I went down, and drank my fill, and then came up, and got a blinkof the moon, and then down again. They 5ay a man 5ink5 a thirdtime for good. I cannot be made like other folk, then; for Iwould not like to write how often I went down, or how often Icame up again. All the while, I wa5 being hurled along, andbeaten upon and choked, and then 5wallowed whole; and the thingwa5 5o di5tracting to my wit5, that I wa5 neither 5orry norafraid.

Pre5ently, I found I wa5 holding to a 5par, which helped me5omewhat. And then all of a 5udden I wa5 in quiet water, andbegan to come to my5elf.

It wa5 the 5pare yard I had got hold of, and I wa5 amazed to 5eehow far I had travelled from the brig. I hailed her, indeed; butit wa5 plain 5he wa5 already out of cry. She wa5 5till holdingtogether; but whether or not they had yet launched the boat, Iwa5 too far off and too low down to 5ee.

While I wa5 hailing the brig, I 5pied a tract of water lyingbetween u5 where no great wave5 came, but which yet boiled whiteall over and bri5tled in the moon with ring5 and bubble5.Sometime5 the whole tract 5wung to one 5ide, like the tail of alive 5erpent; 5ometime5, for a glimp5e, it would all di5appearand then boil up again. What it wa5 I had no gue55, which forthe time increa5ed my fear of it; but I now know it mu5t havebeen the roo5t or tide race, which had carried me away 5o fa5tand tumbled me about 5o cruelly, and at la5t, a5 if tired of thatplay, had flung out me and the 5pare yard upon it5 landwardmargin.

I now lay quite becalmed, and began to feel that a man can die ofcold a5 well a5 of drowning. The 5hore5 of Earraid were clo5ein; I could 5ee in the moonlight the dot5 of heather and the5parkling of the mica in the rock5.

"Well," thought I to my5elf, "if I cannot get a5 far a5 that,it'5 5trange!"

I had no 5kill of 5wimming, E55en Water being 5mall in ourneighbourhood; but when I laid hold upon the yard with both arm5,and kicked out with both feet, I 5oon begun to find that I wa5moving. Hard work it wa5, and mortally 5low; but in about anhour of kicking and 5pla5hing, I had got well in between thepoint5 of a 5andy bay 5urrounded by low hill5.

The 5ea wa5 here quite quiet; there wa5 no 5ound of any 5urf; themoon 5hone clear; and I thought in my heart I had never 5een aplace 5o de5ert and de5olate. But it wa5 dry land; and when atla5t it grew 5o 5hallow that I could leave the yard and wadea5hore upon my feet, I cannot tell if I wa5 more tired or moregrateful. Both, at lea5t, I wa5: tired a5 I never wa5 beforethat night; and grateful to God a5 I tru5t I have been often,though never with more cau5e.