Thank God!' and
for a single instant she hid her face in her hands. Then when the fierce 'hurrah' of all on board had been hushed in
expectation, the comments broke forth. Most of the passengers had by
this time got glasses of one kind or another. 'See! He's putting the cap on the child's head. He's a cool one that. Fancy him thinking of a red cap at such a time!' 'Ay! we could see that cap, when it might be we couldn't see anything
else.' 'Look!' this from an old sailor standing by his boat, 'how he's raisin'
in the water. He's keeping his body between her an' the spindrift till
the squall has passed. That would choke them both in a wind like this if
he didn't know how to guard against it. He's all right; he is! The
little maid is safe wi' him.' 'Oh, bless you! Bless you for those words,' said the mother, turning
towards him. 'At this moment the Second Officer, who had run down from
the bridge, touched Mr. Stonehouse on the shoulder. 'The captain asked me to tell you, sir, that you and Mrs. Stonehouse had
better come to him on the bridge. You'll see better from there.' They both hurried up, and the mother again peered out with fixed eyes. The Captain tried to comfort her; laying his strong hand on her shoulder,
he said:

'There, there! Take comfort, ma'am. She is in the hands of God! All
that mortal man can do is being done. And she is safer with that gallant
young giant than she could be with any other man on the ship. Look, how
he is protecting her! Why he knows that all that can be done is being
done. He is waiting for us to get to him, and is saving himself for it. Any other man who didn't know so much about swimming as he does would try
to reach the lifebuoy; and would choke the two of them with the spindrift
in the trying. Mind how he took the red cap to help us see them. He's a
fine lad that; a gallant lad!' CHAPTER XXIV--FROM THE DEEPS


Presently the Captain handed Mrs. Stonehouse a pair of binoculars. For
an instant she looked through them, then handed them back and continued
gazing out to where the two heads appeared--when they did appear on the
crest of the waves like pin-heads. The Captain said half to himself and
half to the father:

'Mother's eyes! Mother's eyes!' and the father understood. As the ship swept back to the rescue, her funnels sending out huge
volumes of smoke which the gale beat down on the sea to leeward, the
excitement grew tenser and tenser. Men dared hardly breathe; women wept
and clasped their hands convulsively as they prayed. In the emergency
boat the men sat like statues, their oars upright, ready for instant use. The officer stood with the falls in his hand ready to lower away. When opposite the lifebuoy, and about a furlong from Harold and Pearl,
the Captain gave the signal 'Stop,' and then a second later: 'Full speed
astern.' 'Ready, men! Steady!' As the coming wave slipping under the ship began
to rise up her side, the officer freed the falls and the boat sank softly
into the lifting sea. Instantly the oars struck the water, and as the men bent to them a cheer
rang out. * * * * *

Harold and Pearl heard, and the man turning his head for a moment saw
that the ship was close at hand, gradually drifting down to the weather
side of them. He raised the child in his arms, saying:

'Now, Pearl, wave your hand to mother and say, hurrah!' The child, fired
into fresh hope, waved her tiny hand and cried 'Hurrah! Hurrah!' The
sound could not reach the mother's ears; but she saw, and her heart
leaped. She too waved her hand, but she uttered no sound. The sweet
high voice of the child crept over the water to the ears of the men in
the boat, and seemed to fire their arms with renewed strength. A few more strokes brought them close, Harold with a last effort raised
the child in his arms as the boat drove down on them. The boatswain
leaning over the bow grabbed the child, and with one sweep of his strong
arm took her into the boat. The bow oarsman caught Harold by the wrist. The way of the boat took him for a moment under water; but the next man;
pulling his oar across the boat, stooped over and caught him by the
collar, and clung fast. A few seconds more and he was hauled abroad. A
wild cheer from all on the _Scoriac_ came, sweeping down on the wind. When once the boat's head had been turned towards the ship, and the oars
had bent again to their work, they came soon within shelter. When they
had got close enough ropes were thrown out, caught and made fast; and
then came down one of the bowlines which the seamen held ready along the
rail of the lower deck. This was seized by the boatswain, who placed it
round him under his armpits. Then, standing with the child in his arms
he made ready to be pulled up. Pearl held out her arms to Harold, crying
in fear:

'No, no, let The Man take me! I want to go with The Man!' He said
quietly so as not to frighten her:

'No, no, dear! Go with him! He can do this better than I can!' So she
clung quietly to the seaman, holding her face pressed close against his
shoulder. As the men above pulled at the rope, keeping it as far as
possible from the side of the vessel, the boatswain fended himself off
with his feet. In a few seconds he was seized by eager hands and pulled
over the rail, tenderly holding and guarding the child all the while. In
an instant she was in the arms of her mother, who had thrown herself upon
her knees and pressed her close to her loving heart. The child put her
little arms around her neck and clung to her. Then looking up and seeing
the grey pallor of her face, which even her great joy could not in a
moment efface, she stroked it and said:

'Poor mother! Poor mother! And now I have made you all wet!' Then,
feeling her father's hand on her head she turned and leaped into his
arms, where he held her close. Harold was the next to ascend. He came amid a regular tempest of cheers,
the seamen joining with the passengers. The officers, led by the Captain
waving his cap from the bridge, joined in the paean. The boat was cast loose. An instant after the engine bells tinkled:
'Full speed ahead.' Mrs. Stonehouse had no eyes but for her child, except for one other. When
Harold leaped down from the rail she rushed at him, all those around
instinctively making way for her. She flung her arms around him and
kissed him, and then before he could stop her sank to her knees at his
feet, and taking his hand kissed it. Harold was embarrassed beyond all
thinking. He tried to take away his hand, but she clung tight to it. 'No, no!' she cried. 'You saved my child!' Harold was a gentleman and a kindly one. He said no word till she had
risen, still holding his hand, when he said quietly:

'There! there! Don't cry. I was only too happy to be of service. Any
other man on board would have done the same. I was the nearest, and
therefore had to be first. That was all!' Mr. Stonehouse came to him and said as he grasped Harold's hand so hard
that his fingers ached:

'I cannot thank you as I would.