Rowing cautiously, for fear the tree might topple over and upset his boat, he heard a faint cry. Surely it could not be human; he listened; again he heard it; and looking upward you may imagine his astonishment at seeing a boy sitting across one of the upper branches.
"Who cries for help?" said Nicholas.
"It is the miserable Chow, who must die if the benevolent stranger will not aid him," was the reply.
"Canst thou swim, O Chow? If so, drop into the water, for I dare not come nearer," said Nicholas; but scarcely had he spoken when a strong gust of wind toppled the tree over with its great arms stretched out as if to save itself from falling. Fortunately it fell in an opposite direction to the boat. In the fall the boy was dashed so violently upon the water, that becoming instantly senseless he would have sunk but for Nicholas, who, getting hold of the long hair of his head, managed to drag him into the boat. Upon recovering his senses he said, "Alas! then, Yen-Vang has poor Chow after all."
"Thou art far away from the king of the lower regions, my poor Chow," said Nicholas.
"By the social relations, I am alive and on earth—no, on water—and ungrateful to the benevolent stranger," said the boy, holding his head with both hands, as if the better to comprehend his situation.
"Satisfy thy hunger and say how it happened that Chow came to be perched like a wild goose on a masthead," said Nicholas, giving the boy some of the rice cakes, which he devoured as ravenously as if he had not tasted food for a week.
The lad, who had so unexpectedly made the acquaintance of Nicholas, was a tall, bony youth of about sixteen, with a broad forehead, sparkling black eyes, and covered with a coarse robe, so torn and tattered, that he might have passed for a beggar of the lowest class.
When he had satisfied his hunger, Chow clasped the knees of his new friend, and with tears of gratitude flowing down his cheek, said, "Chow will be thy slave, O generous stranger, for truly it could be for no other purpose that the gods have saved his life."
"Tush! talk not of slavery or gods, Chow, but say what is thy name, surname, and the rank of thy family," said Nicholas.