There was, indeed, as the Captain had affirmed, no time to be lost. The
fire, which had originated in the engine-room, from the carelessness of
one of the hands, was now making fearful headway, in spite of the
continued efforts of the sailors by deluging it with buckets of water,
to mitigate in a measure, its ravages. All the fore-part of the vessel
was burning, and awfully sublime was the spectacle as the flames mounted
higher and higher, casting their lurid glare over the intensely dark
waste of waters, whose turbid and sullen waves, lashed into fury by a
fierce north-eastern blast, seemed warning the unhappy sufferers of the
fearful fate that awaited them, should they commit themselves more
immediately to its mercy.

But the danger of embarkation in those frail boats, on an ocean that
every moment grew more tempestuous, was almost lost sight of in
contemplation of the nearer and more fearful fate that awaited them
should they linger; and quickly, and with scarce a murmur of
apprehension, the boat was filled.

While Mr. Cameron was assisting Agnes into the frail boat, Mr. Dunseer,
who had secured a life-preserver, as soon as she was safely seated
handed it to her, observing that if the boat should be upset, by
clinging to it she might be preserved from a watery grave.

Thanking him for his kind consideration at such a time, Agnes inquired
anxiously of the two gentlemen whether they were not to accompany her.

"No;" was the reply of Mr. Cameron. "I fear we must be separated, but
only I trust for a time. This boat is not sufficiently large to hold
more than the lady passengers and the sailors who are to manage it. We