But after an indefinite period of oblivion consciousness returned, and
he found that he had somehow come back to the surface and was painfully
taking in great gulps of air, clinging tenaciously, meanwhile, to what,
so far as he could discover, in the intense darkness, was the body of a
woman!

Whether that woman was alive, or dead, Leslie knew not; but, still
animated by the old reckless disregard for his own safety that had
become a part of his nature, as well as by that innate feeling of
chivalry that even his great sorrow had not eradicated, his first
impulse was to give his unknown companion the benefit of whatever
slender possibility of ultimate escape might exist; and he accordingly
lost not a moment in disengaging himself from the life-buoy that still
supported him, and adjusting it beneath the unconscious body of the
woman in such a manner that she sat within it almost as though it were
an armchair; the buoy floating aslant in the water, with its lower rim
supporting the weight of the body, while its upper rim, which rose
several inches above the surface of the water, pressed against and
supported the woman's shoulders. By this arrangement the woman's head
was raised well above the water; and if she were not already dead there
was some prospect that she would ultimately revive and recover
consciousness. As for Leslie, he was so powerful a swimmer that he
really needed no support, now that he was once more himself; he
accordingly threw himself prone upon his back and, in that position,
floated easily, retaining his hold upon the buoy by means of the beckets
of light line that were looped around it.

The water was quite warm; there was therefore no hardship in being
immersed in it; there was not much sea running, and such as there was
seldom broke. Leslie felt therefore that the probability of several
hours of life still lay before him; and he began, with a queer feeling
of dismay and disappointment, to ask himself whether, after all, he
might not ultimately be doomed to escape. He knew that the catastrophe
had occurred right in the usual track of ships bound south; and it was
quite upon the cards that one of these might come along at any moment
and pass within hail of him, or, at all events, close enough to permit
of his being seen. And if this should happen to occur between daylight
and dark he would feel bound to adopt such measures as might be possible
to attract the attention of her crew and cause h