hoy" had scarcely died on their lips before it was
answered by an equally long blast from the whistle, to which they
responded by repeating the hail at brief intervals, each answering blast
of the whistle telling them that the boat was drawing nearer, until at
length the faint loom of the boat showed in the darkness, and a lantern
was suddenly held high above a man's head. Then they heard a voice
exclaim:

"There they are, sir--two of 'em--on that block of ice!" And a minute
later they were being carefully helped into the stern sheets of the
boat, which was already floating deep with a load of motionless forms
enwrapped in cork jackets. Whether they were living or dead it was
impossible just then to say.

"Any more on the ice?" demanded the officer in charge of the boat.
Then, following Dick's reply in the negative, he continued: "Right!
shove off, bow! pull port! Give way all! Now it's us for the ship.
Put your backs into it, lads. A minute or two may make all the
difference between life and death for some of these poor chaps that
we've fished up. Here, have a sip of brandy, you two. You must be
frozen pretty nearly stiff."

"No brandy, thanks--unless my friend here--Mr Cavendish, fifth officer
of the _Everest_--would care to have another nip. But we've already had
some--filled a flask and slipped it into my pocket when I realised that
the ship was going to sink--and I guess it saved our lives."

Upon Dick also declining "another nip" the officer in charge held out
his hand.

"Glad to make your acquaintance, Mr Cavendish, and to have picked you
up. My name is Urquhart--`chief' of the _Bolivia_. By the way, since
we got your S.O.S. and learned particulars of the smash-up, we've all
been wondering how the mischief you managed to pile up your ship on a
berg, after our warning of this afternoon. Was it thick at the time,
or--how was it?"

"Your warning!" exclaimed Dick. "Did you warn us, then? If so, it is
the first that I've heard of it."

"Oh! we warned you all right," answered Urquhart, "and got your
acceptance of the message."

"The dickens!" ejaculated Dick. "That's very queer. Nobody said a word
to me of any warning having been received. Yet--no, I cannot understand
it. Mr Brown, our `chief,' you know, and some seven or eight more were
down in the ward-room when we hit the berg, and he seemed as much
astonished as any of us. If he had heard anything about it, I think he
would certainly h