xt to yours."

"She's in yonder boat. I saw her lowered into it. Quick, quick! Take
me there. She is there, I tell you."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite, quite. Oh, lose no time!" wringing her hands piteously.

"Come, then!"

With a deft rapidity that was marvellous under the circumstances, he
forced a way through the swaying crowd, now very much thinned out. The
boat she had pointed to was worked by some of the ship's company, who,
cool-headed, had left the panic to take care of itself, and were
devoting their efforts to rescuing such of the women and children as
they could. The boat was lying by, already loaded down to the water's
edge.

"Here's another passenger for you, Smithers," sang out Roden,
recognising one of the quartermasters. "Now, Mrs Mainwaring, down you
go! I'll hand down the little ones."

But she refused, until the children were first taken off. Then she
followed.

"Is Miss Ridsdale there, Smithers?" he cried.

"Very sorry, sir, but we can't take you off. No more room for any
males."

"I didn't ask you to take me off. Is Miss Ridsdale with you?" And just
then, a recumbent figure in the after-part of the boat caught his eye in
the misty gloom. Yes, that was Mona. He was satisfied.

"Stay, stay!" shrieked Mrs Mainwaring, the lady whom he had just
rescued. "Take him with you, if you are men. There is room for one
more. All the women are safe in the other boats--I saw them! We were
nearly the last. Come, Mr Musgrave!"

The old quartermaster looked doubtful, then yielded.

"Jump, sir, jump! We haven't a moment to lose. That's it. Give way,
my lads."

The heavily laden boat laboured ponderously from the side of the big
ship. The sound of hoarse shouting through the misty smother, the
shrieks of hysterical women, the splash of the oars, the raucous,
suffocating cry of a drowning wretch, sinking back exhausted here and
there, made a weird and appalling situation, such as those now in it
would remember their lives long--if their lives were spared them. And,
settling down more and more, black, and hardly distinguishable in
outline, lay the huge, helpless hull of what a few minutes back was a
mighty steamship, and any moment might witness the final plunge.
Already most of the boats were out of sight of each other, almost out of
hail, having made all the offing they could from the foundering ship.
But of the great steamer which had crashed into them there was visible
no sign,