He drew a great, gasping breath before his head went under and then struck out with all his might.
When his lungs seemed bursting with the labor, he whirled to the surface again and drew another gasping breath.

The storm had torn a rift in the clouds and through it looked the moon as if some god were peering through the curtain of mist to watch the havoc he was working.
By this light Harrigan saw that he was being drawn down in a narrowing circle.

Straight before him loomed a black fragment of the wreckage.

He tried to swing to one side, but the current of the water bore him on.
He received a heavy blow on the head and his senses went out like a snuffed light.
When consciousness returned, there was a sharp pain in both head and right shoulder, for it was on his shoulder that McTee had fastened his grip.

The captain sprawled on a great timber, clutching it with both legs and one arm.