s later Ping Wang again turned on to his back. He did not
utter a word, but Charlie knew by his heavy breathing that he was nearly
exhausted. When he had lain there for some minutes he said, with a gasp,
'I will have one more try,' and started off again. But when he had swum
a few yards he said, feebly, 'I can't reach her. Don't you bother about
me. Look after yourself.'

'I won't go aboard her without you,' Charlie declared, and kept a closer
watch on his companion. Soon he saw that Ping Wang, if left to himself,
would be drowned.

'Turn on your back and lie still,' he said, 'and I'll tow you.'

Very fortunately Charlie had often practised the art of saving life from
drowning, and therefore had no difficulty in supporting Ping Wang, who
had the presence of mind to lie still. In a few minutes the Chinaman
recovered somewhat, and Charlie, seeing the improvement, said, 'If you
can support yourself for a few moments I'll hail the ship.'

'All right,' Ping Wang replied, and Charlie, letting him go, turned over
and shouted towards the sailing ship, 'What ho, there!'

For two or three minutes he waited for an answering shout, but none
came.

'What ho! what ho!' he sang out, and almost immediately he saw some
lights moving about on the deck of the ship.

'Help, help!' he shouted with all his strength.

'Coming,' was the faint reply that reached him, and almost at the same
moment he noticed that a boat was being lowered.

'We shall be picked up in a few minutes,' he said to Ping Wang, and the
good news had such a reviving effect upon the Chinaman that he turned
over and began to swim again.

'Lie still,' Charlie shouted, knowing that his companion's strength
would otherwise soon expire.

Ping Wang obeyed instantly.

'Where are you?' the men in the boat called out.

'Here,' Charlie answered, and so that the boat might not have much
difficulty in finding them, he hailed her every few moments.

Sometimes he caught sight of her on the top of a wave, and then he would
see nothing more of her for quite a minute. But at last she reached
them.

'Take my friend first,' Charlie sang out to the man who was holding
aloft a big lantern to get a look at them.

In a moment the boat was brought alongside Ping Wang, who was fished out
in a state of collapse. Charlie, almost unaided, scrambled in, and at
once busied himself in striving to revive his companion. Fortunately he
was successful, and by the time the boat reached th