In another moment
Jack's head rose to the surface, and he gave a wild shout, flinging
back the spray from his locks, as was his wont after a dive. Now we
were almost as much amazed at seeing him reappear, well and strong, as
we had been at first at his non-appearance; for, to the best of our
judgment, he had been nearly ten minutes under water, perhaps longer,
and it required no exertion of our reason to convince us that this was
utterly impossible for mortal man to do and retain his strength and
faculties. It was therefore with a feeling akin to superstitious awe
that I held down my hand and assisted him to clamber up the steep
rocks. But no such feeling affected Peterkin. No sooner did Jack gain
the rocks and seat himself on one, panting for breath, than he threw
his arms round his neck and burst into a flood of tears. "O Jack,
Jack!" said he, "where were you? What kept you so long?"
After a few moments Peterkin became composed enough to sit still and
listen to Jack's explanation, although he could not restrain himself
from attempting to wink every two minutes at me, in order to express
his joy at Jack's safety. I say he attempted to wink, but I am bound to
add that he did not succeed, for his eyes were so much swollen with
weeping, that his frequent attempts only resulted in a series of
violent and altogether idiotical contortions of the face, that were
very far from expressing what he intended.
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