The captain was still on deck, together with the first officer, both of them being at that time on the upper side of the vessel. They made the most careful examination of the staterooms and searched every corner to be sure that no one lingered behind. Coming forward they witnessed the struggles of the boys with the cripple and the girl, but the ship was now too far over on its side to permit them to render assistance. The cripple was soon brought to the door, and, without ceremony, pushed down the incline. The little girl followed, but before the boys could reach the railing the poor cripple slipped over the railing and disappeared. The boys held the child aloft for a moment, and then dropped her into the waves. "Jump as far as you can!" shouted the captain. Ralph placed a foot on the railing, and, looking back at Alfred, said: "Here goes! Come on!" Both boys landed at almost the same time. The little girl was aroused by the cold water, and was wildly floundering about, but the cripple lay upon the surface of the water, with face upturned, limp and still. They glanced about; where were the boats? They could not be far away. "I am afraid he's done for," said Alfred, as he glanced toward the cripple. "Well, we might as well stay near him; he might be all right," replied Ralph. "Move away from the ship quickly," said a voice in the water, not far away. It was the captain. He was the last one to dive, after he had seen every passenger safely off the ship. "We have no time to lose; take care of yourselves; I will help the little girl," he continued, as he threw the child on his back, and began to strike out. The sea had been calm up to this time, but no sooner had the captain ceased speaking than a tremendous wave almost engulfed them; they seemed to be carried up, and then were forced down by a giant swell. Another wave followed and then another, until, finally, the oscillations of the waves seemed to be growing less and less. "Where is the ship?" cried Alfred. "She's gone down; that's what made the waves," said the captain. The cripple's hand was raised up, and his eyes began to roll. "This fellow's all right, after all," said Ralph. "I'll help him. I wonder where the boats are?" The sun, which was going down while all this had been taking place, had now disappeared, and there was that gray, lead-like appearance on the waves that comes just before twilight. "Keep up your courage, boys; we shall soon have plenty of boats looking for us," said the captain. Within less than a minute thereafter two boats could be seen bobbing up and down not far away, heading straight for those in the water. Ralph was the first one caught by the strong arm of a seaman, and then the little girl, now fully recovered from her fright, received the care of a woman in the boat. Alfred assisted the cripple into the other boat, and the captain ordered all the passengers transferred to the boat which had just come up.