"Have courage!" I cried. "Fetch the women on deck. There is not an
instant to be lost. The yacht is filling!"
We had come into collision with a large vessel. I could see her lights.
She had just cleared us. A flash of blue lightning showed me the name
painted in white letters on her stern.
She was the _Lepante_, of Marseilles.
There was a lull in the storm.
There remained one chance for life--to get on board the vessel. The
yacht was filling fast, and in a few minutes would settle down.
Except one or two tried sailors--old comrades of mine--everybody on
board was paralysed.
It was for me to act--to choose for all.
The choice was--Death or the _Lepante_.