A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

Drifting 277
instant all my strength was gone : I felt the men
in the boat pulling me up; but I could neither
speak nor move, and everything became dark.
" After a time 1 heard the voices again, — the
voices of the men of the Fuhuju Maru : —
'Jinyo! Jinyo!' — and 1 was frightened. Then
somebody shook me, and said — '
: Oi ! oi ! ^
it is only a dream !
' —
and 1 saw that I was
lying in the junk, under a hanging lantern (for
it was night) — ; and beside me an old man, a
stranger, was kneeling, with a cup of boiled rice
in his hand. ' Try to eat a little,' he said, very
kindly. I wanted to sit up, but could not : then
he fed me himself, out of the cup. When it was
empty 1 asked for more; but the old man answered
— : ' Not now ; — you must sleep first.'
I heard him say to some one else — : ' Give him
nothing more until I tell you : if you let him eat
much, he will die.' I slept again ; and twice
more that night 1 was given rice — soft-boiled
rice — one small cupful at a time.
" In the morning 1 felt much better ; and the
old man, who had brought me the rice, came and
questioned me. When he heard about the loss of
1 As we should say, " Hey !
hey
! " — to call attention.