Looking round, I saw Monkton, who had hitherto kept close at my side, making his way back to the cabin.

I followed him directly, but the water and confusion on deck, and the impossibility, from the position of the brig, of moving the feet without the slow assistance of the hands, so impeded my progress that it was impossible for me to overtake him.

When I had got below he was crouched upon the coffin, with the water on the cabin floor whirling and splashing about him as the ship heaved and plunged.

I saw a warning brightness in his eyes, a warning flush on his cheek, as I approached and said to him: "There is nothing left for it, Alfred, but to bow to our misfortune, and do the best we can to save our lives." "Save yours," he cried, waving his hand to me, "for _you_ have a future before you.

Mine is gone when this coffin goes to the bottom.