The rain came down by the bucketful, and it did not take much to soak him to the skin. There was no way of protecting himself; he must take it as it came. Fortunately it was warm, so he did not suffer so much as he might otherwise have done.
A half-hour passed, and Ralph was just congratulating himself that the worst was over, when a cry came out of the gloom to his left.
He strained his eyes in the direction, and after a few moments caught sight of an immense hay barge bearing down upon him. The hay barge had been towed by a steam tug, but the rope had parted, and the barge was now drifting at the mercy of the wind and current.
There was a man on the hay barge, thoroughly frightened, and it was he who was crying for assistance.
"Hullo, there! What's the matter?" cried Ralph, as he steered clear of the moving mass, for the hay barge was loaded to the water's edge.
"Help me!" cried the man. "I am all alone on this barge."
"Where is the tug?"
"I don't know. I fancy she struck on a rock, for we lost our reckoning, and ran too close to shore."
"I don't see how I can help you," returned Ralph. "My boat won't budge that big barge."
"Then take me on board, will you?" returned the man, with a shiver. "I ain't used to being out in the wind and rain."