'A ship!' I tried to cry, the whisper only getting to the bottom of my throat. Then doubts began to fill my mind: 'What if I were to hail this ship and go aboard, and for the same fate which had befallen the Black Pearl to strike this one, where would that then leave me? Even further than I am right now from land, no doubt. No, this false offering of rescue will only pick me up, then burst in pieces when the time is ripe, and leave me stranded, worse than now.'
With these thoughts I got myself upon a floating crate which had contrived to drift along behind me, and with the sun still beating down on my ever more brittling black back, my throat entirely parched and stomach emptier than it had ever been, with such musical strains of desolation in my ears, I fell to thinking of my darling whom I left so very long ago.
* * *
Delirious with grief I awake from a stupor, confronted with a wall of darkness yet knowing it cannot be night from the heat still beating down, I peer into the dark and see a little boat paddling towards me. Forgetting my previous doubts I can only think of 'rescue!' as my eyes become accustomed and I see within the boat two people. Whether they be male or female I know not, I only think that now they can do no more harm to me than I have yet received. Thinking thus I hold on to the crate and fall into another swoon.
The castaway is in and out of consciousness as the two rescuers approach, them calling all the time in an attempt to keep him living. Rowing right up near him and his crate, they see him clearly, face down, with arms outstretched around the box, but what astounds them most is the profusion on his back of burning, bubbling flesh, steam rising off it and seeming to crumble the very air around. They dare not move the man, for fear of worsening his case, so judging that his hold will keep him there a little longer, they tie a rope around the crate, affix the other end to the stern of their small vessel, and row the lot back to the ship from where they came, towards that which Miblo only saw as darkness.
Thinking myself not far from death, I opened my eyes for one last look at the world to see a rope around the crate. Following the line to where it was affixed I saw a boat, 'the boat!', with my saviours rowing backwards into the darkness.
'Not that way,' I tried, 'That's the end of the world! Turn round, we're going the wrong way!'
Seeing my distress the two implored me to be still, and finding that I understood their language perfectly, they had my trust and so I stayed.
With tiredness flowing over me, we neared the wall of darkness. Approaching ever closer to the dark I saw a rope fall down and caught by one of my protectors. Barely sensible of my surroundings I soon felt myself lifted heavily out of the water, up, up, up into the darkness. 'This is it,' I thought, 'this is the end,' and above the darkness I see the light, and feel rejuvenated.
Standing before me as I rise I see the deck full of people and the Captain la_spice there to receive me personally, the soft blue sky and sun shining bright and calm behind them all. I am set down with the crate onto the deck, and instantly am attended by four of the crew, while two others have been sent off to fetch the medic. There is something like panic as the ones on deck come round and look at me, and I soon fall down and out of consciousness.
* * *
Awakening, I find myself face down on a soft and smooth material. The crashes of the waves have gone, my mouth's no longer parched, and the light is fairly dark. I feel someone tending my back, and upon trying to turn around the voice of a woman says to me I must be still, my back is very sore. I willingly comply and she continues caring after me, asking me about my life, and telling me of hers. We are like this for some time - my burning back improving all the while - and after treating me so tenderly, she said that I should rest.
