Only to be able to grasp one of them, as his hands were now clutching the wood!...
At the same time he made instinctively a movement of repulsion.

His head had sunk in the water without his being conscious of it.

A bitter liquid was beginning to filter through his mouth....
He made a mighty effort to keep himself in a vertical position, looking again at the sky, still black as ink, and all the stars as red as drops of blood.
Suddenly he felt a certain consciousness that he was not alone, and he closed his eyes....

Yes, somebody was near him.

It was a woman!...
It was a woman white as the clouds, white as the sail, white as the foam.