"Can he be dead?" the Jaguar muttered, in a hollow voice.
"Oh, I cannot think so," Lanzi answered, "he is so brave and clever."
"Suppose we hail him? He may be wounded."
"But we shall be heard from the fort."
"No, the wind is off shore."
"Help, help!" a voice shouted at the moment close by.
"That is he," said the Jaguar; "here we are, John, so have courage."
And redoubling their efforts they proceeded in the direction whence the cry for help had come.
"Help, help!" the voice repeated with such an expression of agony, that the two men felt themselves shudder, although they were so inaccessible to fears. There is in the parting cry of agony of a strong man conquered by necessity, so poignant and crushing an expression, that it stirs the hearer to the depths of the soul.
"Courage, courage!" the two men repeated, redoubling their already prodigious efforts.