In the Roaring Fifties

eginning and could be no end-so small, so helpless she seemed between the two infinities of sea and sky. There was no cloud to break the blue profundity of heaven, no line of horizon, no diversi

re was a startling upheaval of men; they swarmed in the rigging, and faces were piled above the larboard bulwarks. A boat dropped from the ship's side, striking the sea with a muffled sound, and was instantly caught into the quaint lifting and falling motion of the Francis Cadman, as the oily-backed waves slid under. Four men in the boat bent smartly to the oars, a fifth stood erect in the prow, peering unde

he moon glittered and flashed in their dilated eyes and on their bared teeth. The sailor at the tiller swayed in unison, and grunted encouragement, breaking every now and

! I'd get more square-pullin' out of a starved cat with ten kitt

ears, but no call came from the sea. The sleek oars dipped into the waves without a sound, and swung noiselessly

rrin'-gutted, boss-eyed son of a barber's ape, are you rowin' or spoonin' up hot soup? Pull, men! Huh

med under the prow into drifted snow which ran merrily in their wake. For a tense moment the boat hung poised upon a high roller, as if about to be projected in

she b

editable to their parents. The crew increased their stroke. Already the perspiration was streaming from their indurated hides; their wet faces and breasts glistened in the night. Every now and again the look-out, disc

s as in cavernous and boundless darkness, she had struggled with an ocean the whole of the focus of which were leagued against her, possessed all the time with a foolish and trivial remembrance of c

ment as sweet as sleep. She heard a man's voice directing her, and obeyed without understanding. Now the sea supported her like a soft and pleasant bed, she had no fear and little consciousness. A few stern words buz

rested in the nape of her neck, sustaining her with scarcely an effort. An ocean swimmer from his early boyhood, great waters had no terr

e done this thing? What was the girl to him that at the first sight of her danger he should have forgotten his philosophy of self, his pride in his contempt for his kind, and his fine aloofness? She was no more in his life than any other of the four hundred strangers on board. The act of leaping into the sea had been a mere impulse, the prompting of an unsuspected instinct. She might hat

the look-out, 't

s swing, glared open-mouthed, speechless; he felt his stiff hair stirring strangely under his hat, a pronounced uneasiness moved in the boat. Only one woman had fallen from the ship, and here, out in the deep trough of the lone sea, they found two creatures

raised the girl, and one of the men seized her mechanically, and drew her limp form from the water. No hand was offered to

Hermit!' gasped Ryan, with an

tantly relaxed, he recovered h

e blue fury 're ye all sittin' garpin' at like a lot o' demen

He was struggling to wrap his charge in a length of stiff,

cautiously selected throughout, out of a heroic respect for the lady passenger. The boatswain's idea of language becoming in the presence of the gentler sex was rather liberal, perhaps; but in any case his nice consideration was wasted upon the girl, who heard never a word. She lay as if in the grip of fever, her distorted mind pursuing quaint visions and trifling

' called the same v

h, sir,' ans

ot

ay,

d one only was missed. Interest was doubled. For four weeks the Francis Cadman had been pottering about the Indian Ocean without discovering a single adventure to br

nd women thronged the deck, thrilling with sympathy, and yet secr

d been carried below. He was barefooted, and clad only in single

ion sprang fro

Her

slightly protuberant lips, and the thick line of dark brows, throwing the eyes into shadows, imparted an appearance of sullen reserve that belonged to an older face. His scrutiny condemned men and repelled them. His figure, about three in

y, and not without a hint of suspicion.

it nodde

l this happ

ns when I heard a cry and a splash, and saw t

d her lif

eep afloat till th

on the shoulder, but the young man turned away abruptly, thrusting himself through the men, who h

about!' said the hero sulkily,

the littered floors and climbed into his bunk, threatening to

sailors to the ships left helpless in Corio Bay and Hobson's Bay, deserted by their crews, who, in spite o

e found for them in the dark and musty depths of the ship. A few second-class male passengers shared these delectable quarters with the sailors, and the Fra

the wildest yarns were never doubted. In their frantic eagerness to share in the golden harvests being reaped at Buninyong, Clunes, Bendigo, and Ballar

his mind was given over to reflections arising out of the incidents of the last few hours. They were not pleasant reflections. The adventure loomed like a misfortune. He hated the idea of the notoriety it would bring him; and, picturing himself the object of the sentimental admiration of a score of

ed,' said Ryan, with timorous humo

ed the Irishman's face, and Done saw his mark upon it-a long purple wheal under the left eye, a week old yesterday, but still conspicuous. For a reason he co

'an' I'm proud I fought wid ye, an'

e had been too long at variance with