at their very
feet, where he had been thrown by a lurch of the ship as he was
clambering over the rail. Sam sprang to his feet and made short work
of the second sailor.

"Help me get the woman and child over," shouted Dan.

The woman was first lowered into the boat by means of ropes; then came
the girl. As Dan lifted her, she laid an arm confidingly about his
neck.

"Please, man, won't you save Tommy?" she called in his ear.

"Tommy?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"Down in the cabin. Tommy is sick, he is. Please; that's a good man."

"Ahoy, down there, let some one catch the girl when I throw her."

Then, addressing the officer in charge of the boat, he said: "If you
don't mind, sir, you need not wait for me. There's someone else below,
I hear. I'll go for him and then I'll catch the other lifeboat."

The girl was safely caught, and, acting on Dan's suggestion, the
officer ordered the oarsmen to give way together.

"Cutter, wait for me!" cried the lad, dashing along the lee side on his
way to the cabin. The master of the "Oriole" had already gone over the
side, and was now on the way toward the battleship, with his wife and
daughter and nearly a dozen exhausted sailors from the schooner.
Unfortunately for Dan, the officer in charge of the cutter did not hear
Dan's shout, but a few moments later gave the command to return to the
battleship, Sam being in the boat.

"Hello, Tom!" shouted Dan, half running, half falling down the
companion way into the main corridor of the schooner's cabin.

He stumbled into water that reached above his knees.

"Tom! Tom!" he cried.

There was no response. Dan dived into the little cuddy. The cuddy
lamp was burning, swaying widely with each roll of the ship, shedding a
faint light over the stuffy room, for everything had been closed up
tightly to keep the water that was now everywhere in the ship from
drowning out the master's quarters.

A sewing basket, with a half-completed piece of work beside it, lay on
the table, while two bunches of bananas hung suspended from the rudder
casing.

Dan Davis was dimly conscious of observing all these peaceful signs,
though his mind was upon other things.

Once more he raised his voice.

"Tom!" he shouted with all the strength of his lusty lungs.

"Git out, you lubber!"

Dan actually jumped. The voice had seemed to be right at his ear. The
voice was hoarse and jeering. The Battleship Boy glanced about him
quickly, but