laurence seized one of the stays and pulled himself up on the railing of the deck , looking for his crew in and amongst the milling crowd : most had already been out upon the dragondeck , but a handful remained unaccounted for : therrows , his leg still in splints after the battle in peking ; keynes , the surgeon , likely at his books in the privacy of his cabin ; and he could see no sign of emily roland , his other runner : she was scarcely turned eleven , and could not easily have pushed her way out past the heaving , struggling men .