ew 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