“All full,” shouted back a seaman. “Heave away.”
“No, for God’s sake, don’t do that,” insisted Guy’s friend. “You’ve put all the other women in boats. Don’t leave this one to perish alone.”
Glennon was mistaken in this regard, but he believed it was true. The appeal was effective. There was general hesitation. The ropes were slackened. Then one of the few men whose lot it had been to enter the boat rose to his feet and stepped out. He said not a word, but waived the woman to his place. It was Watson, the secret service operative.
Guy could hardly restrain a sob at the unselfishness of the man, in view of the criminal charge the woman’s son had made against him. But Mrs. Burton was not disposed to submit tamely to the substitution when she saw Guy was not going to follow her into the boat. She thanked Watson profusely for his kindness and begged him to return to his place, as she could not think of going without her son.
But the operative’s generosity was not half-hearted. Instead of accepting this as final, he approached the woman and said:
“Don’t be foolish, Mrs. Burton. Your son can get along much better without you. If you stay here, you may be the cause of your both being drowned. If he’s alone, he will probably be able to save himself.”
This was an argument that could not be gainsaid, and Mrs. Burton kissed Guy affectionately and was assisted into the boat, which was so full of passengers that there was little comfort for any.
“I’ll be all right,” Guy assured his mother. “I’m a good swimmer if it comes to that, and, besides, I’ve got this cork jacket on. Here’s one for you. Take it and put it on, though probably won’t need it. We’ll probably find something to float on before the ship goes down. There ought to be a lot of rafts here somewhere.”
While the boat was being lowered, the boy’s gaze followed his mother with an appearance of more courage and confidence than he felt. As it touched the water Carl laid a hand on his shoulder and said:
“Come on, Burton. We’ve got to get busy. We don’t want to depend on our life jackets to save us in that cold water.”