knees, was stowed away forward. I took the stroke and Aldrich the
bow oars.

"We will make for the Connecticut shore," I said, and pulled from
under the stern of the Patience.

In a few minutes we had lost all sight and, except for her whistle,
all sound of her; and we ourselves were lost in the fog. There was
another eloquent and embarrassing silence. Unless, in the panic,
they trampled upon each other, I had no real fear for the safety of
those on board the steamer. Before we had abandoned her I had
heard the wireless frantically sputtering the "standby" call, and I
was certain that already the big boats of the Fall River,
Providence, and Joy lines, and launches from every wireless station
between Bridgeport and Newport, were making toward her. But the
margin of safety, which to my thinking was broad enough for all the
other passengers, for the lovely lady was in no way sufficient.
That mob-swept deck was no place for her. I was happy that, on her
account, I had not waited for a possible rescue. In the yawl she
was safe. The water was smooth, and the Connecticut shore was, I
judged, not more than three miles distant. In an hour, unless the
fog confused us, I felt sure the lovely lady would again walk
safely upon dry land. Selfishly, on Kinney's account and my own, I
was delighted to find myself free of the steamer, and from any
chance of her landing us where police waited with open arms. The
avenging angel in the person of Aldrich was still near us, so near
that I could hear the water dripping from his clothes, but his
power to harm was gone. I was congratulating myself on this when
suddenly he undeceived me. Apparently he had been considering his
position toward Kinney and myself, and, having arrived at a