ere no sooner let down than they became dangerously
overloaded. The first one, indeed, was so crowded that it swamped
instantly. The other boats, threatened with the same fate, were tossed
far apart as fast as they were filled, and in the darkness and tumult
their crews were able to pick up but a few of the poor creatures who
were struggling with the waves.

Two of the three babies, a boy and a girl, had been rescued, as we
already know, by the efforts of one of the crew, Sailor Jack, known to
his comrades as Jack Burton. He had just succeeded in getting into one
of the boats, when he heard through the tumult a woman's wild cry from
the deck:

"Save these helpless little ones! Look out! I must throw them!"

"Ay, ay! Let 'em come!" shouted Jack in response; and the next moment
the babies, looking like little black bundles, flew over the ship's
side, one after the other, and were safely caught in Jack's dexterous
arms. Just in time, too, for the men behind him at once bent to the
oars, in the fear that the boat, so dangerously near the sinking ship,
was in danger of being engulfed by it.

Against Jack's protesting shout of "There's another coming!--a woman!"
the boat shot away on the crest of a wave.

Hearing a scream above the surrounding din, Jack hastily flung off his
coat, thrust the babies into the arms of his comrades, and shouting,
"Keep them safe for me: I'm Jack Burton. It may be the mother! Look out
for me, mates!" he plunged into the sea.

Jack made gallant efforts for a time, but returning alone, worn out with
his fruitless exertions, he was taken into the boat. If, after that, in
the severe cold, he remembered his jacket, it was only to take real
comfort in knowing that the "little kids" were wrapped in it safe and
sound. In the darkness and confusion he had not been able to see who had
thrown the babies to him, but the noble-hearted sailor resolved to be
faithful to his trust, and if he ever touched land again never to lose
sight of them until he could leave them safe with some of their own
kindred.

All night, in the bitter cold, the boat that carried the two babies had
tossed with the waves, the men using their oars as well as they could,
working away from the dangerous rocks out to the open sea, and hoping
that daylight might reveal some passing vessel. Every one excepting the
babies, suffered keenly; these, wrapped from head to feet in the
sailor's jacket, and tucked in between the shivering wome