I will go in the gig." The first lieutenant hastened to obey the order, and the men embarked in the boats, lighted by the flames, which were now roaring high up the masts.
Meanwhile the man who had been the cause of all this was rushing about the deck, a furious maniac.

He had wrought at the fire almost as fiercely as Gascoyne himself, and now that all hope was past, he continued, despite the orders of Montague to the contrary, to draw water and rush with bucket after bucket into the midst of the roaring flames.
At last he disappeared, no one knew where, and no one cared; for in such a scene he was soon forgotten.
The last man left the ship when the heat on the poop became so great that it was scarcely possible to stand there.

Still Montague and Gascoyne stood side by side near the taffrail, and the gig with her crew floated just below them.

The last boatful of men pulled away from the burning vessel and then Montague turned, with a deep sigh, and said: "Now, Mr.Gascoyne, get into the boat.

I must be the last man to quit the ship." Without a word, Gascoyne swung himself over the stern, and, sliding down by a rope, dropped into the boat.