“Sometimes the people in the boat bailed furiously, sometimes they
stopped and stared stupidly about them. Some shouted ‘Ramez! Ramez!’
Others equally excited yelled ‘Mais non! Videz l’eau! Videz l’eau!’ I
apologized to my immediate neighbors for that I had no hat to lend, and
for that I was too hurt to stoop, but I put my hands on the erring oar
the young Frenchman was feebly moving across my knees, and did my best
to guide his efforts. As often as not he put it flat on the water, and
sometimes he merely desisted altogether, and gazed vacantly in front of
him. The Belgian asked for a handkerchief, and groping in the water at
the bottom of the boat, found a hole and caulked it as best he could.
Thereafter the bailers kept the water from increasing, but did little
to reduce it.