cargo had broken
loose, and was being knocked about in the hold.

For an instant there seemed to be a lull; then, as if the storm had been
waiting to gather fresh fury, a tremendous sea swept down upon the ship,
dashing across the decks with a roar like thunder. Gipsy hid her face in
her pillow. It would pass, she supposed, as the other waves had passed,
and they would steam on as before. Then all at once she sat up in her
berth. The great throb, like a pulsing heart to the vessel, that had
never ceased day or night since they left Durban was suddenly still. The
engines had stopped working. A moment afterwards her father burst into
the cabin.

"Gipsy, child!" he exclaimed. "We must go on deck! Here, fling this coat
round you! No, no! You can't wait to dress! We've sprung a bad leak, and
the captain says we must take to the boats. Hold tight to my arm, and be
a brave girl!"

It was with the utmost difficulty that the pair made their way up the
lurching stairs on to the deck. Here the wind was furious, and would
have blown them overboard had they not clung to the railings for
support. In the fitful gleams of moonlight Gipsy could see towering
waves rise like great mountains, and fall against the ship. The sailors
were already lowering the boats, and she could hear the sound of the
captain's speaking-trumpet as he shouted his orders above the noise of
the storm. Were they indeed to trust themselves to the mercy of that
terrible sea? Gipsy watched with alarm as the first frail-looking boat
was successfully launched on the seething water.

"Have I time to fetch my papers?" asked Mr. Latimer, as the captain came
in their direction.

"No; only to save yourself and your child," was the hasty reply. "Come
at once; the vessel is filling fast, and may settle even before we can
get off her."

When Gipsy afterwards recalled the various events of that night, she
decided that the most dreadful moment of all was when, with a lifebelt
fastened round her waist, she was lowered over the ship's side. Both
the vessel and the lifeboat were so pitched about by the enormous waves
that it was a perilous passage; for a few seconds she swung in mid-air,
with only blinding foam and spray around her. Then there was a shout,
she was grasped by strong hands from below, and drawn down into a place
of comparative security. In another minute her father had followed her,
and was seated by her side. The captain waited till all the boats were
launc