in them for a week. Indeed, as Tish said, with a
compass and a small sail one could probably make the nearest land, such
as the Azores, supporting life in the meantime with ship's biscuits, and
so on, in waterproof packages, carried in the pockets provided for the
purpose. She did indeed go so far as to place a bottle of blackberry
cordial in the pocket of each suit, and also a small tin of preserved
ginger, which we have always found highly sustaining. But we were
somewhat uneasy to discover that it required a considerable length of
time to get into the suits.

We had barely got into them when we heard a bugle blowing and men
running. Just after that an alarm bell began to ring, and Aggie said "It
has come!" and as usual commenced to sneeze violently. We ran out on
deck, dear Tish saying to be calm, as more lives were lost through
excitement than anything else; though she herself was none too calm,
for when we found afterward that it was only a lifeboat drill I
discovered that she was carrying her silver-handled umbrella.

Every one was on the deck, and I must say that we were followed by
envious glances. As we had inflated the suits they were not immodest,
effectually concealing the lines of the figure, but making it difficult
to pass through doorways.

There was a very nice young man on deck, in a Red Cross uniform, and he
said that as he was the only male in our lifeboat he was pleased to see
that three of the eighteen ladies in it were prepared to take care of
themselves. He said that he felt he would probably have his hands full
saving the fifteen others.

"Not," he added, "that I should feel comfortable until you were safely
in the boat anyhow. I should not like to think of you floating about,
perhaps for weeks, and possibly dodging sharks and so on."

Tish liked him at once, and said that in case of trouble if the boat
were crowded we would only ask for a towing line.

It was while this conversation was going on that Aggie suddenly said:
"I've changed my mind, Tish, I'm not going."

Well, we looked at her. She was a green color, and she said she'd thank
us to put her off in something or other and let her go back. She wasn't
seasick, but she just didn't care for the sea. She never had and she
never would. And then she said "Ugh!" and the Red Cross man put his arm
around her as far as it would go in the rubber suit, and said that
certainly she was not seasick, but that some people found the sea air
too sti