There was no wind, and the waves and swells caused by the destruction and the sinking of the Princess Mary were beginning to subside. So it was not difficult for Sidney to swim, though he was retarded somewhat by the cork jacket that was buckled around him.
He had proceeded but a few strokes when he noticed, a little to one side, the form of a man lying against a piece of plank, and he changed his course to examine it. The man’s face was in the water, and Sidney, turning it up, was shocked to find it was Captain Foster. There was a bloody bruise extending across his forehead, and he was unconscious, but Sidney thought he still lived.
“Oh, Ray,” Sidney called, “Captain Foster is hurt; come and help me.”
The other men who were floating in the wreckage heard the call, and all hastened to the aid of their captain. There were the mate, a sailor, and two engineers, all who were left of the ship’s company. Mr. Wright was the first to reach them, and after examining Captain Foster briefly, he declared,—
“He’s only stunned, sir, but we must get him out of the water, or he’ll be chilled. You men,” he continued, turning to the others, while he supported himself by a piece of plank, “get together all the good pieces of timber you can find, and we’ll make a raft. I saw a coil of rope just over there, and maybe you’ll find some more.”
The men, assisted by Sidney and Raymond, swam through the floating débris, and collected all the pieces of wood that were large enough to use. They also found several long pieces of rope. It was slow work, and tedious, but fortunately all were good swimmers. As fast as they brought the pieces in, pushing them before them to where Mr. Wright was waiting with Captain Foster, the mate arranged them in some sort of order. He tied fragments of about the same length and width together, and then placed those couples consecutively and bound them with the long ropes. There were two heavy hatch covers, each of which would easily support a man, and that addition expedited the work greatly.
Finally the lumber was all collected and bound together. While not all of it was yet assembled in the raft, enough of it was put together to support several men. So the mate, who was anxious to get the captain out of the water, climbed up on it and directed the men from there.
“Jack,” he said to the sailor, “you and Watson,” indicating one of the engineers, “bring the captain here and we’ll lift him up.”
The mate had supported Captain Foster in the water by placing his arms over a plank and securing them there with a bit of rope. The two men unbound the lashing, and placing themselves one on each side of the injured man, who was still unconscious, they floated him across the few intervening yards of space to the raft.
“Now, let me get hold under his shoulders,” said Mr. Wright, “and you men take hold of the raft with one hand and lift on the captain with the other.”