; "run below and fetch me a glass o' brandy, lad.
That last plunge almost floored me."

The boy leaped over the side and dived below. He reappeared in a few
seconds with a tin can, with which he clambered over the side into the
chains, and held it to his friend's lips. Bax drained it at a draught,
and Tommy left him without another word.

The whole of this scene was enacted with the utmost speed and energy.
The spectators seemed to be paralysed with amazement at the quiet
self-possession of the man and the boy, both of whom appeared to divine
each other's thoughts, and to work into each other's hands with the
precision and certainty of a machine; they did it all, too, as if they
were entirely alone in the work. Until now they had been watched with
breathless anxiety; but when Tommy gave Bax the can of brandy, and then
gravely went below with a baby that had just been rescued in his arms,
there arose a wild cheer of admiration, not unmingled with laughter,
from those who had witnessed his conduct.

But their attention was soon turned again to the boats, two of which
still remained with their freight on the heaving water. Many incidents
of a thrilling nature were enacted that night. One of the most
interesting, perhaps, occurred soon after that which has just been
related.

In one of the boats was the young wife of an emigrant, who, having been
compelled to separate from his wife and child when they left the burning
ship in the first boat, had come alongside of the "Trident" in another
boat. Being an active man, he had caught a rope and hauled himself on
board some time before his wife was rescued. The poor young mother had
tied her infant tightly to her bosom by means of a shawl, in order to
make sure that she should share its fate, whatever that might be.

When the boat sheered up alongside, her husband was standing in the
chains, anxious to render her assistance. The woman chanced to come
near to Bax, but not sufficiently so to grasp him. She had witnessed
his great power and success in saving others, and a feeling of strong
confidence made her resolve to be caught hold of by him, if possible.
She therefore drew back from the grasp of a stout fellow who held out
his brawny arms to her.

Bax noticed this occur twice, and understood the poor woman's motive.
Feeling proud of the confidence thus placed in him, he watched his
opportunity. The boat surged up, but did not come near enough. It
swept away from