Although dazed with the awful din and almost fainting with terror and weakness, he could not resist the command.  Pressing his hands on the raft he at last struggled up to his knees, and saw that the feared bird-like monster had passed him by:  he saw that it was a ship with a black hull, its white sails spread, and that the motion of the water and the wave that swept over him had been created by the ship as it came close to the raft.  It was now rapidly gliding from him, but still very near, and he saw a crowd of strange-looking rough men, with sun-browned faces and long hair and shaggy beards, leaning over the bulwarks staring at him.  They had seen with astonishment the corpse, as they thought, of a little naked white boy lying on the old black raft, with a multitude of sea-birds gathered to feed on him; now when they saw him get up on his knees and look at them, they uttered a great cry, and began rushing excitedly hither and thither, to pull at ropes and lower a boat.  Martin did not know what they were doing; he only knew that they were men in a ship, but he was now too weak and worn-out to look at or think of more than one thing at a time, and what he was looking at now was the birds.  For no sooner had he looked up and seen the ship than their wild cries ceased, and they rose up and up like a white cloud to scatter far and wide over sky and sea.  For some moments he continued watching them, listening to their changed voices, which now had a very soft and pleasant sound, as if they were satisfied and happy.  It made him happy to hear them, and he lifted his hands up and smiled; then, relieved of his terror and overcome with weariness, he closed his eyes and dropped once more full length upon his bed of wet seaweed.  At that the men stared into each other’s face, a very strange startled look coming into their eyes.  And no wonder!  For long, long months, running to years, they had been cruising in those lonely desolate seas, thousands of miles from home, seeing no land nor any green thing, nor dear face of woman or child:  and now by some strange chance a child had come to them, and even while they were making all haste to rescue it, putting their arms out to take it from the sea, its life had seemingly been snatched from them!

But he was only sleeping.

[Illustration:  ]

NOTE

When I arranged with Mr. Hudson for the publication of an American Edition of A Little Boy Lost, I asked him to write a special foreword to his American readers.  He replied with a characteristic letter, and, taking him at his word.  I am printing it on the following pages.

   ALFRED A. KNOPF.

  Dear Mr. Knopf: