The fruit which remained from our store was now
rendered uneatable by reason of the salt water, in which it washed from
side to side as the boat tossed and buffeted upon her way. A was
famished and numb with cold. Yet, even in my extremity, I clung to
life, and my last act of consciousness was to secure myself by a rope
to the thwart upon which I lay.
I was brought back to life by a flask of spirits held to my lips, and
upon opening my eyes I became conscious of a bronzed, kindly face
looking down at me in the water-logged boat.
"Hold up, lad," said my preserver in English, a language with which I
was well acquainted. "We'll have you aboard the 'Seagull' in a jiff,
and to-morrow you'll be as fit as a buck rat."
I then saw that a ship's boat was alongside the cutter, manned by four
men. The weather had by this time moderated, but the sea ran high. It
was therefore no easy matter to shift me from the cutter into the boat,
for I was helpless and weak as a child from exposure to wind and sea.
But willing hands at length effected the transfer, when we made for the
"Seagull", which lay hove to half a mile distant.
On coming aboard this vessel I was taken below and treated with great
kindness, when, after my wet clothes had been set to dry, I was put
into a warm bunk, a bowl of hot soup being brought to me, which, when I
had taken it, sent me into a sound sleep.
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