l not go alone, Sam. There's
another who loves little True Blue, and as he's one of the youngest in
the ship, no one will complain that he has a chance of his life given
him. It's Natty Garland. Has any one seen Natty Garland?"

The young midshipman was nowhere to be found. The Captain highly
approved of Paul's proposals, and men hurried off in every direction to
look for the lad.

The Captain retired to his cabin to write a hasty despatch, describing
the condition of his ship. He expected that it would be the last he
should ever indite. "I will entrust this with the young boy," he said
to himself. "I am sure the explanations it will give will exonerate me
for the loss of the ship."

When he returned on deck, the midshipman had not been found. The
Captain was about to give his despatch to Sam, when two men returned,
bringing young Garland with them. They found him between two of the
guns on the middle deck almost stunned from a fall. Had they not
arrived when they did, he very likely would have been washed through a
port and drowned. He soon recovered in the air, and was told what was
proposed.

"To leave the ship while others stay?" he exclaimed. "No, no. I am an
officer, and it is my duty to stick by the ship to the last."

"Right, Garland," said the Captain, taking his hand warmly. "But I do
not propose that you should leave the ship till she will no longer
float; and then I have to entrust you with a despatch, which you must
deliver to the Admiral, and explain how the ship was lost."

"I will obey your orders, sir," cried the boy, bursting into tears; "but
I would rather stick to the ship like the rest and go down in her, if go
she must."

"Maybe the ship won't go down, though," said Sam.

As Sam spoke, the fury of the hurricane seemed slightly to decrease.
The Captain and officers again felt some hopes of saving the ship, by
heaving overboard the upper deck guns which could be most easily got at.
It was a desperate resource, as the ship would thus be left utterly
helpless and a prey to the meanest enemy; still it was better than
allowing her to go to the bottom. As she rolled, now one gun, now
another, was cast loose, run out, and let slip through the ports. It
was difficult work, for one gun slipping on board and getting loose
might create the most desperate havoc and confusion. Several guns had
been sent plunging into the ocean, when the Captain gave the order to
hold fast. Suddenly, a