lance, and, gathering way, went with a run to leeward. Whether the
accident was due to the poor man's anxiety to preserve his sextant from
damage or not can never be known, but certain it is that, from some
cause or other, he failed to bring up against the light iron protective
railing which ran round the poop, overbalancing himself instead, and
falling headlong into the water.

A shriek from the ladies, who witnessed the accident, and the shout of
"Mate overboard!" from the helmsman caused the skipper and Ned to lay
their instruments hurriedly down on deck and run aft to the lee quarter,
where the first thing they saw was the unfortunate man's hat tossing on
the crest of a sea about a dozen yards astern.

"He can't swim a stroke," exclaimed Ned to the skipper; and then, before
the latter could stop him, the gallant fellow took a short run, and
plunged headlong into the foaming wake of the ship.

"Down helm!" exclaimed the skipper to the man at the wheel, springing at
the same time to the lee main-brace, which he let fly. The men forward,
meanwhile, having heard the cry of "Mate overboard," rushed aft to the
braces, and in another minute the ship was hove-to, with her mainsail in
the brails.

This done, Williams, who was perhaps the keenest sighted man in the
ship, sprang into the mizen-rigging, and, making his way with incredible
rapidity into the top, stood looking in the direction where he expected
to see the two men.

"D'ye see anything of them, Williams?" shouted the skipper.

"Yes, sir; I can see _one_ of them," was the reply; "but which one it is
I can't tell. It must be Ned though, I think, for he seems to be
swimming round and round, as though looking for the mate."

"Keep your eye on him, my man; don't lose sight of him for a single
instant!" shouted the captain. Then, turning to the men, who were
clustered together on the poop, he exclaimed: "Now then, men, what are
you thinking about! Out with the boat, my hearties; and be smart about
it!"

The men moved to the tackles and threw the falls off the pins down on to
the deck, talking eagerly together meanwhile; then one of them turned,
and, stepping up to the skipper, said:

"Who is to go in the boat, sir? I must say I don't care about the job;
and the others say the same. We don't believe we could get away from
the ship's side in such a sea as this."

Captain Blyth stamped on the deck in his vexation and despair. It was
only too true; the bo