uld not make way.

"Are the stewards here all crazy?" he cried.

Hard by Frederick's ear an electric bell began to hammer noisily, and the
next moment the tottering phantom that barred his way was multiplied by
ten, twenty, a host of similar phantoms.

"What's the matter! What's the matter! We're sinking!"

"Steward! Steward!" a voice commanded; and another, "Captain! Captain!"

"Wretched service!" a man scolded in a voice that broke. "No stewards
about. What do they mean by it?" The call bells began to rage.

Frederick turned, and ran down the endless corridor to the after part
of the vessel. Nobody intercepted him. He passed the windows of the
engine-room. The cylinders and pistons were not stirring. From the depths
of the ship, from the boilers and furnaces, a sound of rushing, splashing
water penetrated above the creaking and grinding of the walls.

"Did a boiler burst?" Frederick thought, forgetting that there would have
been the report of an explosion and the hiss of escaping steam.

But he hastened on without stopping, past the post office, on his way
through the second cabin to the stern. In his flight it occurred to him
how happy he had been in Paris when at Cook's office they had told him
that by great haste he could still make the _Roland_ at Southampton. Why
had he been in such a fever of impatience, in such dread of missing the
boat and rushing into the open arms of doom? For there was no veiling the
fact that something fearful had happened to the _Roland_.

At the door of the second cabin, he encountered the barber.

"The fires are out," said the barber. "A collision. The water is pouring
into the hold below my shop."

The hammering of the bells never ceased. The barber was dragging two
life-preservers.

"What do you need two for?" Frederick asked, and took one and sped on.

XLVII

He reached the door leading to the after deck, but could not open it.
From the position of the ship, he realized that something irretrievable
had happened. On the port side, the steamer was lying high, on the
starboard side, it was only ten or twelve feet above the level. As the
stern was also much lower than the bow, it would have been a practically
hopeless venture to clamber forward across the deck, especially with the
heavy seas that were constantly sweeping it.

Willy-nilly, he must return through the mole's gallery he had traversed
to the forward part of the boat.

Scarcely fifteen seconds later,