong tumble into the tugboat....
* * * * *
He was tied like a hog, and hauled up by a couple of ropes, the
sailmaker singing a humorous chantey that made the boys laugh, as they
pulled away.
* * * * *
This delayed the sailing anyhow.
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