He remembered suddenly that no one would have the faintest idea what had become of him, that Sally would search for him everywhere, would call and call in vain, for he would have apparently vanished from the face of the earth. She would be left alone there with a helpless delirious man, and with Heaven knew what lurking terrors in the dark old mill. The thought gave him strength to put every last atom of energy into one final endeavour and to struggle free of the current just as it was sweeping him past the last point of rocks. He felt the force of the tide abate a little, then he drifted into an eddy and came quietly to shore on a bit of gravel beach.
For a long time he lay panting and exhausted, making no effort to move. It seemed as though he would never get his lungs full of air again, so completely had he spent both his breath and his strength. At last he sat up, discovered to his surprise that he was still half in the water, crawled up the bank and began trying to wring out his dripping clothes.
“I don’t think there is much fun in adventures that you have all alone,” was the grave comment that he made to himself as he stumbled up the beach.
“Now, just what can I tell Sally?” he was thinking further when Sally’s own voice interrupted him. He heard her quick feet coming down the path and heard her voice, raised high in real terror, crying,
He ran up through the bushes and met her as she came flying toward him through the mist.
“Come quick,” she cried; “come quick. It’s Captain Saulsby. I—I, oh, Billy, I’m so frightened!”
Together they sped back up the path to the mill, tripping over roots, stumbling on the moss-covered stones, gasping in their terrified haste. As they came near Billy heard a strange sound, the Captain’s voice surely, but high and queer and cracked, shouting out what must have been meant for a song of the sea. He went up the steps in one breathless leap and came inside the mill.
Captain Saulsby was in the middle of the room, lurching and staggering as he tried to walk, waving his arms and shouting as loud as his broken old voice would let him. Billy ran to him and tried to lead him back to the bench, but was shaken off with a quite unexpected force.