There was a "lubber's loop" in the bight of the sheet and as the young
man loosed it his arm was caught in this trap. The boom swung
viciously outboard and Lawford went with it. He was snatched like some
inanimate object over the sloop's rail and, the next instant, plunged
beneath the surface of the suddenly foam-streaked sea.
CHAPTER XVI
A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS
Lawford came up as the sloop swept by on her new tack, his smile as
broad as ever. He blew loudly and then shouted:
"Going---too--fast--for--me! Whoa! Back up a little, ladies, and let
me climb aboard."
"Well, of all the crazy critters!" the "able seaman" declared. "Stand
by with that boathook, Miss Lou, and see if you can harpoon him."
Louise swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to laugh too. To
tell the truth, the accident to Lawford Tapp had frightened her
dreadfully at the moment it occurred.
Betty Gallup put over the wheel and the _Merry Andrew_, still under
propulsion of the bursting squall, flew about, almost on her heel.
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