-boat to pick him up. Stand by to lower. Be smart,
lads!"

These words, heartily uttered, put superstitious fears to flight at
once. The men threw off their jackets; the boat was lowered, and in a
few minutes was pulling about and searching in all directions. Our hero
was one of the first to leap into her, and he pulled the bow oar. For
some time they rowed about in vain. The night was intensely dark, and
the cry was not repeated, so that they had nothing to guide them in
their movements. A lantern was fixed in the ship half way up the mizzen
rigging, but the lantern in the boat was concealed until the moment when
it should be required, because it is easier for men to distinguish
surrounding objects in comparative darkness than when a light is glaring
near them. Presently Will Osten saw a dark object like a small canoe
right ahead of the boat.

"Back water--all!" he shouted.

The men obeyed, but it was too late; the boat struck the object, and
overturned it. Will saw something like a human form roll into the
water, and heard a gurgling cry. Without a moment's hesitation he
leaped overboard, head foremost, and catching hold of the object,
brought it to the surface. He remembered at that moment having heard of
a fact which is worth stating here. The best way to save a drowning man
is to approach him from behind, seize him under the armpits, and, then,
getting on your back, draw him partly on to your breast and swim _on
your back_ to the shore, or to a place of safety. Thought is quicker
than the lightning flash. Will could not, of course, carry out this
plan fully, nevertheless the memory of it served him in good stead, for,
the instant he caught the drowning man by the hair, he kept him at arm's
length, and thus avoided his death-clutch until he could grasp him under
the armpits _from behind_, and thus render him powerless. He then rose
and drew him gently upon his breast, at the same time striking out with
his feet and shouting--

"Bear a hand, lads--I've got him!"

A loud "hurrah!" burst from the men in the boat, and was re-echoed
vehemently from the ship. They had overshot the spot only by a few
yards. Instantly they pulled round: two strokes brought them to the
spot where Will was swimming, and in another moment our hero and the
rescued man were hauled into the boat. The men gave vent to another
loud and prolonged cheer, which was again replied to from the ship.

The boat was soon alongside,