ed, my friends," continued the
marine, "when I tell you that I now found myself in a terrible state of
mind. Of course I hadn't felt very jovial since the steamer had been so
wonderfully stopped; but when the captain and all the crew were aboard,
I had that sort of confidence which comes from believing that when
there are people about whose duty it is to do things, when the time
comes to do the things, they will do them; but now, practically
speaking, there was nobody but me. The others on board were not to be
counted, except as encumbrances. In truth, I was alone,--alone with
the Water-devil!

"The moment I found no one to depend upon but myself, and that I was
deserted in the midst of this lonely mass of water, in that moment did
my belief in the Water-devil begin to grow. When I first heard of the
creature, I didn't consider that it was my business either to believe
in it, or not to believe in it, and I could let the whole thing drop
out of my mind, if I chose; but now it was a different matter. I was
bound to think for myself, and the more I thought, the more I believed
in the Water-devil.

"The fact was, there wasn't anything else to believe in. I had gone
over the whole question, and the skipper had gone all over it, and
everybody else had gone all over it, and no one could think of anything
but a Water-devil that could stop a steamer in this way in the middle
of the Bay of Bengal, and hold her there hour after hour, in spite of
wind and wave and tide. It could not be anything but the monster the
Portuguese had told us of, and all I now could do was to wonder
whether, when he was done counting his million claws, he would be able
to pull down a vessel of a thousand tons, for that was about the size
of the _General Brooks_.

"I think I should now have begun to lose my wits if it had not been for
one thing, and that was the coming of Miss Minturn on deck. The moment
I saw her lovely face I stiffened up wonderfully. 'Sir,' said she, 'I
would like to see the captain.' 'I am representing the captain, miss,'
I said, with a bow; 'what is it that I can do for you?' 'I want to
speak to him about the steward,' she said; 'I think he is neglecting
his duty.' 'I also represent the steward,' I replied; 'tell me what you
wish of him.' She made no answer to this, but looked about her in a
startled way. 'Where are all the men?' she said. 'Miss Minturn, 'said
I, 'I represent the crew--in fact, I represent the whole ship's com