‘There! there! Go there!’ he exclaimed frantically, though his voice had no power to reach her, as he pointed to a more sheltered position under the companion-ladder. ‘Get under there, for Heaven’s sake!’ She saw the warning gesture of his hand, the agony depicted in his face, and understood the meaning of them, just as the huge mast bowed itself towards the sea. Egerton continued his efforts to make her see the necessity of moving, and she was just about to take advantage of the hint, when Captain Barrington crawled on all fours into the place himself. The little man was not too brave by nature, and fear had driven all thoughts of chivalry out of his head. For the moment the girl did not see who had forestalled her intention; she only perceived that she had lost her chance of safety, and waited the event in trembling anxiety. Down came the topmast with a crashing shock that threatened to sink the vessel. Yet Amy Herbert was sheltered from possible injury, for, with a mighty effort, Richard Egerton had quitted his stronghold and flung his body upon the deck before her. For one moment he was conscious—happily conscious—that she was safe, and he had saved her; the next, he had fainted from a blow on the head and the pain of a large splinter of wood that had been broken from the falling mast and driven with violence into his arm. He did not hear the scream with which Amy Herbert viewed the accident, nor see the agonised face which bent above his prostrate form. He heard, and saw, and knew nothing, until he opened his eyes in his own cabin and perceived, with the dazed wonder of returning consciousness, that the old sailor, Williams, and the ship’s doctor, Mr French, were bending over him. * * * * * ‘You’ll do now,’ remarked the doctor as he held a cordial to his lips. ‘Is she safe?’ was all Richard Egerton said in reply, as he looked at his splintered arm. They thought he meant the ‘Star of the North.’ ‘Oh yes, she’s safe enough now, sir,’ replied the old seaman; ‘but we’ve had an awful time of it, and no mistake. We’ve lost our top-gallant mast, and our spars and hen-coops have been washed overboard, and one of the boats got adrift in the squall, and the poor “Star” is stript of half her toggery.’ ‘But are any of the passengers injured?’ ‘No one but yourself, sir; but two of our best men went over with the mast, and Ralph White has broke his leg, and there’ll be a tidy little bill for some one to pay when we gets into port again.’ ‘And that reminds me, Williams, that I must go and look after poor White,’ said the doctor. ‘I think I may leave my patient in your care now. All you have got to do is to see that he lies there till I come back again.’ ‘I’ll look after the gentleman, doctor, never you fear,’ replied the old seaman as Mr French left the cabin. ‘It was an awful hurricane, Williams,’ remarked Egerton, with a sigh of remembrance, as he turned uneasily upon his pillow.