He felt the awful stinging pain of the
blow, like the thrust of a spear; a mighty wave seemed to mount upward
to meet and to engulf him. Then he lost all perception of what he was
doing or of what happened to him; and it might to his consciousness
have been either moments or hours before he found himself struggling in
the icy water. He swam instinctively, and he even remembered to try to
increase his distance from the steamer, that he might not be caught in
the eddy when it went down. He heard still the cries and shrieks, but
the noise of the sea at his ears was like a mighty uproar confusing
all. He could not tell in which direction lay the vessel; a mighty
pressure crushed his chest, and innumerable lights twinkling against a
background of intensest black seemed to shine before his eyes. He was
past thinking clearly. His memory was like a broken mirror whose
shattered fragments reflected a thousand bits from his past life,
confused, detached, and meaningless.
Then with a last supreme effort his strong will asserted itself in a
command upon his consciousness. For one intense instant, briefer than
the flash of the tiniest spark, he realized everything, save that the
blow or the nearness of death seemed to have dulled all sense of fear.
The most vivid thought of all was the reflection that he might have
been saved but for his efforts to help Ninitta.
Pages:
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389