foundering, grasped some rope or other portion of the vessel's
equipment, the death-clutch upon which was in no single instance
relaxed; hence they were, one and all, dragged hopelessly to the bottom
with the wreck. With the female, however, it was different. She had
been crouching in a kneeling attitude upon the deck, under the imperfect
shelter of the cabin skylight, and when the poop deck became submerged
she was swept forward, still in the same attitude, with her hands
clasped as in prayer, until her body was washed clear of the poop rail,
when the suction of the sinking ship dragged her below the surface. As
the hull of the barque settled down it gradually recovered its balance
and assumed an almost level position, due, to some extent, no doubt, to
the pressure of the water upon the sails; and, with every fathom of
descent, the downward motion grew increasingly slower. The wreck had
sunk to a depth of perhaps twenty or five-and-twenty fathoms, when the
absorbed spectators in the _Flying Fish's_ pilot-house were startled by
observing a sudden convulsive motion in the body of the female. Her
hands were unclasped, her arms were flung wildly out above her head, and
her body was slowly straightened out. At the same moment the space
between her and the sinking wreck widened; the vessel was sinking more
rapidly than the body. The descent of the _Flying Fish_ was instantly
checked, and in another moment it became apparent that the body _was
rising to the surface_.

In eager, breathless anxiety the watchers noted the steady downward
progress of the _Mercury's_ spars and cordage past the now struggling
form of the woman, victims of alternate dismay and hope as they saw the
body now fouled by some portion of the complicated net-work of standing
and running gear between the main and mizzen masts, and anon drifting
clear of it again. A few seconds, which to the quartette in the pilot-
house seemed spun out to the duration of ages, and the last of these
perils was evaded, upon which the body, still feebly struggling, resumed
its upward journey.

With a great sigh of intense relief, echoed by each of his companions,
Sir Reginald swiftly backed the _Flying Fish_ astern, causing her at the
same time, by a movement of the tiller, to swerve with her bow directly
toward the body, now some five or six feet above the level of the deck.
Then, quick as thought, the ship was sent ahead until her deck was
immediately beneath the bo