discomposed me still more by shouting repeatedly: "Don't put your foot
there!" I didn't know where to put my foot. There was a slight crack; I
heard some swear-words below me, and then with a supreme effort I rolled
in and dropped into a basket-chair, absolutely winded. A small crowd of
mechanics and officers were looking up at me from the ground, and while I
gasped visibly I thought to myself that they would be sure to put it down
to sheer nervousness. But I hadn't breath enough in my body to stick my
head out and shout down to them:
"You know, it isn't that at all!"
Generally I try not to think of my age and infirmities. They are not a
cheerful subject. But I was never so angry and disgusted with them as
during that minute or so before the machine took the water. As to my
feelings in the air, those who will read these lines will know their own,
which are so much nearer the mind and the heart than any writings of an
unprofessional can be. At first all my faculties were absorbed and as if
neutralised by the sheer novelty of the situation. The first to emerge
was the sense of security so much more perfect than in any small boat
I've ever been in; the, as it were, material, stillness, and immobility
(though it was a bumpy day).
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