Jan had hardly reached the saloon when the great crash came. He was
swept away before it. Boom! it was--and again, crash! Now he heard the
smothered appeals of people being swept overboard! Crackling wood was
following the crash of every sea, and each sea receded only to let the
next one strike even more heavily. It was now nothing but solid water
that was coming aboard.

Her buoyancy had left her. Her roll had become a wallow. She was
settling. "The water's in her hold!" thought Jan, and took a quick look
about. All kinds and all ages--but there was one girl with an expression
on her face that startled him.

In fine but sodden clothes she was sitting, heedless of every person but
the young man standing dumbly beside her. "And I told them I was going
to stay with a girl friend out of town over Sunday," she was saying.
"And now they'll know. Whether we're drowned or not they'll know.
Everybody will know and what will they say?"

Near the girl were a young man and a woman locked in each other's arms.
Jan judged them to be a bridal couple. They were saying nothing--just
holding each other and waiting. He hesitated an instant and then he saw
a woman with a baby. She was leaning heavily against a stanchion
crooning to the baby. He now saw that she was almost a middle-aged
woman, a poorly dressed and toil-worn woman--a Finnish woman probably.
Jan's doubt was gone. He jumped to her side. "Want to save your baby?"
The woman looked up at him and down at the baby. "Baby!" she said, and
held it toward Jan. "Yes, save baby," she said. "Come!" said Jan, and
grasped her hand. Then the lights went out.

Jan had marked the ladder in his mind, and in the dark he made his way