"Help! help!" came in a sharp wail. "No cut tow-chang! No cut tow-chang!" "Nobody's going to cut it, my lad. All right, we've got you," came up from close under the stern windows, where even if it had been light we could not have seen. "Found him?" cried the captain, who now came up. "Ay, ay, sir! Will you lower us down a lantern, sir? He's tied up somehow to the chain and a ring-bolt. We can't quite lee." The next minute, as I stood there longing to lower myself down into the boat, a lantern was swung over to them; while the men came swarming up the hatchway, for the news had soon spread, and they came running as far aft as they dared. "Now then, steady," came from beneath us. "Let go; we've got you, I say." "No cuttee tow-chang! No cuttee tow-chang!" "Then he must have caught at the rudder-chains as he was swept along the side," said the captain. "Why didn't the fellow hail us, instead of letting the boats go on such a fool's errand?" "Too much scared, sir," replied Mr Reardon. "Below there! Got him in the boat?" "Got him, sir, and we can't get him," said one of the men. "He's all twissen up round the chain in a knot somehow." "What?" "He's tied hisself up somehow." "Well, then, cut him loose, man," cried Mr Reardon. "No cuttee tow-chang! No cuttee tow-chang!" cried Ching in a piteous wail. "Not cut his toe?" said the captain in a tone full of disgust. "What does he mean? He can't have tied his foot to the chain." "Hold still, will yer!" growled a deep voice; "I'm only untwisten on it. Nobody wants to cut yer pigtail." "Oh, no cuttee tow-chang!" wailed Ching piteously. "Tow-chang?" said the captain. "Yes, sir; his tail," I said. "Oh, I see! They're very proud of the length." "Well, I'm blessed if ever I see such a snarl," cried the man below. "That's it. There you are. Here, cut this hankychy thing." "Got him now?" "Ay, ay, sir! all right," came from the boat; and at this the men burst out cheering again like mad, while the boat was drawn along the side with difficulty till the falls were reached, hooked on, and with a stamp and a run she was hauled up, and I was close up to the side as she was swung in, and Ching lifted out dripping, and sank down in a heap as soon as the men tried to set him on his feet. "Here, let me have a look at him," said the doctor. "But first of all, why did you cling there instead of calling for help?" cried Mr Reardon angrily. "Bah! don't worry the man, sir," said the doctor sharply. "He's nearly insensible. What's this canister doing at the end of his tail?" "Bah!" ejaculated the captain angrily, and he said something to Mr Reardon, and then went down to the cabin. "Look here," cried the lieutenant angrily, "I want the names of the men who played this blackguardly trick upon the poor fellow." "Yes, afterwards," said the doctor. "He's insensible, poor fellow. Here, one of you, a knife?"