realize what he was doing, he had seized the girl and
had wrapped her round and round with the blankets, then with the oiled
cloth. Joe had rushed out to help with the raft. Curlie carried the girl
outside and, when the raft with the others aboard was afloat, handed her
down to the skipper.

"Try and keep her dry," he said calmly. "We'll all get soaked, but we
can stand it for a long time; a girl can't."

"Now push off!" he commanded. "Get good and clear so that the wreck will
not draw you down."

"You'll come with us," said the skipper sternly. Curlie had not intended
going with them. He had meant to remain behind and send a call for aid,
then to swim for the raft. But now, as he saw the water gaining on the
stricken craft, he realized how dangerous and futile it would be. He was
needed on the raft to help get her away. Having seen all this at a
flash he said:

"All right; I'll go." Having dropped to the raft, and seized a short
paddle, he joined Joe and the engineer in forcing the unwieldy raft away
from the side of the doomed _Kittlewake_.

They were none too soon, for scarcely two minutes could have elapsed
when with a rush that nearly engulfed them the boat keeled up on end and
sank from sight.

"And now," said Joe addressing Curlie as he settled back to a seat on
one of the gas-filled tubes, "you can test out what you said once about
keeping your radiophone dry and tuned up under any and every
circumstance. Suppose you tune her up now and get off an S.O.S."

There was a smile on the lips of the undaunted young operator as he said
with a drawl:

"Give me time, Joe, old scout, give me time."

The girl, staring out from her wrappings, appeared to fear that the two
boys had gone delirious over this new catastrophe.

But only brave and hardy spirits can joke in the midst of disaster, and
as for Curlie, he really did have one more trick up his sleeve.

As the old skipper sat staring away at the point where his craft had
disappeared beneath the dark waters, he murmured:

"'Twasn't much we 'it; fragment from an iceberg 'er somethin', but 'twas
enough. An' a good little craft she was too."

The storm had passed, but the waves were still rolling high. The raft
tilted to such an angle that now they were all in danger of being
pitched headforemost into the sea, and now in danger of falling backward
into the trough of the waves.

Soaked to the skin, shivering, miserable, the boys and men clung to the
raft, wh