o an iron ladder.
The boat rolled far to one side and again far to the other. Mrs. Goles
felt as if she were clinging to the tail of a kite, but still she clung
to Jan; and Jan at last made the upper deck with her. He had forgotten
her husband; but when he turned to look back the muffled form was there
at his heels.

Jan groped his way to where the life-raft was lashed to the deck. He
ordered Mrs. Goles to sit down on the raft. Goles sat down beside her.
Goles seemed bereft of all volition.

"You wait here till I come back," Jan said to him and turning to go
below, bumped into another man.

"Hello! Is this you?" said the other man. "I thought I saw you come up
here. 'And there's the man,' I says to myself, 'to tie to to-night!'"

Jan recognized the bartender. "You're just the man I want, too," said
Jan. He dove into his pocket and drew out a revolver. "Here, take this."

"A gun!"

"Yes--and loaded. Watch that man on the raft. And if he tries to hurt
that woman or not let her on that raft if the boat goes down, shoot
him!"

"You mean it?"

"Yes. He's bad! He's the man who was drinking in your place a few
minutes ago--after me."

"Oh, him! Yes; he's bad, all right. He's been drinking raw brandy since
seven o'clock. I was noticin' him."

"Don't shoot him unless you have to. And don't let him see me passing it
to you. I'm going to get a few more people up to the raft."

"All right--but--Wow! I never shot a man in my life."

Jan had hardly reached the saloon when the great crash came. He was
swept away before it. Boom! it was--and again, crash! Now he heard the
smothered appeals of people being swept overboard! Crackling wood was
following the crash of every sea, and each sea receded only to let the
next one strike even more heavily. It was now nothing but solid water
that was coming aboard.

Her buoyancy had left her. Her roll had become a wallow. She was
settling. "The water's in her hold!" thought Jan, and took a quick look
about. All kinds and all ages--but there was one girl with an expression
on her face that startled him.

In fine but sodden clothes she was sitting, heedless of every person but
the young man standing dumbly beside her. "And I told them I was going
to stay with a girl friend out of town over Sunday," she was saying.
"And now they'll know. Whether we're drowned or not they'll know.
Everybody will know and what will they say?"

Near the girl were a young man and a woman locked in each