"
"Nor could I, Surajah, if I had to trust only to my hands. My father,
as a sailor, will be able to put us up to the best way to do it. But
at any rate, he might let you down first; and I think that by twisting
the rope two or three times round my body, and then holding it between
my knees and feet, I might manage. But I dare say my father will hit
on some better plan than that.
"And now we will lie down. I am so stiff that I can hardly stand, from
squatting for so many hours behind those things of ours. I thought
that I had got pretty well accustomed to it, but I never calculated on
having to do it from ten in the morning until ten at night, with only
two half-hours off."
Dick, however, had little sleep that night. He was too excited over
the glorious success he had obtained to be capable of closing an eye,
and it was not until day was breaking that he fell into a doze.
An hour later, he started to his feet at a knock at the door. He was
wide awake in a moment, and on running to it, his father entered.
"You look older today than you did yesterday," the latter said, as he
held his hand and gazed into Dick's face. "I fancy that neither of us
has had any sleep to speak of.
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