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Speaker 1: Man overboard by Winston Spencer Churchill. It was a little

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after half past nine when the man fell overboard. The

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mail steamer was hurrying through the Red Sea in the

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hope of making up the time which the currents of

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the Indian Ocean had stolen. The night was clear, though

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the moon was hidden behind clouds. The warm air was

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laden with moisture. The still surface of the waters was

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only broken by the movement of the great ship, from

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whose quarter the long, slanting undulations struck out like the

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feathers from an arrow shaft, and in whose wake the

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froth and air bubbles churned up by the propeller, trailed

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in a narrowing line to the darkness of the horizon.

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There was a concert on board. All the passengers were

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glad to break the monotony of the voyage, and gathered

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around the piano in the companion house. The decks were deserted.

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The man had been listening to the music and joining

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in the songs, but the room was hot, and he

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came out to smoke a cigarette and enjoy a breath

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of the wind which the speedy passage of the liner created.

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It was the only wind in the Red Sea that night.

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The accommodation ladder had not been unshipped since leaving Aden,

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and the man walked out onto the platform as on

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to a balcony. He leaned his back against the rail

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and blew a puff of smoke into the air reflectively.

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The piano struck up a lively tune, and a voice

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began to sing the first verse of the Rowdy Dowdy Boys.

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The measured pulsations of the screw were a subdued but

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additional accompaniment. The man knew the song. It had been

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the rage at all the music halls when he had

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started for India seven years before. It reminded him of

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the brilliant and busy streets he had not seen for

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so long, but was soon to see again. He was

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just going to join in the chorus when the railing,

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which had been insecurely fastened, gave way suddenly with a snap,

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and he fell backwards into the warm water of the

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sea amid a great splash. For a moment he was

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physically too much astonished to think. Then he realized that

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he must shout. He began to do this even before

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he rose to the surface. He achieved a hoarse, inarticulate

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half choked scream. A startled brain suggested the word help,

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and he bawled this out lustily and with frantic effort,

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six or seven times without stopping. Then he listened, High, Hi,

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Clear the way for the rowdy dowdy boys. The chorus

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floated back to him across the smooth water, for the

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ship had already passed completely by, and as he heard

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the music, a long stab of terror drove through his heart.

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The possibility that he would not be picked up dawned

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for the first time on his consciousness. The chorus started again.

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Then I say, boys, who's for a jolly spree? Rum tumdilium?

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Who'll have a drink with me? Help? Help, Help, shrieked

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the man, in desperate fear. Fond of a glass now,

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and then fond of a row or noise, High High,

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Clear the way for the rowdy dowdy boys. The last

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words drawled out faint and fainter. The vessel was steaming fast.

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The beginning of the second verse was confused and broken

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by the ever growing distance. The dark outline of the

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great hull was getting blurred. The stern light dwindled. Then

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he set out to swim after it, with few curious energy,

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pausing every dozen strokes to shout long, wild shouts. The

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disturbed waters of the sea began to settle again to

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their rest. The widening undulations became ripples. The aerated confusion

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of the screw fizzed itself upwards and out. The noise

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of motion and the sounds of life and music died away.

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The liner was but a single fading light on the

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blackness of the waters, and a dark shadow against the

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paler sky. At length, full realization came to the man,

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and he stopped swimming. He was alone, abandoned. With the understanding,

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his brain reeled. He began again to swim, only now,

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instead of shouting, he prayed, mad incoherent prayers, the words

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stumbling into one another. Suddenly, a distant light seemed to

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flicker and brighten. A surge of joy and hope rushed

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through his mind. They were going to stop, to turn

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the ship and come back. And with the hope came gratitude.

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His prayer was answered. Broken words of thanksgiving rose to

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his lips. He stopped and stared after the light, his

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soul in his eyes. As he watched it, it grew

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gradually but steadily smaller, then the man knew that his

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fate was certain. Despair succeeded hope. Gratitude gave place to curses.

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Beating the water with his arms, he raved impotently. Foul

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oaths burst from him, as broken as his prayers, and

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as unheeded. The fit of passion passed, hurried by increasing fatigue,

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he became silent, silent as was the sea, for even

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the ripples were subsiding into the glassy smoothness of the surface.

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He swam on mechanically along the track of the ship,

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sobbing quietly to himself in the misery of fear, and

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the stern light became a tiny speck yellower but scarcely

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bigger than some of the stars which here and there

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shone between the clouds. Nearly twenty minutes passed, and the

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man's fatigue began to change to exhaustion. The overpowering sense

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of the inevitable pressed upon him. With the weariness came

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a strange comfort. He need not swim all the long

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way to Suez. There was another course. He would die,

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He would resign his existence. Since he was thus abandoned,

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he threw up his hands impulsively and sank down, down,

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he went through the warm water. The physical death took

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hold of him, and he began to drown. The pain

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of that savage grip recalled his anger. He fought with it, furiously,

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striking out with arms and legs. He sought to get

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back to the air. It was a hard struggle, but

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he escaped, victorious and gasping to the surface, despair awaited him. Feebly,

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splashing with his hands, he moaned in bitter misery, I can't,

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I must, Oh, God, let me die. The moon, then,

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in her third quarter, pushed out from behind the concealing

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clouds and shed a pale, soft glitter upon the sea.

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Up in the water, fifty yards away was a black

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triangular object. It was a fin It approached him slowly.

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His last appeal had been heard. End of Man Overboard.