assisted in carrying the
children below when they were handed over the side, helped to strip
them, and brought dry clothing and blankets, besides doing an immense
amount of what may be termed stewardess' work for the poor ladies.
There were others on board who worked willingly and well, but none who
were so ubiquitous as he; none who knew so thoroughly what to do and how
to do it, and none, certainly, who did everything with such a
superabundance of energy.

Once or twice Tommy stopped in the middle of these occupations to see
how Bax was getting on; for to his rather partial eyes it seemed that
his friend was doing the whole work, and that everybody else was merely
looking on!

On one of these occasions he saw Bax sustaining the weight of an old man
and a young woman.

The girl was the old man's daughter; she had clung to him in the boat
and refused to let him go, having lost self-command through terror.
Ignorant of this, and observing that the old man could not help himself,
Bax grasped him under the arms the first time he came within reach. The
boat was immediately swept away by the passing wave, leaving the old man
and the girl, who still clung with a death-like grasp to him, suspended
in the air. Bax's great strength enabled him to support this double
weight, but he could not draw them up. A comrade stooped to assist him,
but the strain on the sling was so great that it gave way, and Bax, with
his burden, fell into the sea like lead.

Tommy saw this happen. There were plenty of loose ropes about. He
seized the end of one and leaped overboard instantly. He sank for a
second or two, and on coming to the surface looked hastily round. A
hand was raised above the water near him. He knew it to be that of his
friend, and struck out for it, but it disappeared. Again it rose, and
there was a convulsive grasping of the fingers. Tommy made one stroke
and placed the rope in it. The fingers closed like a vice. Next moment
the ship rose and lifted Bax completely out of the water, with the old
man and the girl still clinging to him. Before the ship sank again the
boat sheered up, and they were all pulled into it!

To leap on board the "Trident" again, and resume his position with a new
and stronger sling, was comparatively easy work for Bax. Tommy
clambered up, too, close behind him. Passing a strong rope round his
friend's waist, he said quietly:

"It won't do to risk that again."

"True, Tommy," said Bax