wed, and the boat pulled away clear of the ship,
and stood by.

"Pull up, boys!" cried Oliver to the men in the third boat--the one
which the firemen had rushed. Then turning to Latour, who was standing
near him with a sack half full of heavy articles--firearms, ammunition,
the ship's books, etc.--he bade him go first.

Disdaining to wait for the boat to come alongside the little Frenchman
sprang over the side and swam to the boat; then the bag--its contents
too precious to be wetted--was adroitly lowered and caught by one of the
hands. Jessop, the second steward, whose limbs were shaking with terror,
was told to jump, but pleaded that he could not swim.

"You miserable hound!" cried Oliver fiercely, and he raised his hand to
strike him; then a scornful pity took the place of anger, and he ordered
the boat to come alongside so that he could get in.

"Now's your chance, you dirty little cur," he said, as the boat's bow
came within a foot of the steamer's side.

The fear-stricken man jumped, fell short, and in an instant disappeared
under the ship, as she rolled suddenly to starboard. When he came to the
surface again it was at the stern, with several broken ribs, he having
struck against the propeller. He was, however, soon rescued and placed
in safety, and then but three natives and Harvey and Oliver remained
on board. The natives went first, the white men quickly followed, and
clambered into the boat, which at once joined the two others, and then
all three lay to, and their occupants watched the _Motutapu_ drifting
before the wind, with the red flames enveloping her from stern to stem.

*****

Ordering the other boats to remain close to him until further orders,
but to steer W. by N. if anything should part them from him during the
night, Oliver and Harvey, as they watched the burning steamer lighting
up the heaving sea for miles around, discussed their future plans, and
quickly resolved upon a certain course of action to be followed in the
morning.

Towards midnight the wind died away entirely, and an hour later the
heavy, lumpy sea changed into a long, sweeping swell. A mile to leeward
the _Motutafu_ still blazed fiercely, and sent up vast volumes of smoke
and flame from her forehold, where some hundreds of cases of kerosene
were stowed.

The three boats were pretty close together, and Harvey, exhausted by the
events of the day, and knowing that Tessa was safe with the second mate,
was just dozing off into