A portion of the ship’s rail had been removed, and Ned was standing by the open gap, looking over the moonlit sea.
It was a lovely night and hot. Ned had come on deck in his pyjamas to have a cool down before turning in for the night. The deck at this part was quite deserted, as it was past midnight. Clarence and Fred had walked over to the engine-room, and Ned fancied that he was quite alone at that moment.
Suddenly he felt a violent push from behind, and next instant he was in the sea with a splash.
When he rose to the surface and cleared the water from his eyes, he found a rope within reach, and very quickly clambered on board, nothing the worse for his unexpected bath.
In a few more moments, Stephanus Groblaar with Clarence and Fred were also pulled up safely from the shark-infested waves. The two friends had seen the accident which caused Ned and Stephanus to tumble overboard, and without a pause they had sprung in also.
It was lucky for the Boer that they did this, also that they were such expert swimmers, as it appeared he could not swim a stroke. Indeed, he was almost drowned before they could get hold of him. It had happened as before, through his unfortunate giddiness; this time Ned had instinctively made a clutch at him and pulled him over, otherwise he might only have fallen to the deck.
When Stephanus recovered his senses, he enquired anxiously who had saved his life, and, when told that it was Clarence and Fred, he expressed his gratitude in a few heartfelt words, and vowed that he would never forget this great service.
He also said how sorry he was to have imperilled the life of Ned, and hoped he would forgive him.
Ned treated the matter as a first-class joke, but told Stephanus that he should avoid open spaces near the sea, since he could not swim, and mountain ledges, since he could not fly.
“For myself, I am as much at home in the water as on dry land; so also are my chums. It was much more dangerous, however, at Madeira.”