Her visitors brought any tidbits of news they could glean about Jack, about what had happened to him after Lifeboat Four had launched. He had helped load the last boats with frantic women and children. He had placed a woman’s hat atop the head of a boy so that the child would be allowed to board with his mother. He had sawed tangled ropes free from the davits with his penknife. He had freed all the dogs from the kennels. He had stood back calmly amid the pandemonium after all of the lifeboats were gone, smoking a cigarette with two other gentlemen.
