“Mr. Wright,” he said to the mate, “we must do something for the boy, or he will be washed away. Is there any line left?” “No, sir,” replied the mate. “Yes, I think there is, too,” he added. “When I lashed the center of the line down to the raft, there was a long end which I left hanging. It’s right by the boys.” When the members of the party had ranged themselves along the rope anchor, Sidney and Raymond were placed in the center as the most secure position. “Then I wish you’d work your way in there, Mr. Wright, and tie that boy to the line,” said the captain. “Aye, that I will, sir,” replied Wright. The mate, who was near one end, climbed cautiously past the other man until he reached Raymond. Then he knotted the long loose end of line around the boy’s body under his arms in such a way that it could not draw tight, and yet so securely that Raymond could not be washed off. When that was done, he found there was still rope left, and he said to Sidney,-- “Shall I lash you too, sir? It will be safer.” “I wish you would,” replied Sidney. “I may be able to hold on, but I am not sure. Thank God, my brother is safe.” It was not long after that when Raymond’s hands lost their grip and he hung, an inert weight, from the rope. Then, after the raft was free of a towering wave that had broken over it, Smith’s place was vacant. When Captain Foster discovered their loss, he besought the men who were left to have courage. “Don’t lose heart,” he said to them. “Watson, remember your family, and, Jack, that old mother of yours. I think we must be in the route from Fiume to Ancona, and there may be some traffic yet between Austria and Italy, so I fancy we stand a good chance of being picked up.” “I shall hang on, sir,” replied Watson, “as long as any one. My missus can’t support the children alone.” As the man finished speaking, the raft mounted the crest of a huge swell, and the mate and Jack sang out simultaneously,-- “Ship ahoy!” There was barely time to see a steamer that was bearing down upon them not far away, when the raft plunged into the trough again. With the next rise, however, there was a good view of a long steamer with four funnels, that lay low in the water, coming up against the wind. “It’s a destroyer,” said Captain Foster, “probably an Austrian. Well, better an Austrian than none at all.” The castaways were observed, and the warship, after passing close to one side, hove to so as to bring the raft under her lee. There she hung, with her engines working only enough to hold against the wind, while she lowered a boat. The shipwrecked men watched anxiously while the boat fought its way toward them. It was thrown from crest to trough, then back again, and tossed about until it seemed impossible that it could live. There was no trouble about its being able to advance, for the wind swept it resistlessly along. The greatest danger was that it would strike the raft and both be wrecked.