Tryin' to get it loose it broke sudden, his shoe pulled off, he lost his balance and fell.

He grabbed at the yard, saved himself for a second, fell again, grabbed the next yard, then a rope and so on down, grabbin' and pullin' all the way.

First his shoe hit the deck, then his sheath knife, then a piece of rope, and finally himself, landin' right on top of the Irish cook who was goin' aft from the galley with father's dinner.
"There was the greatest racket you ever heard, pans fallin', dishes smashin', men yellin', and the cook swearin'.

Father run on deck, thinkin' the ship was dismasted.

He found the cook and Billy Peter sittin' in the middle of the mess, lookin' at each other.