ing sea flowed over our heads with only a few
bubbles of air to show where we had been.

We must have been swimming twenty minutes when Bigley uttered a shout,
and looking up, Bob and I for the first time caught sight of a little
dinghy coming towards us, and far beyond it the lugger lying with her
sails flapping in the breeze.

The boat was a long way off, but the man in it had evidently seen us,
and was coming down to our help, and a thrill of exultation ran through
me, as I struck out more vigorously to reach the haven of safety.

The minute before we were all swimming steadily and well, but the sight
of help coming seemed to have completely unnerved us, and in place of
taking slow long regular strokes, and steady inspirations, with the
sides of our heads well down in the water, we all quickened our strokes
and strained our heads above the surface, while, as if moved by the same
thought, we all together shouted "Boat!"

"Ahoy!" came back from what seemed a terrible distance, and the feeling
of fear I had begun to experience increased more and more.

A couple of minutes earlier I had not thought about the distance I could
swim, but had kept on swimming. Now I could think of nothing else but
was it possible that I could keep on long enough for the boat to reach
me; and, instead of steadily trying to decrease the distance, and so
help the boatman, I began to make very bad progress indeed.

"Hooray!" shouted Bigley just then. "Keep up, boys, and don't lose your
bundles. It's father, and he'll soon pick us up."

Bundles?--bundles? Where was my bundle?

I dared not turn my head to look, but it was not by me, and I must have
let it float away just when most excited by the coming of the boat, but
I could say nothing then.

"Steady!" shouted Bigley again, checking his own speed, for he had been
getting ahead of us, and he waited till we were abreast of him, both
swimming too heavily and fast.

"Don't do that," he cried. "Go steady. Go--"

He said no more, poor fellow, for the curious dread that unnerves people
in the water, and robs them of the power and judgment that are their
saving, seemed to have attacked him, and he began to swim in a more and
more laboured fashion.

His example affected us, and away went all coolness. We were all
swimming, and the tide was carrying us along towards the boat, that
seemed to be getting farther away instead of nearer to my dimming eyes.
Then in my rapid splashing I str