Grasping the captain with both hands he dragged him with all his might and ran inland.
It was partly an instinctive impulse to save and partly genuine feeling that caused him to seize the slaver when he was being swept helpless out to sea.

The man, even though in a malicious, jeering way, had done him some kindnesses on the schooner and in the boat, and he could not see him drown before his eyes.

So he settled his grasp upon his collar, held his head above the water and strove with all his might to get beyond the reach of the cruel sea.

Had he been alone he could have reached the land with ease, but the slaver pulled upon him almost a dead weight.
Another returning wave caught him and made him stagger, but he settled his feet firmly in the sand, held on to the unconscious man, and when it had passed made a great effort to get beyond the reach of any other.

He was forced half to lift, half to drag the slaver's body, but he caught the crest of the next incoming wave, one of unusual height and strength, and the two were carried far up the beach.