reature much in want of the doctor's help, if she's not gone too
far for it already."

The side of the ship on which the boat appeared was crowded with the
passengers, eager to see what it contained. The sight which met their
eyes was indeed a sad one. In the fore part were two men lying on their
backs with their faces upwards, and, from their ghastly expression, it
was seen that they were both dead. There was another person, a
dark-skinned woman, who, it appeared, the mate considered still living.
A chair was speedily slung, and the mate having secured her into it, she
was hoisted on deck.

The doctor was in waiting, and having placed her on a mattress on deck,
he knelt down at her side to discover if any spark of life yet remained
in her emaciated frame. He felt her pulse, and then calling for a glass
of wine and water, he moistened her lips, and poured a few drops down
her throat. It had the effect of instantly reviving her; she opened her
eyes, and uttering a few strange words, she attempted to rise as if to
search for something she expected to find near. For an instant she
looked wildly around; but the effort was more than nature could bear,
and, with a deep sigh, she sank again and expired. While some of the
passengers had been witnessing this melancholy scene, others were
engaged in watching the proceedings of the mate. Directly he had placed
the poor black woman in the chair, he turned to examine the after part
of the boat, over which an awning was carefully spread. Lifting it up,
he uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure. Carefully placed on
a bed formed on the stern-sheets, were two children--a little boy, some
three or four years old, or perhaps five, and an infant which could
scarcely for as many months have seen the light. The little fellow had
been fast asleep. The voice of the mate awoke him, and looking up and
seeing strange faces surrounding him, he began to cry.

"That's a good sign, at all events," cried the mate. "The baby does not
seem much the worse either; send down the chair again, and we'll have
them on deck in a trice." The chair was lowered, and placing himself in
it, with the two children in his arms, he was hoisted up on deck.
Scarcely had he reached it, than all the ladies hurried forward to catch
a glimpse of the children, many of them almost quarrelling who should
take charge of them.

"Stay, ladies," said Captain Willis, good-naturedly. "The children by
right