The skipper found that he could leave the helm for a minute or more with the tiller lashed, and he went to the taffrail to see who was coming next. Mr. Fred Ripples had just worked his body through the window, and was ready to ascend to the deck.
"Hand me my club," said he, in a low tone, to those in the cabin.
Dory picked up one of the hard-wood sticks, which the members of the club had used as canes, he thought, and, after adjusting the helm again, returned to the taffrail. Ripples had got hold of the woodwork above him. Dory used his stick, and the new-comer dropped into the lake.
Mr. Fred Ripples seemed to be very much surprised when he found himself in the lake instead of on the deck of the La Motte. He had come out of the cabin-window backwards, so that he could get hold of the taffrail above his head, without turning his body. The instant he placed his hand on the rail, Dory delivered the blow with his stick. He did not strike hard enough to break his hand, but only with force sufficient to make him let go.
As this hand, after he had passed out of the window far enough to reach the rail, was all that supported him, he rested upon nothing the moment he released his hold. When he went down into the water, he manifested his surprise by a loud yell. As he appeared to be alarmed, Dory was afraid he would be drowned, for the rough water was not favorable to the restoration of one's lost self-possession.
"Get hold of the boat!" shouted the skipper, when he realized the situation.
Ripples had already seized upon the painter, which happened to be within his reach; but, instead of moving towards the boat, he went the other way, and, with the aid of the rope, set about climbing over the stern of the schooner. But Dory could not watch him any longer; and he returned to the tiller, for the vessel's sails had begun to shake in the wind.
Mr. Jepson seemed to be busy in chopping away at the sticks which the prisoners forward were still thrusting through the openings in the coverings of the hatchway. The machinist thought he must have cut up about all the wood they had provided below for use; but no decided impression had been produced by their labors upon the substitute for the hatches.