Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 5).djvu/446

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THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY
449

the buoy and went out to them. She succeeded in reaching them just as they were going down for the third time, locked in each other's arms. They seized hold of the buoy, and Miss Collier attempted to swim back to the shore; but the tide was going out, and the current too strong, and they were observed to be drifting farther away. At length the cries of her companions reached the ears of those on the beach, and the machine attendant on horseback dashed off to the rescue. After swimming his horse a considerable distance he reached the scene of danger. Miss Collier at once seized on a chain attached to the collar, and the horse's head being with difficulty set towards the shore, the whole party were dragged through the water, the two children holding on to the buoy, through which Miss Collier had thrust her spare arm. After going some distance, the rider called to them that his horse's feet touched the bottom, and soon they were dragged ashore, amid intense excitement among the large crowd who had assembled and witnessed the rescue. A sum of money was collected on the spot to reward the plucky rider for his conduct, and we are glad to say Miss Collier was none the worse for the excitement and exertion."


Miss Mary Collier.
From a Photo. by Draycott, Birmingham.


James Willoughby Jardine.


James Willoughby Jardine.
From a Photo. by Puddicombe, Bideford.

"A boy, R. H. Anderson, ten years of age, was trying to swim, but the current took him out of his depth, when he lost presence of mind and began to sink. Jardine pluckily swam to the drowning boy, reached him and held him up as best he could, but the current carried them towards the opposite point, and finally a boat picked them up."


Albert Ernest Deacon, Aged 14.

"Albert Ernest Deacon, of 25, Canterbury Road, a youth only fourteen years of age, gallantly rescued two other boys from drowning on Thursday, July 16th, 1891. It appears that on the day named Deacon and some of his companions had been bathing, and had just come ashore and commenced to dress, when their attention was called to two boys struggling in the water. The other boys on the beach, regarding him as the best swimmer, shouted out, 'Go for them.' He immediately divested himself of the only garment he had on, and, plunging into the water, succeeded in bringing Walter Marsh within reach of Albert Nicholls, who was walking out waist-deep to meet him. He then at once swam off to the rescue of the other