ggs saw one boat after another launched. She also saw one
boat after another capsize under the weight of those who hurled
themselves down into them.

The lifeboats near to hers were .lowered, but for some
unaccountable reason no one had touched the one in which she was
seated. "Thank God they are leaving my boat alone till the worst is
over," she thought.

And Miss Hoggs heard and saw dreadful things. It seemed to her that
she was suspended over a hell. She could not see the deck itself,
but from the sounds that reached her, she gathered that a frightful
struggle was taking place there. She heard pistol shots and saw
blue smoke clouds rise in the air.

At last there came a moment when everything was hushed. "This would
be the right time to lower my boat," thought Miss Hoggs. She was
not at all afraid, but sat back with perfect composure until the
steamer began to settle. Then, for the first time, it dawned on
Miss Hoggs that _L'Univers_ was sinking, and that her boat had been
forgotten.

***

On board the steamer was a young American matron, a Mrs. Gordon,
who was on her way to Europe to visit her parents, who for some
years had been living in Paris. She had her two little boys with
her, and all three were asleep in their cabin when the accident
occurred. The mother was immediately awakened, and soon managed to
get the children partly dressed; then throwing a cloak over her
night robe, she went out into the narrow passageway between the
cabins.

The passage was full of people who had rushed out from their
staterooms to hurry on deck. Here it was not difficult to pass; but
in the companionway there was a terrible crush. She saw people
pushing and crowding, with no thought of any one but themselves, as
more than a hundred persons, all at one time, tried to rush up. The
young American woman stood holding her two children by the hand.
She looked longingly up the stairway, wondering how she could
manage to press through the throng with her little ones. The people
fought and struggled, thinking only of themselves. No one even
noticed her.

Mrs. Gordon glanced anxiously about in the hope of finding some one
who would take one of the boys and carry him to the deck, while she
herself took the other. But she saw no one she dared approach. The
men came dashing past, dressed every which way. Some were wrapped
in blankets, others had on ulsters over their nightshirts, and many
of them carried canes. When she saw the desp