wung on board, stewards standing by with rum and
brandy to revive the fainting; and many willing hands were occupied
with caring for the sufferers, taking them at once to improvised couches
and beds, or conducting those who were not so exhausted to the saloon
where hot drinks and food were ready. But it was a ghastly company. As
boat after boat came up, those who had already been saved eagerly
searched among its occupants to see if their own friends were among
them; and as gradually the tale of boats was completed and it was known
that no more had been saved, and the terrible magnitude of the loss was
realized--then, in the words of one of the _Carpathia's_ people, "Bedlam
broke loose." Women who had borne themselves bravely throughout the
hours of waiting and exposure broke into shrieking hysterics, calling
upon the names of their lost. Some went clean out of their minds; one or
two died there in the very moment of rescue. The _Carpathia's_
passengers gave up their rooms and ransacked their trunks to find
clothing for the more than half-naked survivors; and at last exhaustion,
resignation, and the doctor's merciful drugs did the rest. The dead were
buried; those who had been snatched too late from the bitter waters were
committed to them again, and eternally, with solemn words; and the
_Carpathia_ was headed for New York.

XVI

The _Californian_ had come up while the _Carpathia_ was taking the
survivors on board, and it was arranged that she should remain and
search the vicinity while the _Carpathia_ made all haste to New York.
And the other ships that had answered the call for help either came up
later in the morning and stayed for a little cruising about in the
forlorn hope of finding more survivors, or else turned back and resumed
their voyages when they heard the _Carpathia's_ tidings.

In the meantime the shore stations could get no news. Word reached New
York and London in the course of the morning that the _Titanic_ had
struck an iceberg and was badly damaged, but nothing more was known
until a message, the origin of which could not be discovered, came to
say that the _Titanic_ was being towed to Halifax by the _Virginian_,
and that all her passengers were saved. With this news the London
evening papers came out on that Monday, and even on Tuesday the early
editions of the morning papers had the same story, and commented upon
the narrow escape of the huge ship. Even the White Star officials had on
Mon