rafe of water from its wooden stand
near the table, and poured some of the contents into a tumbler. Joey's
thanks were ecstatic. He yelped with delight at the mere thought of a
drink.

While the dog was lapping a second supply, the _Kansas_ shifted again
with a disconcerting suddenness. The water in the cabin swirled across
the floor as the ship was restored to an even keel. The movement
dislodged the packet of letters. It fell, and Elsie rescued it a
second time. Christobal watched her with undisguised admiration.

"Really," he said, "I find you wonderful."

"Why?" Certainly she might be pardoned for seeking an explanation of
any compliment just then.

"Why? Por Dios! Excuse me, but that slipped out sideways. Just
imagine any woman being able to attend to a dog and pick up a bundle of
letters at the very instant the ship appeared to be slipping off into
deep water!"

"Is not that the best thing that can happen?"

"My dear young lady, we should sink instantly."

"How do you know?"

"Well--er--I don't exactly know, but I assume that the hull was broken
long since."

"I don't see why you should take that for granted. These very
movements seem to me to argue buoyancy. Somehow, I feel far safer here
than if I were--"

She was interrupted by the opening of the door, and the consequent roar
of the gale. It was Walker, the engineer, a lank, swarthy man, with
long black mustaches which drooped forlornly down the sides of his
mouth. He shouted, with the inimitable accent of Tyneside:

"Yo' wanted, Docto' Chwistobal. The captain thinks Mr. Boyle is
bettaw."

"May I come, too?" asked Elsie.

"No, missie. You bide he-aw."

"Please tell me before you go--is the ship full of water?"

"She's dwy as a bone," said Walker. A sea splashed over him and sent a
shower into the cabin. "A vewy wet bone," he added, with a broad grin,
for the Northumbrian had a ready wit though he had such a solemn jowl,
and he could not pronounce an "r" to save his life.

"Between you and the captain, I am beginning to be infected by belief,"
said Christobal to Elsie. "Let me recommend you to close the door
behind us."

And she was left with the dog for company once more. A chronometer
showed that the hour was past midnight. She knew sufficient of the sea
to understand that the clock was probably accurate, as the course had
practically followed the same meridian since the _Kansas_ quitted
Valparaiso. So the ship and