do on
the ship, they had done it, though sullenly; they had even controlled
themselves until the attempt was made to place the two women in safety.
But after that their self-restraint vanished. The orders of the
officers were unheeded; the men leaped and scrambled and slid into the
boats, and in a minute more they had cut loose from the _Jeanne D'Arc_.

James dimly perceived that the boats were moving away from them into
the darkness. Then he called, and called again, redoubling his speed
in swimming; but only the beat of the oars came back to him over the
water. The heart in him stood still with an unacknowledged fear. Was
it possible they were absolutely leaving them behind? Surely there
were other boats. He raised his voice and called again and again. At
last one voice, careless and brutal, called back something in reply.
Jim turned questioning eyes to the girl beside him, whose pale face was
clearly discernible on the dark water.

"He says the boats are all full."

"Then we must hurry and make for the yacht. Where is she?"

The _Jeanne D'Arc_ had slipped away from them into the darkness.

"She was this way, I thought. Yes, I am sure," said Agatha, pointing
into the night. But though they swam that way, they did not come upon
her. They turned a little, and then turned again, and presently they
lost every sense of direction.

In all his life Jim was never again destined to go through so black an
hour as that which followed the abandonment of the _Jeanne D'Arc_. His
courage left him, and his spirit sank to that leaden, choking abyss
where light did not exist. Since the immediate object of saving the
ship, for which he had worked as hard as any other, had been given up,
the next in importance was to save the woman who, for some mysterious
reason, had been aboard. It was beyond his power of imagination to
suppose that any other motive of action could possibly prevail, even
among her enemies. That they should leave her to drown, while they
themselves fled to comparative safety in a boat, was more than he could
believe.

"Surely they do not mean it; they must return, for you, at least."

The girl beside him knew better, but she was conscious of the
paralyzing despair in her companion's heart, and made a show of being
cheerful.

"When they find they are safe they may think of us," she said. "But
the men were already crazed with fear, even before the leak was
discovered. One of their mates on the