imed--

"Oh, Mr Leslie, what dreadful thing has happened? I was awakened by
the terrible noise and confusion--the crashing and thumping, the
thrashing of the sails, the howling of the wind, and the shouting of the
sailors--and I feared that the ship was sinking--for it seemed just as
bad as on the night when the _Golden Fleece_ was run into; so I wrapped
myself in this dressing-gown, and have been to and fro between the top
of the stairs and my own cabin for quite an hour, I should think. But I
would not come out on deck, for I saw at once that you were all
extremely busy; and I knew that, if I did, I should only interrupt you,
and be in your way."

"You would, indeed," answered Leslie, bluntly. "And even now," he
continued, "the deck is no place for you on this wild and bitter night;
you will get wet through and `catch your death of cold,' as they say
ashore. Therefore I beg that you will forthwith go below and turn in;
there is no further danger at present; the brig is scudding quite
comfortably, as you may see; and there is nothing that we can run up
against between this and the morning; you may therefore finish your
sleep in comfort and with an easy mind."

"But please tell me exactly what has happened," the girl persisted; "I
shall be better able to rest if you will let me know the worst."

"Well, if you insist on knowing, the brig was caught aback by a sudden
shift of wind, and we have lost our mainmast and fore-topmast," answered
Leslie, saying nothing about their further loss of three men, as he did
not wish to harrow her mind with such a distressing detail until it
became impossible any longer to conceal it, Miss Trevor was not,
however, to be so easily put off.

"But I heard the carpenter crying out that he had lost three men," she
said. "What did he mean by that?"

"Precisely what he said," answered Leslie, reluctantly. "The poor chap
was overcome with the fatigue of the last three days, and fell asleep in
his watch on deck. The result is the loss of our spars, and--worse
still--of three men, who, there can be no doubt, somehow got washed or
knocked overboard when the squall struck and dismasted us."

"Oh, how dreadful!" exclaimed the girl in tones of horror. "This is
indeed an unfortunate ship! We have met with nothing but tragedy since
we came on board. I wish now--oh, I wish most fervently!--that we had
met some other ship into which we could both have changed; we should
then have escaped