He had landed many kegs in a sea as strong or stronger, and he knew how to deal with the horses in a surf.

There still was a break of almost a fathom in the level of the inner and the outer waves, for the basin was so large that it could not fill at once; and so long as this lasted, every roller must comb over at the entrance, and mainly spend itself.

"At least five minutes to spare," he shouted back, "and there is no such thing as any danger." But the girl did not believe him.
Rapidly and skillfully he made his way, meeting the larger waves sideways, and rising at their onset; until he was obliged to swim at last where the little horse was swimming desperately.

The leather, still jammed in some crevice at the bottom, was jerking his poor chin downward; his eyes were screwed up like a new-born kitten's, and his dainty nose looked like a jelly-fish.

He thought how sad it was that he should ever die like this, after all the good works of his life--the people he had carried, and the chaise that he had drawn, and all his kindness to mankind.