The first thing I thought was, 'We can't beat them now,' knew it was my fault, and felt a fool. The Commander was bellowing for me to come aboard, and Bob and the Angel, with their faces rather cleaner and bursting with laughter, were bobbing alongside me. Then O'Leary spluttered out that the 'Scorp' lighterman was missing, and we both up with our feet and dived down to find him.
The water was so thick with coal dust that we couldn't see a foot away from us, but O'Leary touched him as he was coming up for breath and brought him to the surface, pretty well full of water and frightened out of his wits, though otherwise none the worse.
I did feel a fool if you like. What had happened was that we had dug away all the coal on one side, and I had never noticed--I was so excited--that the lighter was gradually heeling over, till over she went--upside down. The band had stopped, the whole of the coaling had stopped, the men looking over the side to see if any of us had been drowned, till the Commander, hoarse with shouting, shrieked for them to carry on again, whilst we clambered up the ship's side like drowned rats, O'Leary helping the lighterman. Well, there wasn't the faintest chance of our beating the _Hercules_ now. Every one knew it, everyone slacked off, and there was no more cheering and shouting of choruses.
It was my stupidity that had spoilt everything.
The only thing that I could give as an excuse was that I'd never been in charge of a coal lighter before, but I jolly well knew that the Commander would say, 'And I'll take care you never have charge again,' so I kept quiet whilst he stormed at me, shouting that he'd make me pay for the twenty tons. When he was out of breath, he took me, dripping with coal water, to the Captain, who was very angry and very disappointed about the _Hercules_ part of it, but he hated the Commander bellowing at people, so wasn't as severe as he might have been. He sent me away to right the lighter, and it took us--me and the foretop men--a couple of hours to do it, fixing ropes round her under water. We shouldn't have done it even then hadn't Stevens--one of the Engineer Lieutenants and a chum of mine--switched on the current to the electric fore capstan, and we hauled her round with this.