out of commission; it must have been a pretty
violent catastrophe--" came from another table.

"--All the more violent considering the fact that we noticed nothing of
it on land," said Harryman, thoughtfully blowing out a cloud of smoke
and swinging himself up backward on the window-sill.

"Exactly," rang out a voice; "but how do you account for that?"

"Account for it!" cried Colonel Webster, in a thundering voice. "Our
comrade of the illustrious navy of the United States of America has only
one explanation for everything: his Japanese logarithms, by means of
which he figures out everything. Now we shall hear that this seaquake
can be traced to Japanese villainy, probably brought about by Japanese
divers, or even submarine boats." And the colonel began to laugh
heartily.

Harryman ignored this attempt to resume their recent dispute, and with
head thrown back continued to blow clouds of smoke nervously into the
air.

"But seriously, Harryman," began the colonel again, "can you give any
explanation?"

"No," answered Harryman curtly; "but perhaps you will remember who was
the first to furnish an explanation of the breakdown of the cable. It
was the captain of the Japanese _Kanga Maru_, which has been anchored
since Tuesday beside the _Monadnock_, which I have the honor to
command."

"But, my good Harryman, you have hallucinations," interrupted the
colonel. "The Japanese captain gave the latest Hong-Kong papers to the
Harbor Bureau, and was quite astonished to hear that our cable did not
work----"

"When he was going to send a cablegram to Hong-Kong," added Harryman
sharply.

"To announce his arrival at Manila," remarked Colonel Webster dryly.

"And the Hong-Kong papers had already published descriptions of the
destruction caused by the seaquake, of the tidal waves, and the
accidents to ships," came from another quarter.

"The news being of especial interest to this archipelago, where we have
the misfortune to be and where we noticed nothing of the whole affair,"
returned Harryman.

"You don't mean to imply," broke in the colonel, "that the news of this
catastrophe is a pure invention--an invention of the English papers in
Hong-Kong?"

"Don't know, I'm sure," said Harryman. "Hong-Kong papers are no
criterion for me." And then he added quietly: "Yes, man is great, and
the newspaper is his prophet."

"But you can't dispute the fact that a seaquake may have taken place,
when you consider the striking resu