He whispered in her ear,
"Courage, dear, I must do my duty." Then he handed her into
the boat which was in charge of an officer, and exhorted him
to take special care of her whom he had so recently led from
the altar and to whom he had said his last farewell! He then
proceeded to his post on the quarter-deck, and stood there
until the vessel sank and the sea flowed over him. The
opinion at the time was that he could have saved his life if
he had made an effort to do so. I question this very much,
as many of the people were picked up in the water, clinging
to wreckage; the boats being overcrowded. The only way by
which he could have been saved was to displace some one or
clutch at a piece of wreck. He preferred death to the
former, and there is no evidence that he did not attempt to
save himself by means of the latter. The probability is that
he gave any such opportunity to some drowning man or woman,
and sacrificed himself. Honour to this brave man who died,
not while taking life, but in saving it!
CHAPTER XI
CHANTIES
The signing on and the sailing from Liverpool or London
docks of these vessels were not only exciting but pathetic
occasions.
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