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.” The crest of a wave combed over the upper works and pounded the solid beams and planks of the cabin until they creaked. The ship lifted somewhat as the sea enveloped her. “Oh, this is awful!” shrieked Isobel. “If I must die, let me die quickly. I shall go mad.” “Calm yourself, dear. There must be an end of our sufferings soon. Perhaps we may escape even yet.”