Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself to do what he must. There was no choice. He had given his word to the captain. With a heavy heart, he turned his gaze to the captain's lifeless body. No longer trusting the captain's judgement, he determined his own. He had to protect his precious cargo, or the villagers would be left defenseless. "If you don't do this for us," he started to say, the words sticking in his throat. "We will die." His eyes closed. SNAP! The sound of splintering wood, a sound that had filled his life for twenty-eight days, caused Quiggly to look up. The large wooden support beam that supported the center of the bridge had cracked and fallen forward. A piece of rope, that had secured the support, hung over the edge of the bridge. Quiggly didn't have to go very far to see what was wrong. He placed the last box on top of the fallen support and looked back at the stunned captain. He was still breathing. Quickly, Quiggly grabbed the fallen support and tied it to a rope that lay beside him. He walked back to the captain, placing the box of cargo on top of the beam. The heavy load fell and crashed onto the captain's stomach. The man screamed in pain. This time, he did not need to say anything. Quiggly immediately tied the rope to the beam and began to tie the other end of the rope to the edge of the bridge. The man, in agony, begged him to stop. "This is for our safety," Quiggly yelled, ignoring the moans of the injured man and moving quickly to secure the other end of the rope. "Do not make me do this," the man pleaded, realizing what Quiggly was doing. "If you don't, we will all die." Quiggly finished tying the end of the rope. He then looked down at the captain and began to make his way off of the bridge. He was halfway down, and the man began to struggle against the rope. The captain had only been tied to the rope. The rest of the villagers, all those tied to the rope and unable to move, were not so fortunate. In a few moments, the first of them began to fall over the side. The man struggled to climb up. Quiggly shook his head. It was no use. He continued to tie the last few knots. The man continued to struggle and scream. When the man finally reached the level of Quiggly's feet, Quiggly was not there. He was tied to the wood. "We have to move fast," he thought. The man below screamed in terror. No one would come to the help of a man falling over the side of a bridge. It was the same for every villager, except for Quiggly. Quiggly was tied to the rope. As the first man was almost at the top of the rope, he pulled on it as hard as he could. He was lucky. That first man managed to grab the rope as he fell. With one last tug, Quiggly heard the sound of a rope breaking and watched in horror as a villager plunged into the water below. He quickly tied the rope off. Quiggly tied himself to the rope and began his dangerous descent. Quickly, he tied the other end of the rope to a spar that lay on the bottom of the water below. This would not work for very long. Quickly, he untied the rope and tied the spar to the rope. Once more, he tied the rope to the wooden beam and began his slow descent. A voice from the depths called out to him. "Help me." Quiggly turned and saw the men in the water. "We cannot survive here. We must hurry back to the village." Quiggly was about to untie the rope from the wooden beam. "We must go to the villagers." The voice cried. Quiggly shook his head. He could not leave the villagers to the mercy of the water. He had promised the villagers that he would take them to their new home. "We must try to save them." Quiggly untied the rope from the beam and tied it to the wooden spar. "What do you think, Jolly Roger? We will float across the water. When we reach the end of the rope, we will untie the rope from the spar and then we will pull the other end of the rope. We will be safe. We will go to the village." Jolly Roger shook his head. "We can't make the ropes stay fastened. We are too heavy. We will never make it." Quiggly, still holding the rope, began to move closer to the man. The man's eyes were closed. Quiggly turned and looked at the water and saw the faces of the villagers who had helped him pull the raft. He watched the man he cared about fall into the waters below. Quiggly walked back up the bridge and untied the rope from the last spar. Quickly, he put on a mask and goggles, and headed for the water. He pulled the rope up, and began to move. After about fifty feet, he began to feel a pull on the rope. The end of the rope was moving. He untied the rope from the last spar and then tied it around his waist. He began to move out into the water, pulling on the rope. It was all going well. The villagers were all there. Quiggly could see the captain with the rope around his waist and Jolly Roger working to hold the spar. Then something happened. The rope stopped moving. They were no longer pulling the rope up. He looked down into the water. His heart sank. There, in the middle of the rope, the water was being dragged back up, pulling the captain's body behind it. He could see that the captain was trying his hardest, and was making progress, but it was not fast enough. The rope was becoming wedged in between the two rocks in the river. The man continued to struggle with all he had, but it was no use. Quiggly watched in horror as the body of the captain was pulled toward the riverbed. "I will not let him die," Quiggly said to himself. Hurriedly, he untied the rope from his waist and tied it to the rope that attached the rope to the spar. Jolly Roger was still there, tying the rope. Quiggly grabbed the rope and pulled on it as hard as he could. Quiggly continued to pull as hard as he could. The captain was pulled slowly but steadily toward the sea. They were almost to the end of the rope. In a few minutes, the captain was pulled to the surface. Quickly, he cut the rope and helped the captain to the surface. When the captain was safely above the water, Quiggly untied the rope from the spar and tied it to the rope that he had tied to the wooden beam. With the pull of a heavy weight, the rope had now been secured. Quickly, Quiggly tied the rope to the wooden beam and lowered himself into the water. Quickly, he pushed off of the bottom of the water and into the air. Quickly, he untied the rope from the wooden beam and tied it to a spar. Quickly, he untied the spar from the rope and tied it to the wooden beam. Quickly, he made his way back to the village. All was quiet. "I am not sure," he thought, "that they were very pleased with me." Jolly Roger stood in the center of the village and watched Quiggly jump from the trees, tie the rope, and then climb back out of the water. Quiggly tied the spar back to the rope and climbed up the bridge, carrying the boxes. Quiggly jumped off of the bridge and began to untie the rope from the spar. Jolly Roger untied the rope from the spar. Quiggly and Jolly Roger dropped the rope to the ground and walked up to the village. They tied the rope to the front of a building. "This will work for the time being," Quiggly said. Quiggly untied the rope from the building and tied it to a tree. Jolly Roger untied the rope from the tree and walked up to the roof of the building. Quickly, he untied the rope from the building and tied it to the roof. Quiggly untied the rope from the tree and tied it to the support beam of the bridge. Quiggly walked into the village, grabbed two more boxes, and brought them back to the bridge. Quiggly untied the rope from the support beam and tied it to the rope attached to the boxes. He handed one of the boxes to Jolly Roger. He untied the rope and tied it to the spar. "Good," he thought. "The captain is safe in the village." Quiggly untied the spar from the rope and tied it to the bridge. He untied the rope from the bridge and tied it to the wooden beam. Quiggly untied the rope from the beam and handed Jolly Roger a box. He untied the rope and tied it to the bridge. Quiggly untied the rope from the wooden beam and tied it to a spar. "That should be good