o be no room to regard this otherwise than as a plain,
literal statement of an incontrovertible fact; we were all agreed that
the unfortunate craft had settled perceptibly in the water since we had
first sighted her; and at the same rate another half-hour would suffice
to annihilate the very small margin of buoyancy that appeared to be
still remaining to her, even if she escaped being earlier sunk out of
hand by some more than usually heavy sea. But this seemed to have been
temporarily lost sight of by the little crowd of onlookers that
clustered closely round us on the poop, in the absorbing interest
attendant upon our endeavours to get a line on board the barque, and was
only recalled to them--and that, too, in a very abrupt and startling
manner--by the significance of the skipper's last remark. The imminence
and deadly nature of the Frenchmen's peril was brought home to them
anew; and now they seemed to realise, for the first time, the
possibility that they might be called upon to witness at close quarters
the appalling spectacle not only of a foundering ship but also of the
drowning of all her people. Instantly quite a little hubbub arose among
the excited passengers, General O'Brien and some half a dozen other men
among them pressing about poor Dacre with suggestions and proposals of
the most impossible character. And in the midst of it all I heard Miss
Onslow's clear, rich voice exclaiming bitterly:

"Cruel! cruel! To think that we are so near, and yet it seems
impossible to bridge the few remaining yards of space that intervene
between those poor creatures and the safety that we enjoy! Surely it
_can_ be done, if only anyone were clever enough to think of the way!"

"Now, ladies and gentlemen," remonstrated the skipper, "please don't
consider me rude if I say that none of you know what you are talking
about. There are only two ways of getting a line aboard that wreck; one
way is, to _carry_ it, and the other, to _heave_ it. The former is
impossible, with the sea that is now running; and the latter we have
already tried once, unsuccessfully, and are now about to try again. If
any of you can think of any other _practicable_ way, I shall be glad to
listen to you; but, if not, please leave me alone, and let me give my
whole mind to the job!"

Meanwhile I had been watching the run of the sea, at first idly, and
with no other feeling than that of wonder that any vessel in the
water-logged condition of the ba