SAVED AT LAST. 61 



captain, for he was fearful that if their number was discovered the vessel might pass them, 

 as had that seen in the morning 1 . 



" Oh, what a lovely afternoon/' says Mrs. Murray, " that was when we were saved 

 such a blaze of sunshine, such blue skies, such a glistening, glowing sea, as if even the 

 treacherous ocean were rejoicing with us. At length we were close alongside of the 

 ship, and saw crowds of human beings clustering about to look at us dark, swarthy faces, 

 for they were all Spaniards, but full of pity, wonderment, and horror. They took us all 

 in, one by one, and when they saw the women and little children they wept. They 

 could not speak our language, and looked upon us with bewilderment, but when I (who 

 fortunately could speak Spanish), kneeling down on deck, said ' Gracias a Dios ' (Thank 

 God), their tongues were loosened, and there was a flood of questions and crowding round 

 us, with weeping and laughing and shaking of hands. How good were those kind-hearted 

 men ! How I thank them all, every one, now as I write, from the worthy captain down 

 to the lowest of his crew. And they brought us bread and wine and water precious 

 water, how good it was ! " 



A few of Mrs. Brassey's experiences on her husband's yacht will be read with interest. 

 One day, after their five o'clock dinner, she and some of her children very nearly met with a 

 most serious accident. " We were all sitting/' writes that lady, " or standing about the stern 

 of the vessel, admiring the magnificent dark blue billows following us, with their curling white 

 crests mountains high. Each wave, as it approached, appeared as if it must overwhelm us, 

 instead of which it rushed grandly by, rolling and shaking us from stem to stern, and 

 sending fountains of spray on board. ... A new hand was steering, and just at the 

 moment when an unusually big wave overtook us he unfortunately allowed the vessel to 

 broach to a little. In a second the sea came pouring over the stern, above Allnut's head. 

 The boy was nearly washed overboard, but he managed to catch hold of the rail, and 

 with great presence of mind stuck his knees into the bulwarks. Kindred, our boat- 

 swain, seeing his danger, rushed forward to save him, but was knocked down by the 

 return wave, from which he emerged gasping. 



"The coil of rope on which Captain Lecky and Mabelle were seated was completely 

 floated by the sea. Providential^, however, he had taken a double turn round his wrist 

 with a reefing point, and, throwing his other arm round Mabelle, held on like grim death; 

 otherwise, nothing could have saved them. She was perfectly self-possessed, and only said 

 quietly, ' Hold on, Captain Lecky, hold on ! ' to which he replied, ' All right.' I asked 

 her afterwards if she thought she was going overboard, and she answered, e I did not 

 think at all, mamma, but felt sure we were gone.' Captain Lecky, being accustomed to 

 very large ships, had not in the least realised how near we were to the water in our 

 little vessel, and was proportionately taken by surprise. All the rest of the party 

 were drenched, with the exception of Muriel, whom Captain Brown held high above the 

 water in his arms, and who lost no time in remarking, in the midst of the general 

 confusion ' I'm not at all wet, I'm not ! ' Happily, the children don't know what fear is. 

 The maids, however, were very frightened, as some of the sea had got down into the 

 nursery, and the skylights had to be screwed down. Our studding-sail-boom, too, broke 

 with a loud crack when the ship broached to, and the jaws of the fore-boom gave way. 



