The fellow might die; some fatal accident befall the _Namur_; why a hundred things might occur before Sanchez was capable of resuming command, or could attempt any serious injury to Dorothy.
The fellows sent down from the main chains to the boat brought the injured Captain up first.

This required the services of three men, his body hanging limp between them, his upturned face showing ghastly in the flaming of the torch thrust out over the rail.

To every appearance it was apparently a corpse they handled, except for their tenderness, and a single groan to which the white lips gave utterance, when one of the bearers slipped, wrenching the wounded body with a sharp pang of pain.

Once safely on deck, the three bore him across to the after cabin, in which a swinging lantern had been lighted, and was by then burning brightly, and disappeared down the steps.

My eyes followed every movement, as I forgot for the instant the boat and its occupants still tossing alongside on the waters below.