e
cripple.

"Well, we might as well stay near him; he might be all right," replied
Ralph.

"Move away from the ship quickly," said a voice in the water, not far
away.

It was the captain. He was the last one to dive, after he had seen every
passenger safely off the ship.

"We have no time to lose; take care of yourselves; I will help the
little girl," he continued, as he threw the child on his back, and began
to strike out.

The sea had been calm up to this time, but no sooner had the captain
ceased speaking than a tremendous wave almost engulfed them; they seemed
to be carried up, and then were forced down by a giant swell. Another
wave followed and then another, until, finally, the oscillations of the
waves seemed to be growing less and less.

"Where is the ship?" cried Alfred.

"She's gone down; that's what made the waves," said the captain.

The cripple's hand was raised up, and his eyes began to roll.

"This fellow's all right, after all," said Ralph. "I'll help him. I
wonder where the boats are?"

The sun, which was going down while all this had been taking place, had
now disappeared, and there was that gray, lead-like appearance on the
waves that comes just before twilight.

"Keep up your courage, boys; we shall soon have plenty of boats looking
for us," said the captain.

Within less than a minute thereafter two boats could be seen bobbing up
and down not far away, heading straight for those in the water. Ralph
was the first one caught by the strong arm of a seaman, and then the
little girl, now fully recovered from her fright, received the care of a
woman in the boat.

Alfred assisted the cripple into the other boat, and the captain ordered
all the passengers transferred to the boat which had just come up.

The boys then noticed that only three seamen remained, together with the
captain and first officer.

"You may remain with us," said the captain, addressing Ralph and Alfred.

This was, indeed, a compliment to them, which was appreciated.

"I know father, mother and auntie are all right," said Alfred. "Do you
think they saw us get off?" he added anxiously.

"They were standing by when you jumped, but when the ship made the last
lurch, just before she went down the seamen knew that they must pull
away to avoid being sucked under. It might have been too dark for them
actually to have seen you get away, at the distance they were from the
ship, but I don't think they will expect to see us