For a few moments after Sidney relinquished his hold he hung wavering in the wake of the plunging ship, which was still followed by the eddying currents of water. Then the buoyancy of his body, together with that of the life-preserver, shot him upward. Instinctively, too, he aided that upward movement by his own effort, the well-directed effort of a practiced swimmer. Fortunately there was no wreckage floating at the spot where he reached the surface, and what a blessed thing it was to breathe the air again! The time he was being dragged down with the ship had been measured by seconds, but it was quite long enough, when he was once more in the free air, to make him feel that he had been restored to life. Sidney’s presence of mind in keeping his mouth closed had prevented the water from entering his lungs, so that he was able at once to look around to see who else might be near him. His first thought was of Raymond. Looking out over the water that was still agitated by the sinking ship, at first there was nothing evident but confusion, for the surface was thickly sprinkled with wreckage. There was every article that had been loose on the ship’s deck, to which were added many pieces of splintered and shattered planking that had been torn from the vessel’s bottom by the explosion. Sidney supported himself by treading water, and raising himself high, gazed about him. He saw here and there amidst the flotsam the head of a man who was clinging to some piece of wood. Presently, away on the other side of the circle of waste he saw his brother. “O--h, Ray!” he called. Raymond, also, was intently examining the surface of the water, and immediately he distinguished Sidney. “I’ll swim over there, Ray,” called Sidney when he saw that he was observed. There was no wind, and the waves and swells caused by the destruction and the sinking of the Princess Mary were beginning to subside. So it was not difficult for Sidney to swim, though he was retarded somewhat by the cork jacket that was buckled around him. He had proceeded but a few strokes when he noticed, a little to one side, the form of a man lying against a piece of plank, and he changed his course to examine it. The man’s face was in the water, and Sidney, turning it up, was shocked to find it was Captain Foster. There was a bloody bruise extending across his forehead, and he was unconscious, but Sidney thought he still lived. “Oh, Ray,” Sidney called, “Captain Foster is hurt; come and help me.” The other men who were floating in the wreckage heard the call, and all hastened to the aid of their captain. There were the mate, a sailor, and two engineers, all who were left of the ship’s company. Mr. Wright was the first to reach them, and after examining Captain Foster briefly, he declared,--