CHAPTER III
LARRY LEARNS SOMETHING
The accident which had happened to Captain Nat Ponsberry was certainly a curious one, although similar to that which once cost the life of a young officer in our navy.
When the hurricane blast reached the Columbia, the captain was in the act of slipping on a lined raincoat,—a big affair, with long sleeves and an extra high collar. One arm was in the coat and the other was going down the sleeve when it caught in the lining. At that instant the shock threw the captain across the deck and almost over the railing. He caught at the railing with his free hand, but his other hand remained a prisoner in the coat sleeve, while the garment itself stuck in a bunch across his shoulders.
"Help!" he roared again. He tried to pull himself up, and to free the hand in the sleeve, but found both impossible.
Larry did not wait for a second cry for assistance. He knew the captain so well that he felt the officer
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