Chatterbox, 1905 Part 80

For more than ten minutes they swam steadily onward without saying a word, but still the sailing-boat was a long way from them, and Charlie vowed to himself that never again would he attempt to judge distances at sea.

A few minutes later Ping w.a.n.g again turned on to his back. He did not utter a word, but Charlie knew by his heavy breathing that he was nearly exhausted. When he had lain there for some minutes he said, with a gasp, 'I will have one more try,' and started off again. But when he had swum a few yards he said, feebly, 'I can't reach her. Don't you bother about me. Look after yourself.'

'I won't go aboard her without you,' Charlie declared, and kept a closer watch on his companion. Soon he saw that Ping w.a.n.g, if left to himself, would be drowned.

'Turn on your back and lie still,' he said, 'and I'll tow you.'

Very fortunately Charlie had often practised the art of saving life from drowning, and therefore had no difficulty in supporting Ping w.a.n.g, who had the presence of mind to lie still. In a few minutes the Chinaman recovered somewhat, and Charlie, seeing the improvement, said, 'If you can support yourself for a few moments I'll hail the ship.'

'All right,' Ping w.a.n.g replied, and Charlie, letting him go, turned over and shouted towards the sailing ship, 'What ho, there!'

For two or three minutes he waited for an answering shout, but none came.

'What ho! what ho!' he sang out, and almost immediately he saw some lights moving about on the deck of the ship.

'Help, help!' he shouted with all his strength.

'Coming,' was the faint reply that reached him, and almost at the same moment he noticed that a boat was being lowered.

'We shall be picked up in a few minutes,' he said to Ping w.a.n.g, and the good news had such a reviving effect upon the Chinaman that he turned over and began to swim again.

'Lie still,' Charlie shouted, knowing that his companion's strength would otherwise soon expire.

Ping w.a.n.g obeyed instantly.

'Where are you?' the men in the boat called out.

'Here,' Charlie answered, and so that the boat might not have much difficulty in finding them, he hailed her every few moments.

Sometimes he caught sight of her on the top of a wave, and then he would see nothing more of her for quite a minute. But at last she reached them.

'Take my friend first,' Charlie sang out to the man who was holding aloft a big lantern to get a look at them.

In a moment the boat was brought alongside Ping w.a.n.g, who was fished out in a state of collapse. Charlie, almost unaided, scrambled in, and at once busied himself in striving to revive his companion. Fortunately he was successful, and by the time the boat reached the ship, Ping w.a.n.g was not much the worse for his long and unpleasant swim.

(_Continued on page 242._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Ping w.a.n.g was fished out in a state of collapse."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Charlie sprang upwards, and climbed aboard."]

AFLOAT ON THE DOGGER BANK.

A Story of Adventure on the North Sea and in China.

(_Continued from page 239._)

CHAPTER VI.

The three men who had rescued Charlie and Ping w.a.n.g were not talkative, and beyond saying, 'That's all right,' when they were thanked for their a.s.sistance, scarcely said a word. The skipper of the sailing ship was, however, very different.

'Get down below, boys, and put on some dry togs,' he exclaimed genially, as Charlie and Ping w.a.n.g scrambled over the gunwale. 'There are chests full of them.'

The fugitives obeyed him willingly, but as Charlie put on the dry things provided for him, he took stock of the saloon, and was astonished at what he saw. Pictures of prize-fighters and race-horses hung on the walls, and at the far end of the saloon there was a sort of bar, behind which he noted some black bottles.

'Surely this can't be a mission ship,' Charlie said, in an undertone, to Ping w.a.n.g.

'It isn't what I expected to find on one,' Ping w.a.n.g answered. 'However, we shall soon know, for here comes the skipper.'

'Well, how are you feeling now?' the skipper inquired boisterously.

'Better,' Charlie answered, wondering what his nationality was, for although he spoke English fluently, he was evidently a foreigner.

'That's good,' the skipper replied, 'but why didn't you tip me the wink that you were coming over to us? I would have had the boat hanging around for you. Do any of the other fellows want to come aboard?'

'No, they have all turned in by now.'

'What a crew they must be. Who is your skipper?'

'Drummond, of the _Sparrow-hawk_.'

'I know him. He pa.s.sed a bad five-shilling piece on me the last time he was aboard this craft.'

'Will he come aboard to-morrow do you think?' Ping w.a.n.g asked, with difficulty concealing his anxiety.

'Not likely. I told him that if ever he set foot on the _Lily_, I would go for him. However, we don't want to talk about him. What are you going to drink?'

'Tea or coffee, I don't mind which.'

The skipper threw back his head and laughed heartily, as if Charlie had said something that was witty. 'Do you really mean it?' he asked at length.

'I do.'

'Well!' the skipper gasped, and was evidently overcome with surprise.

After a few minutes' silence his spirits revived.

'I'll send you some tea down before long,' he said, and then went on deck without another word.

'Do you know what this ship is?' Charlie asked as soon as he was gone.

'If this is not a pleasure-boat, I do not know what it is,' Ping w.a.n.g answered.

'It's a coper.'