Part 7 (2/2)

Fortunately, Captain Truck saw him, and hove a grating close to him with a rope attached to it.

”Hold on to this, young gentleman, until Master Harry comes to help you.

Don't be afraid, and you'll be all right.”

d.i.c.k caught hold of the grating, and wisely did as he was advised. I, hearing his cries, had in the meantime turned round, and getting up to him, took a rope which Truck heaved to me, and fastened it round his waist.

”You are all right now,” I said; ”but before you attempt to do anything else, learn to strike out with your feet with regular strokes. Pull your knees up, and then shove them out horizontally even with the surface of the water. There, that will do capitally; you see how fast you shove the grating ahead.”

Truck on this slackened out more rope; and d.i.c.k, delighted, soon carried the rope out as far as it would go. Then, turning the grating round, I made him push it back again towards the vessel.

”Now rest a bit--just as I am doing,” I said; ”don't move, but let your legs and body float up; just touch the grating with your arms stretched out, and as much of your body as possible under the water. There, you see, you float like a cork. Now you observe that, if you remain perfectly quiet, the water will float your body. All the grating now does is to support your head; but if you were to turn on your back, and let your head sink down into the water, with only your face above, the water would support your head.”

d.i.c.k did as I suggested, and was quite surprised to find how perfectly he floated.

”Now, you see, when swimming, you require only the movement of your arms to keep your head above water, although they also a.s.sist you to progress and to guide yourself; but the feet make most of the onward movement.

Just try without the grating, and the rope will bring you up if you sink.”

d.i.c.k, who was quite rested again, did as I advised, and managed to get from one end of the vessel to the other, although it must be confessed that more water ran down his throat than he found pleasant. I then showed him how he could tread water, by keeping his body perfectly upright with his arms folded; here was a still greater surprise to him, and he was thus able to keep his chin well out of the water, and sometimes, by striking hard, to raise his shoulders even above the surface.

”This is capital!” he exclaimed. ”Though I had read about swimming, I had no notion how it was done; and I could not have supposed it possible that water could float me so easily. I had tried several times in the ponds, and nearly drowned myself.”

”Ah, but we have got the salt-water of the Atlantic here, which is far more buoyant than the fresh water,” I observed.

d.i.c.k was so delighted that it was with difficulty we could get him to come on board again and dress for breakfast.

”You'll make a first-rate swimmer in a few days, sir,” said Paul Truck, as he a.s.sisted him up the side. ”I'll tell you why--you have no more fear than a Newfoundland dog. The reason people can't swim is that they fancy that they can't; whereas, the Newfoundland dog knows that he can, and goes in and does it.”

Having dried myself, I ran down and brought up a clean s.h.i.+rt for d.i.c.k, who asked Truck to fasten his up in the rigging.

”Better souse it out with fresh water first, or you wouldn't find it pleasant to put on again,” answered the captain, laughing; ”the salt would tickle your skin, I've a notion.”

”Not if it is dry, surely?” asked d.i.c.k.

”Yes; you see the salt would remain. Why, you'd have as much salt in that s.h.i.+rt as would serve you for dinner for a week if I was to, dry it in the sun without rinsing it out. Haven't you ever seen salt in the holes of the rocks?”

d.i.c.k had not, but I very frequently had.

”How do you think that salt comes there?” asked Truck.

d.i.c.k could not tell.

”Why, it's just this: the sun draws up the fresh water, and doesn't draw up the salt, but leaves that behind. If it wasn't for that, we should have salt rain; and a pretty go that would be; for all the trees, and plants, and gra.s.s would be killed, and vessels, when away from land and hard up for water, would not be able to get any.”

We had been so busy dressing that we had not had time to admire the harbour. We now agreed that it looked a very beautiful spot, with bright green fields and the white houses of the town, with Pendennis Castle on the western point and Saint Mawes opposite to it. Facing Falmouth we could see Flus.h.i.+ng, and church towers and villas on the sh.o.r.es of the river Fal away to the northward.

On going on sh.o.r.e, however, the place did not appear quite so attractive, and the streets and alleys had a Wapping look about them, and were redolent of the odours of a seaport. But as we got out of the more commercial part, the town improved greatly. One of the most interesting buildings we visited was that of the Cornwall Sailors' Home, though there were many other fine public buildings.

Pendennis Castle chiefly occupied our attention. It is of considerable size. At one part is a round tower--the most ancient portion of the building--erected in the time of Henry the Eighth. The works extend seaward, so that they guard the entrance to the harbour. We wandered from bastion to bastion, gazing over the ocean two hundred feet below us. The paved platforms, the heavy guns, and the magazines for ammunition showed that the fortress was prepared for an enemy. Should one appear, may its garrison hold out as bravely as did that under the command of old John Arundel, a partisan of the Stuarts, when besieged by the Parliamentary army, until the defenders and their brave captain were starved into submission.

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