232 



THE SEA. 



him, expecting him to be carried away in the strong tide. No; he still grasps the rope, 

 and at last is within reach ! In one spring, and with a cry to his mates, ' Hold me 1 

 hold me!' the boatman throws himself upon the raised fore-deck of the life-boat, and, 

 with his body half-stretched over the stern, he grasps the collar of the sailor. The 

 drowning man throws his arm around the boatman's neck, and clings to him convulsively, 

 by his weight dragging the man's head down and burying it in the water; but the 

 brave fellow clings as hard to the half-dead sailor as the sailor does to him ; the seas 

 wash bodily over them and over the bow of the boat; up and down the boat plunges- 



ON THE COAST AT DEAL. 



them both, but he still holds on; three or four of the boatmen have hold of his legs, 

 and are doing their utmost to pull him back into the boat, but they cannot do so; 

 and so the struggle goes on : it is only as the boat rises on a wave and throws her bow 

 up in the air that the men can breathe." And now a new horror, for right down upon 

 them comes the wreck of one of the ship's largest boats, which has just got free of 

 the wreckage. Thank God ! it just passes clear of them. The boatmen cannot get 

 the men in over the high bow of the boat, and the two poor fellows are drowning 

 fast, and so they drag them along the side of the boat, still clinging together, to the 

 waist of the boat, where the gunwale is very low, and with more assistance succeed in 

 getting them aboard. 



And now for the poor boy, still clinging to the gunwale, and crying out in piteous 



