and the
boatswain coming to his assistance, they hauled the man in, and secured
the rope which was fastened to his waist. They now pulled away across
the little bay formed by the reef and the shore, towards a high rock
which jutted out from the beach.

"I thought Bill Windy would do it," exclaimed the man who had been
rescued; and without shaking the water from his clothes, he began
hauling in on the line which he had brought with him. At the other end
was a hawser which the boat now towed towards the rock. Leaping on to
it, the boatswain and Lizard made fast the hawser. A communication was
thus established between the vessel and the shore.

Emily and May, with the rest of the party on the beach, had been
watching these proceedings with intense eagerness. The boat again
pulled back towards the wreck. The brave mate was seen to cling to the
hawser, and work his way back. Several times the surf covered him, but
he held on tight, and, emerging from the water, clambered up the bows of
the ship. The hawser was tautened up, while the boat hung on to it,
ready to receive the next comers. The mate was soon again seen making
his way along the hawser, carrying another line and a block. He reached
the boat in safety, when the block was secured, just above the boat. A
cradle, which had meantime been prepared, was slung on the hawser; but
eager as those on board were to reach a place of safety, they appeared
to hesitate about trusting themselves to it.

"Why are they losing so much precious time?" cried Emily. "How
fearfully the sea is breaking over the ship; any moment she may be
dashed to pieces, or fall off the rocks into the deep water. Oh, see!
see! there is a man making the attempt with two children. It is Mr
Paget." That gentleman, finding others hesitated, had taken two infants
from their mothers' arms, and had seated himself in the cradle, to set
an example to the rest of the people on board. Holding on with one
hand, and steadying the cradle with the other, though the surf as it
rose washed over him more than once, he reached the boat with his
charges.

"Thank Heaven!" exclaimed Emily. "He is safe! he is safe! And there is
Charles; he is following the brave example."

Several other persons succeeded in gaining the boat. Tom Loftus, Jack
Ivyleaf, and Mr Bolton, the father of the large family already on
shore, were among them. Each brought either a couple of children or one
of the women with him--t