the act of throwing them away until he should
feel that he was sinking; so, guided by the flashes of the pieces that
were being fired, he swam lustily in the direction in which he felt the
boat must be.

He called for help several times, but his voice was not heard by those
to whom he appealed; and as he felt himself being left behind, a cold
chill of horror once more seized upon him, making his limbs seem heavy
as lead, and paralysing his efforts in a way that was terribly
suggestive of death.

Thoughts of the great slimy monsters being at hand to seize upon him,
sent his blood rushing to his face in a way that made him giddy, and for
a few moments he felt half mad with fear; but calling upon his manhood,
he mastered the nervous trepidation.

"'Taint English--'taint game," he cried aloud, with the water at his
lip; and checking the frantic desire to beat the surface with his hands
in the natural last effort of a drowning creature, he swam steadily on,
hailing the boat at intervals, but more and more feebly, as his despair
increased; for he felt that he was only a lad, and that his life was a
mere nothing compared to a successful capture of the prahu.

"They have gone after her," he groaned, as he uttered a despairing hail.
And then the bright light of hope seemed to cross the darkness, for he
heard a shout in reply, and then other answering hails to his cry for
help, and he knew now that it was only a question of holding out till
the boat could reach his side.

Shouts came again and again out of the darkness, and he answered--each
time more feebly, for his strength was ebbing fast. He could see the
stars flashing in the water, and he fancied he could hear the splash of
oars, and the sounds of voices; then, too, he heard the crackle of
distant musketry, and the roar of one of the boat-guns. Then, as if he
were in a dream, he could hear some one close at hand hailing him--but
he could not answer now, only swim feebly on, with his clothes, and the
weapons, and cartridges in his pouch, dragging him down.

Then the stars above, and the stars on the water, seemed to be blotted
out, and he was in utter darkness--strangling, but swimming still,
beneath the stream. Then he seemed to see the stars again in a dim way,
and he heard a shout; but he could not reply, for all was dark once
more; and lastly, in a dim misty state he felt a spasm, and a sensation
of being dragged beneath the water, and he thought that one of the