Thereon the log lifted her playfully to my arms, and when I had laid hold came down, a crushing weight, and forced us far into the clammy bosom of Martian sea.

Again we came up, coughing and choking--I tugging furiously at that tangled raiment, and the lady, a mere lump of sweetness in my other arm--then down again with that log upon me and all the noises of Eblis in my ears.

Up and down we went, over and over, till strength was spent and my ribs seemed breaking; then, with a last desperate effort, I got a knee against the stem, and by sheer strength freed my princess--the spiteful timber made a last ugly thrust at us as it rolled away--and we were free! I turned upon my back, and, sure of rescue now, took the lady's head upon my chest, holding her sweet, white fists in mine the while, and, floating, waited for help.
It came only too quickly.

The gallant Martians, when they saw the princess saved, came swiftly down upon us.

Over the lapping of the water in my ears I heard their sigh--like cries of admiration and surprise, the rattle of spray on the canoe sides mingled with the splash of oars, the flitting shadows of their prows were all about us, and in less time than it takes to write we were hauled aboard, revived, and taken to Hath's barge.