It seemed as if the boy's brief career was at its close.

But he was saved as by a miracle.

Reaching out his hand in the darkness, it came in contact with the rope.

Holding firmly to it as it tightened in his grasp, he used his strong arms to draw himself up hand over hand.
His deliverance was due to a knot in the rope catching in a crevice, thus, as it tightened, sustaining him and enabling him to climb on deck.
It was a narrow escape, and he felt it to be so.

He was a thoughtful boy, and it impressed him.