The mate was disposed to indulge in conversation, and after having drank a bowl of hot coffee, he told the lad that the schooner which was being torn to pieces on Skinner’s Point was the _Three Brothers_, coal-laden, from Philadelphia to Portland. At noon on that day, so low did the temperature fall that ice had formed about the craft until she was unmanageable, and during five hours had been driven at the mercy of wind and waves. “Knowing the schooner was bound to go ashore, we hoped it might be in the vicinity of where she did strike.” “But why did you want her wrecked there? It seems to me a worse place couldn’t be found.” “We knew there was a life-saving station near, and when the red glare of the Coston signal flashed out through the snow, all hands understood that a crew of good men and true stood ready to do whatsoever lay in their power to give us aid. I answered that signal, and then ran over in my mind the instructions which the service sends out to every ship-master and mate.” “What kind of instructions?” Benny asked, showing by the expression on his face that this information was something entirely new to him. “If you care to find out, you will find a small, black, water-proofed book, something like a note-case, in the pocket of the coat I took off, and there everything is set down so plainly any sailor can understand what should be done when the life-saving crew appears. But you here in the station should know all about it.” “I haven’t been here but a day or two,” Benny replied gravely. “I was on the ship _Amazonia_ when she went ashore only a short distance from this building.” “Then you know what it is to see these men come to your assistance. How many were saved from the ship, lad?” “No one but me,” Benny replied, turning away quickly lest the mate should see the tears in his eyes, and in order to avoid further questioning he went in search of the book mentioned. “It’s the only thing in my pocket, lad,” the mate cried, understanding, perhaps, why Benny professed such eagerness to see the instructions. “I took it from my berth when it seemed certain the _Three Brothers_ was doomed. Give me the book, and I’ll read that part of the printed matter which most interests us sailors.” After searching over the sodden clothing, which he had carefully hung on pegs behind the stove, Benny found a tiny book and brought it to the mate, who read as one does who wishes to refresh his memory: “‘The patrolman, after discovering your vessel ashore and burning a Coston signal, hastens to his station for assistance. If the use of a boat is practicable, either the large life-boat is launched from its ways in the station and proceeds to the wreck by water, or the lighter surf-boat is hauled overland to a point opposite the wreck and launched, as circumstances may require.