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"Give way, my men! give way! Will you see them perish miserably before your eyes?" shouted Fred, his dark eyes blazing with excitement, as he beheld the fiery-tongued monster almost within a few feet of the unhappy wretches, whose skrieks of terror came piercingly to their ears.

And the brave fellows did give way. In that moment they thought not that the men they were going to save were the enemies of their country—they only saw fellow-creatures in danger of perishing by a miserable death; and with the proverbial generosity of sailors, they bent their brawny arms to the task until great drops of perspiration stood in beads on their flushed faces, and the boat skimmed over the water with the velocity of a bird on the wing. In less than ten minutes more, they were within a few yards of the burning ship.

"Leap into the water, and we will pick you up?" shouted Fred—fearing lest, if they approached too near, the boats might swamp from the numbers who would crowd into them.

Without a moment's hesitation, the command was obeyed, and the crews of both boats were soon busily employed in rescuing the poor fellows.