"Now, then, slack away together," I yelled; and Bill, who had the forward fall, slacked off with me, and the craft went rushing down just as the ship rolled to leeward. She struck the sea, the block unhooked; and, as the sinking ship rolled up, she fell clear, and hung to her painter. We had got one down all right. The men then rushed.
Four of us fought back with all our might; but the weight of frantic men was too heavy for us. We were forced back and down, struggling under the crush of fighting firemen and seamen, who trampled, struck, and then tore loose to slide down the hanging boat falls or jump over into the sea, to climb in the floating craft below. The men below in the boat saw they would be swamped by numbers, and cut the painter. She drifted off, then crashed up against the ship's side, and finally swept around the stern, where she met the sea. That was the last I saw of her.
With my clothes half torn off, oilskins hanging in rags, my face bleeding, and utterly exhausted, I got to my feet, and we made for the next boat. The press about her was not so great, and we managed to make way against it. It was the last boat, and the remaining few men left aboard were not enough to hold us. Among them were some passengers, whom we got aboard—four of them—and then finally sent the boat down clear. I looked around for the girl. Two women were in the boat, and the second officer said there was another aboard. I was out of breath, and stood panting a few moments, gazing aft through the bloom of the evening trying to see what had become of that girl. She was not in sight. I remembered she was near the other boat.
"I'll run aft and try to find her," I yelled, and rushed down the deck.
At the door of the saloon I saw a form huddled up on a transom just inside.
"Come," I called roughly; "come along, quick—the boat's waiting."
"Oh, it's you," she said; and I saw it was the girl I was looking for. She sat up. "Did you ever see such brutes?"
"Never mind that now. Get a move on—the boat won't wait."
As I spoke, I felt the ship drop suddenly forward. I turned quickly, and gazed forward. It was almost dark now; but I could see the white surge burst over the forecastle head.
"She's going," I yelled, and grabbed the girl.