derstood from the cheering that good news of some sort had come to
hand, and their attitude at once became less menacing.

"Good for you, sir," exclaimed Dick to the men who had started the
cheering. "Those hurrahs of yours are worth more than diamonds to us
just now. Hurry up lads with that boat and let's get her afloat. Are
you ready, Simpson? Good! Now then, come along, good people, but don't
crowd, there's plenty of time. Jump in, sir--" to the man with the
American accent; "you deserve a place, if only in return for those
cheers."

"Not I, my son," answered the man addressed--he was only about
twenty-eight to thirty years of age. "I have neither wife, child, nor
relative of any kind, as far as I know. Let the married folk go first.
Now then, you husbands and fathers, step out. Any more for the shore?"

He spoke with a smile on his good-locking face, and that and the little
jest of "Any more for the shore?" were as comforting to many a man there
as all the assurances of the ship's officers had been; nay, more, for
they had been accompanied by a wave of the hand toward the boat and a
voluntary stepping aside that seemed to say as plain as words--"Pass
along, you who are afraid. I am not, and am entirely willing to wait my
turn."

But although the peril of panic was less imminent than it had been, it
was by no means banished, and probably none recognised this more clearly
than the American, for while the boat just filled was being lowered, he
edged up to Dick and murmured:

"Say, young man, unless you are looking for trouble I would advise you
to get all those Dagos out of the ship quick. I know their sort, sir,
and I can tell by the look in their eyes, that the smallest thing in the
way of an extra scare will just send the whole crowd jumping mad. So
get rid of them in a hurry. That's my advice."

"And I believe you are right, too," answered Dick. "But I can't act on
your advice, all the same. There are others who are entitled to as good
a chance as the Dagos, and they must have it. There is yourself, for
instance--"

"Nix! I guess not!" interrupted the American. "Of course, I know what
you mean," he continued, in a low tone; "the ship can't last much
longer, and a good few of us are in for a cold swim; but I guess I'll
take my chance with the rest of the bathers."

The launching and the dispatch of the collapsibles was now proceeding
with frantic haste, for it was no longer possible to con