e surface and hurled me shoreward with irresistible
force, rolling me over and over like a cork as it broke into a long line
of hissing, pallid foam. But I knew exactly what to expect, and was
fully prepared for it. I therefore allowed it to do with me just what
it would, holding my breath and waiting until the breaker had passed
ahead and spent its force. Then, striking out strongly as I came to the
surface, I swam on toward the next line of breakers, where the same
thing was repeated, but each time a shade less violently, until at
length, after what seemed like hours, but which, as a matter of fact,
could not have been more than about forty minutes of battling with the
breakers, my feet touched ground, and a moment later the last breaker, a
very mild and harmless one compared with those in the offing, lifted me
up and almost gently deposited me on the beach.

Upon hands and knees I crawled up above watermark and then rose to my
feet to look about, recover my breath, and get my bearings. After the
stinging cold of the water, the air felt quite pleasantly warm, but I
knew that I should soon get chilled if I did not keep moving briskly;
so, seeing a line of watch-fires about half a mile away, which, from
their position, I guessed must be Japanese, I set out toward them at a
brisk walking pace, and, the ground being fortunately open in that
direction, it was but a few minutes before I found myself unexpectedly
halted, with the point of a Japanese sentry's bayonet gently pressing
against my breast. Of course I hadn't the countersign; but my
appearance, and particularly my unconventional garb, must have convinced
him of the truth of my story that, being unable to get ashore in any
other way, I had swum in from the fleet, with a communication from the
Admiral for General Oku, for he passed me on to the next sentry without
hesitation; and thus in the course of another ten minutes I found myself
in the tent of a certain colonel who not only had heard of me but had
also seen me and now recognised me. From him I learned that the general
staff quarters were situated about a mile farther inland, on one of the
lower slopes of Mount Sampson, to which he very kindly offered to
conduct me. But of course I could not present myself before General Oku
in bathing rig, and it was not without difficulty that a suit of clothes
was at length found into which I could get; but it was managed at last,
and off we went, the colonel and I, my