is feet and dropped
overboard every rope's end he could lay his hands upon, and by this
means contrived to rescue some twenty of the now thoroughly sobered and
frightened men; but, of course, this involved a most lamentable delay
and loss of time; and meanwhile it became apparent to all that the ship
was now fast settling in the water. Even worse than that, however, was
the effect which the conviction produced upon the ignorant foreigners
among the passengers. These were fast developing a tendency to panic,
which manifested itself in a determination to assist the seamen; and
since their efforts to assist were unaided for the most part by the
smallest glimmering of knowledge as to the proper thing to do, they
naturally hindered instead of helping, and not only Dick but the other
officers as well soon had all their work cut out to keep the zealous but
ignorant foreigners in anything like order.

The worst characteristic of panic is that it is so horribly contagious.
Let a crowd of people once get the idea into their heads that they are
in peril, and they will fight together like wild beasts in their anxiety
to escape. And the officers of the _Everest_ knew this; therefore they
devoted the whole of their energies to the task of reassuring that great
crowd of men who now filled the boat deck of the sinking ship, arguing,
pleading, and even threatening, while the Dagos crowded around them ever
more menacingly, with eyes ablaze with mingled terror and ferocity, lips
contracted into savage snarls, and hands in many cases gripping long,
ugly-looking, dagger-like knives.

Then suddenly there came, unceremoniously elbowing his way through the
excited crowd, the well-known form of the purser, his face wreathed with
smiles, and a paper in his hand.

"Make way, there, make way, good people," he shouted. "I have good news
for you. The wireless operators have succeeded in getting into touch
with three more ships, and now not only the _Bolivia_, but also the
_Cotopaxi_, the _Platonic_, and the _Nigerian_ are hastening to our
rescue and will all be alongside us in the course of a few hours.
Therefore, cheer up, there is help and room for everybody on the way."

"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah! Three cheers for the purser and his good
news," shouted a man with a strong American accent; and all who
understood him heartily took up the cheering; while the foreigners, who
had failed to catch the meaning of the purser's remarks, at least
un