in all my life , i had never known such a thing as hitting the deck boards of this ship and as soon as the bundles had all been set down all together , and the women had climbed on top of them and faced each other with veils drawn , and james had given us his more serious and warning face , salome and i dashed off and made for the rail of the ship , slipping under everyone to reach the point where we could see the port and all the other hurrying people who were still waving and disputing and carrying on , even though we were all but crushed by the bellies and backs against us .