and wrapping the bed clothes round her, for
she was dressed only in her nightgown.

"Oh, let me go; I must stay here till my ayah comes back," cried the
child; yet she did not struggle, comprehending, it seemed, from the kind
expression of Adam's countenance, that he intended her no harm.

"The person you speak of won't come back, I fear; so you must come with
us, little maid, and if God wills we will carry you safely on shore,"
answered Adam, folding the clothes tighter round the child, and grasping
her securely in his left arm as a woman carries an infant, and leaving
his right one at liberty, for this he knew he should require to hold on
by, until having made his way across the heaving, slippery deck, he
could take the necessary leap into the boat.

"It is wet and cold, we must cover you up," he said, adding to himself,
"The child would otherwise see a sight enough to frighten her young
heart."

The little girl did not again speak as Adam carried her through the
cabins.

"You must let go those things, lads, and stand ready for lending me a
hand to prevent any harm happening to this little dear," he said, as he
mounted the companion-ladder.

Before reaching the deck he drew the blanket over the child's face, and
then, with an activity no younger seaman could have surpassed, he sprang
to the side of the ship and grasped a stanchion, to which he held on
while he shouted to the crew of his boat, who had for safety's sake
pulled her off a few fathoms from the wreck, keeping their oars going to
retain their position.

"Pull up now, lads! We have got all there is time for," he cried out.
"Ben and Tom, do you leap when I do. I have a little maid here, my
lads, and we must take care no harm comes to her."

While he was speaking the boat was approaching. Now she sank down,
almost touching the treacherous sands beneath her keel--now, as the sea
rolled in, part of which broke over the wreck, she rose almost to a
level with the deck. Adam, who had been calculating every movement she
was about to make, sprang on board. Steadying himself by the shoulders
of the men, he stepped aft with his charge. Ben and Tom followed him.

The men in the bows, immediately throwing out their starboard oars,
pulled the boat's head round, and the next instant, the mast being
stepped and the sail hoisted, the _Nancy_ was flying away before the
following seas towards the shore. Adam steered with one hand while he
still supported the