he carrying on of the struggle came
down to mere animal instinct. At such times a brave man need not be
ashamed to die--the time has long elapsed when cravens perish. But the
very brave, the physically as well as mentally brave, fight on to the
end, instinctively. And so Dan fought. He knew that Virginia Howland
hung on his arm--but the fire had gone from his ken; he was fighting
something, that was all he knew, or cared, since it was for her. Once
the red sheet enveloped them for a flashing second, but the merciful
wind came to save. It could not last long, though. Dan's arm weakened
about the limp form of the girl. He closed his eyes and ground his
teeth and brought new force to the encircling arm. He glared down at
the mass of soft hair scattering over his breast; he thought of that
beautiful life and quite impersonally asked himself if all this beauty
must die. Where would all the beauty of the world be then? This
question ran deliriously through his mind. Eh! where would it all be?
If they died together, would they wake together? And the flames came
again.

But as they swooped down with redoubled fury he saw almost
subconsciously a great tangled litter of wreckage passing beneath him.
He uttered a little cry, and with the girl still in his arm he dropped
from the ledge. With a sigh of relief he felt the cooling, revivifying
water, and the sharp, cold taste of brine in his mouth was like the
touch of a new life.

Instinctively he had put his free arm around a section of cargo boom,
with a grating caught in the twisted gear. Upon this he pushed and
lifted the half-unconscious girl. Then he clambered astride the boom.
Thus they drifted, while Dan, his mind slowly clearing, struggled
pitifully for full possession of his faculties. He had a dull sense of
pain, but the one dominant idea was the girl. Leaning slightly over,
he twisted his hand in the folds of her dress lest she slip into the
waters. The stars were paling; on the horizon were the first vague
hints of dawn. He gazed at the faint gray curtain with interest. It
was a dawn he had not expected to see, he told himself.

Then, as he looked, a shape arose before his eye out of the gloom. Dan
watched it with dumb fascination. Suddenly a realizing sense of the
nature of the apparition shot through his mind. A vessel--God! Dan's
voice raised in a long, hoarse cry for assistance. But there was no
answer. Yet the craft was bearing toward t