the tugboat soon was
alongside. Up above the inky blackness of the hull figures could be made
out, leaning over the port railing, as though peering eagerly at the
little craft which was bearing down on the Carpathia.

Some of them, perhaps, had passed through that inferno of the deep sea
which sprang up to destroy the mightiest steamship afloat.

"Carpathia, ahoy!" was shouted through a megaphone.

There was an interval of a few seconds, and then, "Aye, aye," came the
reply.

"Is there any assistance that can be rendered?" was the next question.

"Thank you, no," was the answer in a tone that carried emotion with it.
Meantime the tugboat was getting nearer and nearer to the Carpathia, and
soon the faces of those leaning over the railing could be distinguished.

TALK WITH SURVIVORS

More faces appeared, and still more.

A woman who called to a man on the tugboat was asked? "Are you one the
Titanic survivors?"

"Yes," said the voice, hesitatingly.

"Do you need help?"

"No," after a pause.

"If there is anything you want done it will be attended to."

"Thank you. I have been informed that my relatives will meet me at the
pier."

"Is it true that some of the life-boats sank with the Titanic?"

"Yes. There was some trouble in manning them. They were not far enough
away from her."

All of this questioning and receiving replies was carried on with the
greatest difficulty. The pounding of the liner's engines, the washing of
the sea, the tugboat's engines, made it hard to understand the woman's
replies.

ALL CARED FOR ON BOARD

"Were the women properly cared for after the crash?" she was asked.

"Oh, yes," came the shrill reply. "The men were brave--very brave." Here
her voice broke and she turned and left the railing, to reappear a few
moments later and cry:

"Please report me as saved."

"What name?" was asked. She shouted a name that could not be understood,
and, apparently believing that it had been, turned away again and
disappeared.

"Nearly all of us are very ill," cried another woman. Here several other
tugboats appeared, and those standing at the railing were besieged with
questions.

"Did the crash come without warning?" a voice on one of the smaller
boats megaphoned.

"Yes," a woman answered. "Most of us had retired. We saved a few of our
belongings."

"How long did it take the boat to sink?" asked the voice.

TITANIC CREW HEROES

"Not long," came the reply? "The crew and t