Left so fearfully alone, any other man would have lain with his eyes shut where he fell: but the gigantic brain of Hook was still working, and under its guidance he crawled on the knees along the deck as far from the sound as he could go.

The pirates respectfully cleared a passage for him, and it was only when he brought up against the bulwarks that he spoke.
"Hide me!" he cried hoarsely.
They gathered round him, all eyes averted from the thing that was coming aboard.

They had no thought of fighting it.

It was Fate.
Only when Hook was hidden from them did curiosity loosen the limbs of the boys so that they could rush to the ship's side to see the crocodile climbing it.

Then they got the strangest surprise of the Night of Nights; for it was no crocodile that was coming to their aid.