"I am sorry, my dear. The sea is very rough
today. I hope my men can reach him in time. My
ship has never lost a passenger before," he said
crossing himself. He was watching the rescue
operations through a pair of binoculars that hung
round his neck.
The boat was too far for me to see what was
happening. I tugged at the Captain's sleeve.
"What are they doing, Sir? Have they rescued
the man?" I asked him.
"They've caught him by the arms and are pulling
him towards the boat." He was giving me a
running commentary. "Oh what bad luck! A sudden
current has swept the man away dragging
two of the sailors with him." He sounded nervous.
Just then he noticed the passengers crowding
against the railings. "Keep away from those railings!"
he shouted. "We don't want another
accident." The ship had dropped anchor but was
heaving up and down.
I borrowed the captain's binoculars. Now I
could see the rescue operation clearly. The crew
in the rescue boats threw a strong rope to the two
sailors in the sea and shouted, "Catch". Both of
them were good swimmers and soon had caught
hold of the rope. Then, with powerful strokes, they
swam towards Uncle. One of them caught hold
of him, while the other tied the rope round his
waist. With Uncle between them and the rope
secure, the sailors swam back to the life-boats. The
rescue team in the boats leaned over and heaved
the three men into it. In a jiffy the boats were
heading back to the ship.
"Thank God!" muttered the captain making the
sign of the cross again, "They've managed to save
him." He turned to the passengers thronging the
railings. "Please do not crowd round the man
when he is brought up. He will need immediate
medical care." Then he saw the ship's doctor standing
with a couple of nurses. A stretcher was also
being brought close to the railings.
"Doctor! Is everything ready for the patient?"
the captain asked.
"Aye, aye, Captain," nodded the doctor.
The captain moved away to restore order on
the ship. I edged close to the doctor and asked,
"What will you do to him, doctor? Will he be all
right?"
"Aye, I think so. All the water will have to be
pumped out of him. He'll have to be given artificial
respiration and kept warm."
"How do you pump the water out?" I asked.
"We put him on his stomach and massage him
until he brings it all up," he replied.
As soon as the rescue team reached the ship,
Uncle was placed on the stretcher and rushed to
the hospital room. The captain then came to me
and said, "Run along now and play with your
friends. I'm busy, but will send for you when I'm
through. I might even have a surprise for you."
