"Stay, my lord! Hold firmly by the end of this rope, and I will save her or perish in the attempt."
As he spoke he cast himself into the sea; and partly by swimming and partly by the aid of the stay, he had nearly reached her, when a wave lifted her high on its crest, and forced her to release her grasp.
"Save me, Mark!" she cried, and sunk in the hollow it left, and almost within reach of his arm.
He dove, and brought her to the surface scarce ere she had gone beneath it. She instantly clasped her arms firmly around him with the instinct of self-preservation; her cheek lying against his, and her rich tresses blinding him.
"She is safe; draw us inboard," he shouted, buffeting the waves with one arm, the other encircling her with a firm grasp.
The earl, assisted by the captain and sailors, the next moment drew his half-drowned niece from the sea, dripping like a naiad, while the captain did the same office for the brave youth.
"Two epaulets, by the rood!" he exclaimed. "'Twas a lucky day Dick Kenard shipped a lad of your mettle. Ho, there, men! We must now look to the craft. Save the ship first, and think of ourselves afterward, is my maxim, my lord. Bear a hand with an axe! Cut away the masts!"
"Cast the lee guns overboard, and she may right, captain," said Mark, shaking the salt spray from his locks.
"We can but try it, my boy. Overboard with the barkers!"
Forthwith the men set to work and pitched the starboard guns into the sea, and, after cutting loose the fore and main yards, and giving every man's weight to the weather side, the yacht righted with a tremendous roll to windward and a lurch that threw every man flat upon the deck.