hing to be
troubled with thanks for having done a good action, flew quickly away
and disappeared.

The shore was crowded with people who were looking out to sea, shouting
and gesticulating.

"What has happened?" asked Pinocchio of an old woman.

"A poor father who has lost his son has gone away in a boat to search
for him on the other side of the water, and today the sea is tempestuous
and the little boat is in danger of sinking."

"Where is the little boat?"

"It is out there in a line with my finger," said the old woman, pointing
to a little boat which, seen at that distance, looked like a nutshell
with a very little man in it.

Pinocchio fixed his eyes on it and after looking attentively he gave a
piercing scream, crying:

"It is my papa! It is my papa!"

The boat, meanwhile, beaten by the fury of the waves, at one moment
disappeared in the trough of the sea, and the next came again to the
surface. Pinocchio, standing on the top of a high rock, kept calling to
his father by name, and making every kind of signal to him with his
hands, his handkerchief, and his cap.

And, although he was so far off, Geppetto appeared to recognize his son,
for he also took off his cap and waved it, and tried by gestures to
make him understand that he would have returned if it had been possible,
but that the sea was so tempestuous that he could not use his oars or
approach the shore.

Suddenly a tremendous wave rose and the boat disappeared. They waited,
hoping it would come again to the surface, but it was seen no more.

"Poor man!" said the fishermen who were assembled on the shore;
murmuring a prayer, they turned to go home.

Just then they heard a desperate cry and, looking back, they saw a
little boy who exclaimed, as he jumped from a rock into the sea:

"I will save my papa!"

Pinocchio, being made of wood, floated easily and he swam like a fish.
At one moment they saw him disappear under the water, carried down by
the fury of the waves, and next he reappeared struggling with a leg or
an arm. At last they lost sight of him and he was seen no more.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXIV

PINOCCHIO FINDS THE FAIRY AGAIN

Pinocchio, hoping to be in time to help his father, swam the whole
night.

And what a horrible night it was! The rain came down in torrents, it
hailed, the thunder was frightful, and the flashes of lightning made it
as light as day.

Towards morning he saw a long strip of land not far off.