steamer seemed now to be a kind of seething cauldron of fire. The heat
grew intense, even up at our end; what must it be for poor Hayashi, with
the wind carrying it at close quarters into his face? Would he actually
stand at the wheel, devoted fellow, until the flames caught him and
burned his hands as they gripped the spokes, and scorched his eyeballs
so that they could see the course no longer? There was no knowing what
these marvellous Japanese could not do in the way of pluck and
fortitude!

On went the little vessel upon her way; Hayashi could not possibly have
steered a better course, said the captain. He had not once deviated by a
hair's breadth.

But every moment the heat grew more and more; women wept and hugged
their children to them. Another half-hour, and--unless help
arrived--every passenger must swim for it. In spite of the headwind, the
fire was encroaching forward as well as aft.

Another five minutes of acute suspense was passed. Personally, after a
brief prayer, I spent the time in deciding which woman I would try to
save when it came to swimming. I had already made my selection, when
suddenly a voice called out from the rigging, 'Banzai! they have seen
us--a steamer comes!'

Then the heat and the danger were forgotten in the excitement of
watching the oncoming steamer. When two vessels, both going at full
speed, are meeting one another, the intervening distance is soon
covered. Suffice to tell, the succour arrived in time, and every
passenger was taken off in safety.

Meanwhile a boat had been sent round the stern, with orders to shout to
Hayashi to jump clear of the ship and allow himself to be picked up. The
boat returned almost immediately; no one, the crew said, replied to
their shouts. Presently the steamer separated from her burning sister
and dropped back; then it was seen that the flames now swept the entire
stern of the ill-omened _Toki Maru_. The wheel still stood, but no one
was at it, nor could any human form be discerned on deck or in rigging.

Sadly we steamed homewards. We were saved, indeed, every one of us, but
he to whom all were indebted for their lives, the young hero, Hayashi,
the best and bravest of them all, had fallen a victim. Probably he had
sprung, scorched and maddened with pain, into the sea, and had gone down
like a stone.

But you will scarcely believe it, while groups of us still stood upon
the quay at Shukisama discussing the tragedy, and wondering who would