add, their admiration--any hint of reward would have wounded my
self-respect to the quick.

In consequence of the doctor's injunction as to our early retirement
that night, we did not adjourn to the drawing-room, as usual, but when
the cloth was removed Mrs Vansittart announced her intention of
remaining with us while we sipped our coffee and Harper and Monroe
smoked their cigars; and Miss Anthea also remained. And it was then
that I learned how very narrow had been the escape of the lad Julius
from drowning.

It appeared that when, owing to the sudden and violent lurch of the
ship, he had been hurled athwart the deck and against the lee rail of
the poop, the impact of his body upon the hard wood was so severe that
the breath was completely knocked out of him, while the pain must have
been so great as practically to paralyse him for the moment and render
him quite unable to do anything to help himself. Hence the probability
was that, once in the water, he would have sunk for good and all, and
that but for my promptitude in diving after him he would never again
have been seen. And when at length he was got aboard, he was so nearly
gone that Harper's skill and resources were taxed to their uttermost for
more than two hours before any sign of returning animation manifested
itself; while it was not until the afternoon was well advanced that the
medico was able to assert with assurance that the lad would recover.
Even so, there was the probability that, with all the care and skilful
treatment he could possibly receive, it would be at least three or four
days before Julius could be up and about again.

According to routine, it was my eight hours out that night; but Harper's
fiat had already gone forth that I was to spend the whole night in my
bunk. Therefore upon leaving the dining-room I at once retired to my
cabin, turned in, and slept soundly until I was called at eight o'clock
on the following morning, when I arose, thoroughly recuperated, and
feeling as well as ever.

The first thing I noticed, while dressing, was that it was a brilliantly
fine morning, for the sunshine was streaming powerfully in through my
port, flooding the cabin with its radiance; and the next thing was that
the ship's motion was easy and buoyant, from which I inferred that the
gale was over and that we had passed beyond the area over which it had
swept. But in this last supposition I was mistaken, as was to appear
later. Still, when I went