ST HOUR - Winston Churchill

FROM THE CANONMan Overboard!An Episode of the Red SeaBY WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, 1899ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRY AUSTINIT was a little after half-past ninewhen the man fell overboard.The mail steamer was hurryingthrough the Red Sea in the hope ofmaking up the time which the currentsof the Indian Ocean hadstolen. The night was clear, thoughthe moon was hidden behindclouds. The warm air was ladenwith moisture. The still surface ofthe waters was only broken by themovement of the great ship, fromwhose quarter the long, slantingundulations struck out, like thefeathers from an arrow shaft, andin whose wake the froth and airbubbles churned up by the propellertrailed in a narrowing line tothe darkness of the horizon.There was a concert on board.All the passengers were glad tobreak the monotony of the voyage,and gathered around the piano inthe companion-house. The deckswere deserted. The man had beenlistening to the music and joiningin the songs. But the room was hot,and he came out to smoke acigarette and enjoy a breath of thewind which the speedy passage ofthe liner created, it was the onlywind in the Red Sea that night.The accommodation-ladder hadnot been unshipped since leavingAden, and the man walked out onto the platform, as on to a balcony.He leaned his back against the railand blew a puff of smoke into theair reflectively. The piano struck upa lively tune, and a voice began to©Winston S. Churchill; reprinted bykind permission.FINEST HOUR 96/24sing the first verse of "The RowdyDowdy Boys." The measured pulsationsof the screw were a subduedbut additional accompaniment. Theman knew the song. It had been therage at all the music halls when hehad started for India seven years before.It remindedhim of thebiilliant andbusy streets hehad not seen for solong, but was soon to seeagain. He was just going tojoin in the chorus, when the railing,which had been insecurely fastened,gave way suddenly with a snap, andhe fell backwards into the warm water of thesea amid a great splash.