he slippery rope.
Men above held it and helped as best they could, while the sailor below
waited to receive her into the little boat. She was steady and quick
as a woman in such a perilous position could be. As she descended, the
rowboat, insecurely held to the _Jeanne D'Arc_, slid sternward a few
feet; and while she waited in midair for the boat to be brought up
again, the _Jeanne D'Arc_ gave a mighty plunge. The captain shouted
from the deck, a sailor yelled, then another; the dipping sea tossed
the yacht so that for an instant the boat below and the woman on the
ladder were hidden from Jim's view. He climbed over the rail and edged
along the narrow margin of the deck until he was a few feet nearer the
rope, his heart thumping with fear of calamity.

And even as the thought came, the thing happened. The wrenching of the
ropes, the insecurity of their fastenings, some blunder on the part of
the seamen--whatever it was, the rope loosened like a filament of
gauze, and, with its precious burden, dropped into the angry water.
Before a breath could be drawn, the black waves churned over her head.

As, for the second time, Jim saw disaster engulf the Vision that had
such power over him, he was seized by a cold numbness.

"Oh, you brutes!" he groaned aloud; but his groan had scarcely escaped
him when he heard loud altercation among the men, and in a moment the
nasal tones of Monsieur Chatelard commanding: "Never mind! Quick with
the boat on the other side!"

The seamen rushed to the opposite side, now impatient to make the
boats. In the fear that was growing momently upon the men, there was
no one to give a thought to the vanished woman. Jimmy clung to the
rail for a second, peering over the water. With a cry of gladness he
saw her pale face rise to the surface of the water several feet away
and toward the bow.

"Keep up a second! It's all right!" he shouted. Quick as thought he
snatched a life preserver from its place on the rail, and ran forward.
He called thrice, "Keep up, I'm coming!" then threw the cork swiftly
and accurately to the very spot where she floated. A second longer he
watched, to see if she gained it. It seemed that she did, and yet
something was wrong. She was not able to right herself immediately in
the water, but floundered helplessly. Jimmy knew that her clothes were
hampering her, or else that the rope ladder had entangled her feet.

He turned and got his balance on the narrow ledge,