with a bundle of clothing in his hand.

"'I tried to get her out, but she'd locked herself in the stateroom,
sir. It was all afire when I come up.'

"It took about two seconds for Captain Bogart to jump clear of the
crowd, run half the length of the deck and plunge through the door
leadin' to the main deck, the dog boundin' after him.

"I've been through a good many anxious minutes in my life, but those
were the worst I'd had up to date. He and I had been pretty close ever
since I went to sea. He's ten years older than I am, but he gave me my
first chance. Yes; that kind of thing takes the heart out of you, and
they were both in it. Hadn't been for the dog we wouldn't have missed
her, maybe, although the captain was keeping tally of the passengers
and crew.

"Three minutes, they said it was--more like three hours to me--I held
the crowd back, wondering how long I ought to wait if he didn't come
up, knowing my duty was to stay where I was, when the dog sprang out of
the door, half his hair singed off him, barkin' and jumpin' as if he
had been let out for a romp; and then came the captain staggerin'
along, his face scorched, his coat half burned off him, the woman in
his arms in a dead faint and pretty nigh smothered. The old fool had
locked herself in her stateroom--he had to break down the door to get
at her--cryin' she'd rather die there than be separated from her sister.

"We made room for the two--the half-crazy man fallin' back--and the
captain lowered her himself into the boat alongside her sister, and
then he sent me down the ladder behind her to catch the others when
they came down and see that everything was ready to cast off.

"I could see the captain now from my position in the boat, up against
the sky--he was the last man on the ship--holding the dog close to him.
Once I thought he was going to bring him down in his arms, he held him
so tight.

"Next time I looked he was coming down the ladder slowly, one foot at a
time, the dog looking down at him, his big, human eyes peering into the
captain's face, his long, pointed nose thrust out, his ears bent
forward. If he could have spoken--and he looked as if he was
speaking--he would be telling him how glad he felt at savin' the old
woman, and how happy he was that they'd all three got clear. My own
collie used to talk to me like that--had a kind of low whine when he'd
get that way; tell me about his sheep stuck in the snow, and the way
the--"

The first