But his pursuers forestalling him, he doubled back across the cabin, passed over the galley, and gained the deck by means of the steerage-scuttle.

Straight forward he raced, the boat-puller Harrison at his heels and gaining on him.

But Mugridge, leaping suddenly, caught the jib-boom-lift.

It happened in an instant.
Holding his weight by his arms, and in mid-air doubling his body at the hips, he let fly with both feet.

The oncoming Harrison caught the kick squarely in the pit of the stomach, groaned involuntarily, and doubled up and sank backward to the deck.
Hand-clapping and roars of laughter from the hunters greeted the exploit, while Mugridge, eluding half of his pursuers at the foremast, ran aft and through the remainder like a runner on the football field.