The wrecking of the _Maine_, happening at night, was so
sudden and the convulsion was over in so brief a time, that
a chance for a display of heroism seemed next to impossible;
and yet, in the terror of that awful scene, every surviving
man immediately recovered himself and stood to his discipline.
Not one comrade was forsaken by another. The last seen of the
lost lieutenant was at the turret under his charge, weak and
staggering with his wounds. The marine on duty, true to his
habit of service, rushed through a dark passage flooded with
water, and reported that the ship had been blown up and was
sinking. It did not occur to him to save himself until his duty
was done. Officers and men, in danger of being swamped by the
death struggle of the ship, rowed around her, trying to save
life, and careless of their own. The captain was the last to
leave the ship. No man sought his own safety at the sacrifice of
another, nor sought it first.--_Youth’s Companion._
(1099)