the little craft like the consummate
seaman he was; and between them all, they managed to keep her above
water.

"Drop your bucket, Bob, and stand by to heave them a line," presently
shouted the captain. Bob sprang forward, and seized the end of the long
painter which was neatly coiled-up and stopped with a ropeyarn or two.
Whipping open his knife he quickly severed the stops, and was just
arranging the coil in his hand when Captain Staunton cried sharply--

"Heave with a will, Bob. There she goes!"

Bob glanced at the pinnace, now some twenty feet distant, just in time
to see a heavy sea break fairly on board the water-logged boat and
literally bury her. There was a wild cry from her occupants, as they
felt the boat sinking under them, and in another instant they were left
struggling for their lives in the furious sea.

Bob hove the line with all his strength, and with unerring aim into the
midst of the little crowd of drowning human beings, and then called for
assistance. Some of them he saw had seized it; and he at once began to
haul in. The other apprentices with Lance and Rex sprang to his aid,
and presently hauled on board Brook and one of the seamen.

By this time the launch had crept up to the spot where the pinnace had
disappeared; and by reaching out their hands those on board were able to
seize and drag inboard three more of the drowning men.

Mr Bowles' body, however, was seen floating face downwards some five-
and-twenty feet away; and, close to it, Mr Forester Dale struggling
desperately, and uttering wild screams which were every moment changed
to choking sobs as the pitiless sea broke relentlessly over his head.

It was Bob who first caught sight of these two; and without an instant's
pause or hesitation he sprang headlong from the launch's gunwale, and
with a few powerful strokes reached the struggler. Mr Dale promptly
flung both arms and legs round his would-be deliverer, clasping Bob like
a vice, and pinioning him so completely that he was unable to move hand
or foot. The result was that both instantly sank beneath the surface.
Poor Bob thought for a second or two that his last hour was come; and
there, in the depths of that wildly-raging sea, he lifted up his whole
heart to God in a momentary but earnest prayer for mercy and
forgiveness. Doubtless that swift prayer was heard, for as it flashed
from his heart he felt his companion's grip relaxing, and in another
instant he had wrenched