Under the Meteor Flag | Page 3

excitement of the moment, and without
in the least thinking of what I was doing, I no sooner saw the man
strike the water than I rushed aft, leaped upon the taffrail, and, pausing
a single instant to mark the spot where he fell, raised my hands above
my head, and took a most scientific header into the boiling surge. As I
was descending toward the water I heard a hearty cheer from the men,
and then the icy cold waves closed over my head; there was a rushing
sound in my ears, and darkness all around me.
When I rose to the surface, I found myself close to the drowning man,
who was struggling feebly and in an aimless sort of way, apparently
half stunned, and lying face downwards in the water. Swimming
happened to be one of the very few accomplishments in which I
excelled, otherwise I do not think it at all probable I should have leapt
overboard so unhesitatingly; be that as it may, though I had never been
in rough water before, and though, now that I was overboard, the sea
seemed incomparably more tempestuous than it had appeared to be
from the ship's deck, I felt perfectly at home. Paddling cautiously up to
the man, I seized him by the hair, and turned him over on his back, then
threw myself upon my back, and dragged his head up high enough
upon my breast to lift his mouth out of water, supporting him and
myself by vigorous strokes with my feet. Looking round, as we rose on
the crest of a sea, I could dimly descry the brig through the rapidly
increasing gloom; and to my horror she appeared to be a long distance
away. I had time only, however, for a momentary glance, when we
sank into the trough, and I lost sight of her. A few seconds afterwards I

caught sight of her again, and this time she was displaying in her
rigging a lantern, the sight of which I regarded (rightly, as it afterwards
turned out) as a sign and token that every effort would be used to
recover us, and truly the feeble gleam, appearing and disappearing as
we rose and fell upon the agitated surface of the sea, was to me a very
star of hope and encouragement.
My vigorous efforts to keep myself and the man afloat soon told upon
me, and I began to fear that I should be obliged to abandon my prize in
order to preserve my own life; luckily for us both, however, my
companion had ceased to struggle, and now lay supported within my
arms, to all appearance dead. As the time dragged heavily away, I grew
more and more exhausted, and at length the man slipped from my
relaxing grasp and began to sink. Happily at this instant I caught a
momentary glimpse of a small object standing out black and distinct
against the narrow belt of light lying along the western horizon, and I
felt instinctively that it was a boat coming in search of us; the sight
imparted new energy to my nerveless frame, and, recovering my grasp
upon the man just as he was sinking beyond my reach, I determined to
keep him above water until succour arrived, or go down with him.
How anxiously I kept watch upon the boat, and the desperate efforts I
made to keep afloat, it would be impossible to describe. The dancing
craft appeared to be lying at anchor upon the water, though in reality
she was foaming down towards us before the wind and sea, propelled
by the strong arms of eight of the stoutest oarsmen in the ship. At
length, however, she was near enough to enable me to discern the bow
man standing up, one hand shading his eyes, and the other grasping a
boat- hook. Presently a hail came down upon the wind toward us from
the boat, and directly afterwards another. I was by this time too weak to
reply; and could only hope that they would pull on until close enough
to see us; to my inexpressible horror, however, when some seven or
eight lengths away, the boat's head swerved sharply aside, and the craft
darted off upon a course at right angles to her former one. Then indeed
I uttered a shriek loud enough to awake the seven sleepers, and
immediately went under. I thought it was now all over with us both; but
the love of life is strong, especially in the young, and a convulsive

struggle brought us once more to the surface; but, blinded with salt
water, and with my senses fast leaving me, I no longer looked round for
the boat, but battled desperately, though more than half unconsciously,
for life; still retaining, with