red and aroused herself with a startled laugh.

A nice book in a sheltered corner, and perhaps forty winks until
tea-time--surely a much more sensible proceeding than to stand there,
idly conjuring up phantoms of affright.

The lively fanfare of the dinner trumpet failed to fill the saloon. By
this time the _Sirdar_ was fighting resolutely against a stiff
gale. But the stress of actual combat was better than the eerie
sensation of impending danger during the earlier hours. The strong,
hearty pulsations of the engines, the regular thrashing of the screw,
the steadfast onward plunging of the good ship through racing seas and
flying scud, were cheery, confident, and inspiring.

Miss Deane justified her boast that she was an excellent sailor. She
smiled delightedly at the ship's surgeon when he caught her eye through
the many gaps in the tables. She was alone, so he joined her.

"You are a credit to the company--quite a sea-king's daughter," he
said.

"Doctor, do you talk to all your lady passengers in that way?"

"Alas, no! Too often I can only be truthful when I am dumb."

Iris laughed. "If I remain long on this ship I will certainly have my
head turned," she cried. "I receive nothing but compliments from the
captain down to--to----

"The doctor!"

"No. You come a good second on the list."

In very truth she was thinking of the ice-carrying steward and his
queer start of surprise at the announcement of her rumored engagement.
The man interested her. He looked like a broken-down gentleman. Her
quick eyes traveled around the saloon to discover his whereabouts. She
could not see him. The chief steward stood near, balancing himself in
apparent defiance of the laws of gravitation, for the ship was now
pitching and rolling with a mad zeal. For an instant she meant to
inquire what had become of the transgressor, but she dismissed the
thought at its inception. The matter was too trivial.

With a wild swoop all the plates, glasses, and cutlery on the saloon
tables crashed to starboard. Were it not for the restraint of the
fiddles everything must have been swept to the floor. There were one or
two minor accidents. A steward, taken unawares, was thrown headlong on
top of his laden tray. Others were compelled to clutch the backs of
chairs and cling to pillars. One man involuntarily seized the hair of a
lady who devoted an hour before each meal to her coiffure. The
_Sirdar_, with a frenzied bound, tried to turn a somersau