fast. Men stood on
the bulwarks, and waved their caps frantically to the schooner. Others
could be seen, by the aid of a glass, casting spars, hen coops, and
other articles overboard, and jumping into the water after them; and
soon the sea around the wreck was dotted with heads and floating
fragments, while the wreckage of the mainmast was clustered with men.

When the Madras was a mile away, the schooner was lying, thrown up
head to wind, fifty yards from the brig; and her boats were already
engaged in picking up the swimmers. Suddenly the brig gave a heavy
lurch.

"There she goes!" the captain exclaimed.

A moment later the hull had disappeared, and the schooner remained
alone.

By this time, the whole of the ladies had ascended from their place of
safety to the poop, and a general exclamation broke from the
passengers, as the brig disappeared.

"The schooner will pick them all up," the captain said. "They must
have suffered heavily from our fire, but I don't think any will have
gone down with her. The boat, which has already reached the schooner,
must have taken a good many, and the mainmast and foretopmast and
spars would support the rest, to say nothing of the things they have
thrown overboard. There is one wasp the less afloat."

No further adventure was met with, throughout the voyage. They had a
spell of bad weather off the Cape, but the captain said it was nothing
to the gales they often encountered there, and that the voyage, as a
whole, was an exceptionally good one; for, even after the delays they
had encountered at the start, the passage had lasted but four months
and a half.

They touched at Point de Galle for news, and to ascertain whether any
French warships had been seen, of late, along the coast. A supply of
fresh vegetables and fruit was taken on board, as the vessel, after
touching at Madras, was to go on to Calcutta. A few of the passengers
landed at Point de Galle, but neither Dick nor his mother went ashore.

"You will have plenty of opportunities of seeing Indians, later on,
Dick," Mrs. Holland had said; "and, as the gigs will not take all
ashore, we may as well stop quietly here. I heard the captain say that
he would weigh anchor again, in four hours."

Dick was rather disappointed, but, as they would be at Madras before
long, he did not much mind.

Ten days later, they anchored off that town. Little was to be seen
except the fort, a number of warehouses, and the native town, while