oing to have lookouts stationed on deck?" said
Elizabeth.

"Not at all," said Mrs. Noah. "Perfectly absurd. We never did it on the
Ark, and it isn't necessary now. I want you all to go to bed at ten
o'clock. I don't think the night air is good for you. Besides, it isn't
proper for a woman to be out after dark, whether she's new or not."

"But, my dear Mrs. Noah," expostulated Cleopatra, "what will become of the
ship?"

"I guess she'll float through the night whether we are on deck or not,"
said the commander. "The Ark did, why not this? Now, girls, these
new-fangled yachting notions are all nonsense. It's night, and there's a
fog as thick as a stone-wall all about us. If there were a hundred of you
upon deck with ten eyes apiece, you couldn't see anything. You might much
better be in bed. As your captain, chaperon, and grandmother, I command
you to stay below."

"But--who is to steer?" queried Xanthippe.

"What's the use of steering until we can see where to steer to?" demanded
Mrs. Noah. "I certainly don't intend to bother with that tiller until some
reason for doing it arises. We haven't any place to steer to yet; we don't
know where we are going. Now, my dear children, be reasonable, and don't
worry me. I've had a very hard day of it, and I feel my responsibilities
keenly. Just let me manage, and we'll come out all right. I've had more
experience than any of you, and if--"

A terrible crash interrupted the old lady's remarks. The House-boat
shivered and shook, careened way to one side, and as quickly righted and
stood still. A mad rush up the gangway followed, and in a moment a hundred
and eighty-three pale-faced, trembling women stood upon the deck, gazing
with horror at a great helpless hulk ten feet to the rear, fastened by
broken ropes and odd pieces of rigging to the stern-posts of the
House-boat, sinking slowly but surely into the sea.

[Illustration: "A GREAT HELPLESS HULK TEN FEET TO THE REAR"]

It was the _Gehenna_!

The House-boat had run her down and her last hour had come, but, thanks to
the stanchness of her build and wonderful beam, the floating club-house
had withstood the shock of the impact and now rode the waters as
gracefully as ever.

Portia was the first to realize the extent of the catastrophe, and in a
short while chairs and life-preservers and tables--everything that could
float--had been tossed into the sea to the struggling immortals therein.
On board the _Gehenna_, those who had