An hour after dawn another child died, and as we were in the act of
casting the body into the sea, I looked up and saw a vessel far away,
that seemed to be sailing in such fashion that she would pass within two
miles of where we were. Returning thanks to God for this most blessed
sight, we took to the oars, for the wind was now so light that our
clumsy sail would no longer draw us through the water, and rowed feebly
so as to cut the path of the ship. When we had laboured for more than an
hour the wind fell altogether and the vessel lay becalmed at a distance
of about three miles. So the priest and I rowed on till I thought that
we must die in the boat, for the heat of the sun was like that of a
flame and there came no wind to temper it; by now, too, our lips were
cracked with thirst. Still we struggled on till the shadow of the ship's
masts fell athwart us and we saw her sailors watching us from the deck.
Now we were alongside and they let down a ladder of rope, speaking to us
in Spanish.
How we reached the deck I cannot say, but I remember falling beneath
the shade of an awning and drinking cup after cup of the water that was
brought to me. At last even my thirst was satisfied, and for a while I
grew faint and dizzy, and had no stomach for the meat which was thrust
into my hand. Indeed, I think that I must have fainted, for when I came
to myself the sun was straight overhead, and it seemed to me that I had
dreamed I heard a familiar and hateful voice.
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