hours to me--I held the crowd back, wondering how
long I ought to wait if he didn't come up, knowing
my duty was to stay where I was, when the dog
sprang out of the door, half his hair singed off him,
barkin' and jumpin' as if he had been let out for a
romp; and then came the captain staggerin' along,
his face scorched, his coat half burned off him, the
woman in his arms in a dead faint and pretty nigh
smothered. The old fool had locked herself in her
stateroom--he had to break down the door to get
at her--cryin' she'd rather die there than be separated
from her sister.

"We made room for the two--the half-crazy man
fallin' back--and the captain lowered her himself
into the boat alongside her sister, and then he sent
me down the ladder behind her to catch the others
when they came down and see that everything was
ready to cast off.

"I could see the captain now from my position in
the boat, up against the sky--he was the last man on
the ship--holding the dog close to him. Once I
thought he was going to bring him down in his arms,
he held him so tight.

"Next time I looked he was coming down the
ladder slowly, one foot at a time, the dog looking
down at him, his big, human eyes peering into the
captain's face, his long, pointed nose thrust out, his