You can take the word of an old sailor for that!" "Why, sure, what could the poor man have done, when the steamer was sinking ?" said Mrs Gilmour, as he assisted her also carefully to land.
"It's none of his fault that I can see." "What could he have done, eh ?" retorted the Captain warmly.

"Why, anything else but what he did do.

When he saw his fore compartment was full of water, he should have backed the vessel; and then he could have taken her stern-end foremost up to the pier, and landed us comfortably without any bother half an hour ago.

Instead of that, what does he do but go backing and filling, first with his engines full speed ahead, and then ditto astern, ending by sticking hard and fast at the same spot where he first struck.

While now, to clench the matter, he's going to run the steamer ashore and beach her, he tells me, as soon as the tide floats her; the upshot of which will be that she'll break her back and probably become a total wreck." "Why didn't you advise him ?" she asked.