Notwithstanding the assuring air with which the Indian spoke, the third rower, under the excitement of a terrible alarm, at this moment rushed up and caught him around the knees--as if clinging to him for help. "Ho!" cried Costal, endeavouring to disengage himself, "hands off there, friend! Off, I say--here it is every one for himself!" And as he said this he pushed the man backward. The latter, staggering partly under the impulsion he had received, and partly under the influence of his fright, tumbled back into the water. At the same instant a third shark disappeared from the side of the canoe, while a cry of despair appeared to rise up from the bottom of the sea! "It was his own fault," said the impassable Zapoteque, "his example should be a warning to others!" At this frightful innuendo the ex-student of theology, more dead than alive, commenced invoking God and the saints with a fervour such as he had never felt in all his life. "_Carrambo_! Captain," cried the imperturbable pagan, "put more confidence in your own courage than your saints. Can you swim?" "Only a few strokes," feebly replied Lantejas. "Good! that will be enough. There is only one way to hinder the canoe from going head downwards. Look out, then, and keep close by my side!" Saying this, Costal waited until the canoe rose upon the top of a wave; and then, throwing all his strength into the effort, he kicked the craft, overturning it keel upwards. Both men were for the moment under water; and Lantejas, on coming to the surface, felt himself violently grasped by the garments. He fancied it was one of the sharks that had seized hold of him; but the voice of Costal close to his ear once more reassured him. "Do not fear: I am with you," said the Indian, dragging him through the water towards the capsized canoe, which was now floating wrong side up. The efforts of the Indian, joined to those which Lantejas mechanically made for himself, enabled the latter to get astride the keel of the canoe; where Costal, after swimming a few strokes through the water, mounted also. "Another minute," said the Indian, "and the old tub would have gone to the bottom. Now she may keep afloat till the whale-boats get up--that is, if the storm don't come down before then." Lantejas cast a despairing glance towards the distant ocean, which, lashed by the wind, had already commenced under its mantle of foam. The sight drew from him a fresh invocation to the saints, with an improvised but earnest prayer for his own safety. "_Carrambo_!" cried the pagan Costal, "keep a firm seat, and don't trust too much to your gods. If you let yourself be washed off, you'll find they won't do much for you. Stay! you've nothing to hold on by! let me make a catch for you."