thrice repeated, exhausted the capacity of his lungs, and he
paused, anxiously listening for a reply. He thought--and Miss Trevor
thought, too--that in response to his last shout a faint "Hillo?" had
come floating down to them; but the wash of the water was in his ears,
and he could not be certain, he therefore again took breath, and
repeated his hail.

This time there could be no doubt about it; the answering hail came
distinctly enough, and immediately afterwards--so close was the brig to
them--he saw first one head, then another, and another, appear in the
eyes of the vessel, peering over the bows. Quick as light, and treading
water meanwhile, he whipped the white pocket-handkerchief out of the
breast-pocket of his coat and waved it eagerly over his head. The
people in the bows of the brig stared incredulously for a moment; then
with a sudden simultaneous flinging aloft of their arms they abruptly
vanished.

"All right," ejaculated Leslie, in tones of profound relief, "they have
seen us, and your deliverance, Miss Trevor, is now a matter of but a few
brief minutes!"

"Oh, thank God; thank God!" cried the girl, brokenly; and then, all in a
moment, the tension of her nerves suddenly giving way, she broke down
utterly, and burst into a perfect passion of tears. Leslie had sense
enough to recognise that this hysterical outburst would probably relieve
his companion's sorely overwrought feelings, and do her good; he
therefore allowed her to have her cry out in peace, without making any
attempt to check her.

She was still sobbing convulsively when Leslie, who never took his eyes
off the slowly approaching brig, saw five people suddenly appear in the
vessel's bows, three of them pointing eagerly, while the other two
peered out ahead under the sharp of their hands.

"Brig ahoy!" hailed Leslie; "back your main-yard, will you, and stand by
to heave us a couple of rope's ends when we come alongside?"

"Ay, ay," promptly came the answer from the brig. The men in the bows
again vanished; and, as they did so, the same voice that had just
answered pealed out, "Let go the port main braces; main tack and sheet;
back the main-yard! And then some of you stand by to drop a line or
two, with a standing bowline in their ends, to those people in the
water."

The main-yard swung slowly aback, the canvas on the mainmast pressed
against the mast, still further retarding the vessel's sluggish
movement; and as she drifted almost