I held the oar steady, and the boatswain ceased to dance the lantern. For the first few seconds I heard nothing, then my ear caught the throbbing sound. "I see her!" cried the boatswain; and following his finger (my sight being keener than my hearing) I saw not only the shadow of a vessel down in the south-west, but the smoke from her funnel pouring along the stars. "Mary," I cried, "fire again!" She drew the trigger. "Again!" The clear report whizzed like a bullet passed my ears. Simultaneously with the second report a ball of blue fire shot up into the sky. Another followed, and another. A moment after a red light shone clear upon the sea. "She sees us!" I cried. "God be praised! Mary, darling, she sees us!" I waved the lamp furiously. But there was no need to wave it any longer. The red light drew nearer and nearer; the throbbing of the engines louder and louder, and the revolutions of the propeller sounded like a pulse beating through the water. The shadow broadened and loomed larger. I could hear the water spouting out of her side and the blowing off of the safety-valve. Soon the vessel grew a defined shape against the stars, and then a voice, thinned by the distance, shouted, "What light is that?" I cried to the boatswain, "Answer, for God's sake! My voice is weak." He hollowed his hands and roared back, "We're shipwrecked seamen adrift in a quarter-boat!" Nearer and nearer came the shadow, and now it was a long, black hull, a funnel pouring forth a dense volume of smoke, spotted with fire-sparks, and tapering masts and fragile rigging, with the stars running through them. "Ease her!" The sound of the throbbing grew more measured. We could hear the water as it was churned up by the screw. "Stop her!" The sounds ceased, and the vessel came looming up slowly, more slowly, until she stopped. "What is that?--a boat?" exclaimed a strong bass voice. "Yes!" answered the boatswain. "We've been shipwrecked; we're adrift in a quarter-boat." "Can you bring her alongside?" "Aye, aye, sir!" I threw out an oar, but trembled so violently that it was as much as I could do to work it. We headed the boat for the steamer, and rowed towards her. As we approached I perceived that she was very long, barque-rigged, and raking, manifestly a powerful, iron-built, ocean steamer. They had hung a red light on the forestay, and a white light over her port quarter, and lights flitted about her gangway. A voice sang out, "How many are there of you?" The boatswain answered, "Three men and a lady!" On this the same voice called, "If you want help to bring the boat alongside we'll send to you." "We'll be alongside in a few minutes," returned the boatswain. But the fact was the vessel had stopped her engines when further off from us than we had imagined; being deceived by the magnitude of her looming hull, which seemed to stand not a hundred fathoms away from us and by the wonderful distinctness of the voice that had spoken us.