children to their breasts,
and not to be given a chance to live at all! If 'tis a mother I was, and
a child to my breast, it's not images of men in uniforms would hinder me
from saving my baby this night! And myself with my baby, if my baby was
in need of me, an' I could."

The two ship's men on guard were gazing, not at the steerage, but up at
the higher decks, when a dozen or more of the steerage women swept
across the deck. "Grand work for strong men," the Irish girl cried,
"preventin' poor women and childther from looking out for themselves.
It's not even shadows of men ye are!" and with that bowled the near one
over; and her companions, sweeping up behind her, bowled the other one
over. The two stewards had a look up and a look down, and then, with an
outraged look at each other, they flew after the disappearing steerage
women.

"Come, now." Lavis took the Polish mother's hand.

"Sh-h!" she warned. "He is sleeping."

Lavis, nodding that he saw, helped her carefully to her feet, and led
her through the now unguarded gate, and by way of several ladders, to
that high deck where the boats were.

A boat was all but ready for lowering. The last woman had been crowded
into it. The Polish woman removed her shawl and wrapped it around her
baby. "Baby!" Lavis could hear her saying over and over again in Polish.
"Oh, my baby! my baby boy!" but softly, so as not to waken him. She
stepped into the circle of light which surrounded the boat and the
ship's people. "Sa-ave beb-by," she said in English, and held shawl and
baby up at the end of her outstretched arms.

A rough hand gripped her by the shoulder.

"Stand back! Stand back, you! You've no right here! Saloon goes first,
don't y' understand?"

She stepped back in discouragement.

The men, busy at the falls, had swung the boat clear and were about to
lower away. "Now!" said Lavis sharply in her ear, and pointed to the
boat.

"Ah-h," she murmured, and darted under the arms of the ship's men and
thrust her baby into the bosom of the nearest woman in the life-boat.
"Save beb-by!" she breathed, and darted back into the crowd.

"I meant yourself also," said Lavis reproachfully.

"No, no, no--they would take baby, but me--no." Her eyes followed the
lowered boat.

III

When Cadogan went forward he wished to see something other than the loom
of the low-lying, misty, white berg against the sky. He peered down over
the bow. He bent low his ear to catch the purr of