He emptied his revolver into the tumbling mass of men, but he was swept
aside by the fresh gang from the saloon, and perhaps owed his escape
from instant death by falling on the slippery deck. He was up again,
shouting, entreating, striking right and left, but he felt bitterly
that his efforts now were of no avail, and he bethought him that there
was only one resource left. These frenzied wretches would destroy
themselves and all others--so, if he would save even a few of the lives
entrusted to his care, at least one of the boats must be protected.
The struggle was fiercest for the possession of the two life-boats. By
a determined effort the jolly-boat might be secured.
So he ran to obtain help from the few he could trust, from the tiny
company of white men he had left in the saloon; he met them, a forlorn
procession, coming up to the bridge. The all-powerful instinct of
self-preservation, aided, no doubt, by the stinging, drenching showers
of spray, had gone far towards reanimating Isobel and her maid, while
Mrs. Somerville, a woman advanced in years, was able to walk, though
benumbed with the sudden cold. Courtenay unlocked the door of his
cabin. Elsie, her face pale and tear-stained, but outwardly composed,
was yet standing near the table, and the dog sprang from her arms the
moment his master appeared.
"Thank God!" she said, all of a flutter now that the solitary waiting
for a death which came not was ended. "I feared I should never see you
again. Is the ship lost?"
The wild soughing of the wind rendered her words indistinct. And the
captain had no time for explanations.
"In here!" he shouted to Gray, who had helped Isobel to enter the
chart-room, the first refuge available on this exposed deck.
"Sharp with it!" he thundered, when Isobel was unwilling to face the
storm again. The men took their cue from his imperative tone. Gray
clasped Isobel in his arms and lifted her bodily through the doorway.
The others followed his example. Soon the three women were with Elsie
in the cabin. Isobel, by sheer reaction from her previous hysteria,
was sullen now, and heedless of all considerations save her own misery.
When she set eyes on Elsie she snapped out: "You here!"
"Yes. Captain Courtenay brought me to his cabin after our return from
the fore saloon."
"Oh, did he? And he left me with those devils beneath!"
They both heard Courtenay's hurried order: "Leave the ladies here until we can come for them. Follow me at once."
The door slammed behind the men. Even the missionary was fired to
action by Courtenay's manner. Elsie helped Mrs. Somerville to a chair.
Then she turned to Isobel, and said gently: "It is a slight thing to discuss when any moment may be our last, but
the captain placed me here while he went to bring you. He had gone
only a few seconds when the ship struck."