t--

"Here, Paul, lend a hand and help up Mr Devereux."

Devereux had been partially stunned, but had happily clung to a
stanchion, where Reuben had found him. Paul hauled him up, while Reuben
again dived in search of some one else. He was gone for some time, and
Paul began to fear that some accident had happened to him. At length
his voice was again heard.

"Hurrah, Paul, here he is; and what is more, he has his fiddle, too, all
safe and sound."

Sure enough, there was Alphonse and his beloved fiddle in its case,
which he had contrived to get up from below at no little risk of being
drowned himself.

"Ah! I would not part from this," he exclaimed, as he made himself
secure in the chains. "It is my own dear friend; shall I play you a
tune now?"

"No, thank ye, Mounseer, it might chance to get wet, and may be there
are more poor fellows to help up here," answered Reuben.

"Ah! truly, I forgot what had happened," said Alphonse in a dreamy tone,
showing that his mind was wandering, overcome by the sudden catastrophe.
It was no time for laughter, or Paul would have laughed at the oddness
of the young Frenchman's remark. Still, awful as was the scene, he felt
very little sensation of fear. The night was very dark, the wind
howled, the rain fell in torrents, the sea dashed over the wreck, nearly
washing off those who clung to it, while vivid flashes of lightning
darted from the clouds and went hissing along like fiery serpents over
the summits of the waves. The party in the main-chains spoke but
little. It seemed too probable that none of them would ever see another
day. Indeed, even should the ship not go down, Paul feared that
Devereux could scarcely endure the hardships of their situation. He
asked Reuben if nothing could be done.

"If we could get at the axes, we might cut away the masts and the ship
might right," answered Reuben. "But, you see, we want daylight and the
officers to give the order, so that all may act together."

While he was speaking, a voice was heard apparently from the mizen
rigging, shouting, "Cut, I say, all of you; cut, I say, and cut
together."

It was that of Mr Noakes. Directly after, a flash of lightning
revealed him standing in the mizen-top, holding on with one hand, while
he waved the other wildly around. His nervous system had been
completely weakened by drinking, and it was evident that he had lost his
senses. He continued to shout louder and louder, and then to