t, she would have chosen a more sedate garb. But in the
excitement no thought of herself came to her.

In a few seconds she was in the saddle, tearing at full speed down the
road that led to the port. The wind was blowing so strongly in her face
that only in the lulls could she hear the hoof-strokes of the groom's
horse galloping behind her.

At first the height of the road allowed her to see the ship and the port
towards which she was making. But presently the road dipped, and the
curving of the hill shut both from her sight; it was only when she came
close that she could see either again.

Now the great ship was close at hand. The flames had gained terribly,
and it was a race for life or death. There was no time do more than run
her aground if life was to be saved at all. The captain, who in the gaps
of the smoke could be seen upon the bridge, knew his work well. As he
came near the shoal he ran a little north, and then turned sharply so as
to throw the boat's head to the south of the shoal. Thus the wind would
drive fire and smoke forward and leave the after part of the vessel free
for a time.

The shock of her striking the sand was terrific, though the tinkle of the
bell borne in on the gale showed that the engines had been slowed down.
The funnels were shaken down, and the masts broke off, falling forward. A
wild shriek from a hundred throats cleft the roaring of wind and wave.
The mast fell, the foremast, with all its cumbering top-hamper on the
bridge, which was in an instant blotted out of existence, together with
the little band of gallant men who stood on it, true to their last duty.
As the wind took the smoke south a man was seen to climb on the wreck of
the mast aft and make fast the end of a great coil of rope which he
carried. He was a huge man with a full dark beard. Two sailors working
with furious haste helped him with the rope. The waves kept raising the
ship a little, each time bumping her on the sand with a shock. The
people on deck held frantically to the wreckage around them.

Then the bearded man, stripping to his waist and cutting off his trousers
above the knee, fastened an end of the rope round his waist. The sailors
stood ready one behind the other to pay it out. As a great wave rolled
under the ship, he threw himself into the sea.

In the meantime the coastguard had fixed Board of Trade rocket-apparatus,
and in a few seconds the prolonged roar of a rocket was heard. It fl