at Louis.

"Certainly, we must save him!" added Louis with an earnestness that
impressed his companion. "Don't let us forget that we are Christians at
such a moment as this! How shall it be done, Captain? Give your orders,
and count me in as the first volunteer."

"Get the boat into the water, Morris! Be lively about it. Louis and
Felix will go in it to save this man if they can," replied the captain.

The boat on the hurricane deck was a small and light one, and the first
officer had it in the water almost in the twinkling of an eye. Louis and
Felix leaped into it, and in another instant they were pulling for the
wreck. It was a smooth sea, and the distance was not more than fifty
feet; for the captain had rung to stop the backward motion as soon as
the cry from the survivor reached his ears.

"Mind your eye, Louis!" shouted Scott, as soon as they were in motion.
"She may go down at any moment! When I shout to you, back out as fast as
you can! I will watch her, and let you know when she is likely to make
her last dive!"

"Ay, ay!" returned Louis.

"I beg you, Captain Scott, not to let them go any farther," said Don
very earnestly. "She is settling fast by the stern, and she will go down
by the time they get alongside of her. She has settled so that the hole
is more than half under water."

"That is so!" exclaimed Scott, as he glanced at the stern of the wreck.
"Hold on! Hold on!" he shouted with all the force of his lungs. "Back
out!"

The two rowers obeyed the order promptly, and backed water with all
their might; and it was fortunate that they did so, or they would have
been caught in the swirl of the sinking vessel. Before they had
retreated twenty feet, the stern of the Fatime suddenly went down, with
a mighty rush of the water around her to fill up the vacant space inside
of her, and then she shot to the bottom, disappearing entirely from the
gaze of the beholders, as well in the two boats of the ship's company
that had abandoned her, as of those on board of the Maud.

"That is the end of the pirate!" exclaimed Captain Scott, with a sort of
solemnity in his tones and manner, as though he regarded the fate of the
steamer as a retribution upon her for the use to which she had been
applied.

"Amen!" responded Don at the window of the pilot-house.

The burden of his responsibility began to weigh upon his mind as Captain
Scott witnessed the last scene of the drama. But his thoughts were
recalled to the pr