Chapter XIII. "Who Will Stay?"

The decision was a momentous one. It might be death to remain on the ship, but to a landsman it seemed still more perilous to embark on an angry sea in a frail boat.

The passengers looked at each other in doubt and perplexity.

They had but fifteen minutes in which to make up their minds.

The mate stood by, his face and manner serious and thoughtful.

"Mr. Holdfast," said Mr. Stubbs, "do you agree with the captain that it is our best course to take to the boats?"

"I should prefer to try the ship a little longer. I say so with diffidence, since the captain has a longer experience than I."

"I don't think much of your judgment, Mr. Holdfast," said Captain Hill, in a tone of contempt.

The mate's face flushed--not so much at the words as the tone.

"Nevertheless Captain Hill," he said, "I stand by what I have said."

"Mr. Holdfast," said Mr. Stubbs, who seemed to speak for the passengers, "if some of us decide to remain on the ship, will you remain with us?"

"I will!" answered the mate, promptly.

"Then set me down as the first to remain," said Stubbs.

Somehow this man, rough and abrupt as he was, had impressed Harry as a man in whom confidence might be reposed. He felt safe in following where he led.

"I am but a boy," he said, "but I have to decide for my life. I shall remain with the mate and Mr. Stubbs."

Quietly Stubbs shook hands with Harry.

"I am glad to have you with us," he said earnestly. "We will die or live together."

Next came Professor Hemenway.

"Put me down as the third," he said. "Harry, we sailed together, and we will remain together to the end."

"I go in the boat," said John Appleton. "I have a great respect for Mr. Holdfast, but I defer to the captain's judgment as superior."

He went over and ranged himself beside the captain.

"You are a sensible man, sir," said Captain Hill, with a scornful glance at the mate and the passengers who sided with him. "Mr. Holdfast can go down with the ship, if he desires. I prefer to cut loose from a doomed vessel."

Marmaduke Timmins, the invalid, looked more sallow and nervous than ever. He had swallowed a pill while the others were speaking, to give himself confidence.

"I will go with the captain," he said. "My life is likely to be short, for my diseases are many, but I owe it to myself to do my best to save it."

"In deciding to go with me, you are doing your best, sir," said Captain Hill.

He had not hitherto paid much attention to Mr. Timmins, whom he looked upon as a crank on the subject of health, but he was disposed