comparative coolness of the night, "here is just where we miss our
propeller. If it had not been for that accident I guess we could have
started the engine; and we should at least have had the draught caused
by the ship's passage through the water to cool us; whereas we shall
have to wait where we are and just simmer until a breeze springs up
again. And I guess I see no sign of one as yet, while the glass stands
very high. Mr Leigh, do you happen to know whether there is such a
thing as a dry dock at Singapore?"

"I have never been to Singapore," I replied, "so I cannot say for
certain; but I seem to recollect having heard such a thing mentioned.
Does not the Directory say anything about it?"

"There now! I declare to goodness that I never thought to look,"
exclaimed the lady. "But," she continued, "I'll go and do so now; and
if there happens to be a dock there big enough to take in this vessel, I
guess I will have the _Stella Maris_ docked and cleaned and another
propeller fixed. We've got a spare one down below; and I guess
Mackenzie is man enough to fit it, once we get into harbour, even if
there is no dock--though I hope there will be one. I'll turn up the
Directory now, and see what it says;" and therewith she descended to the
chart-room, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan as she went.

As soon as Mrs Vansittart was fairly out of earshot, Kennedy turned to
me and said:

"Ever been through here before?"

"No," I replied. "The nearest I have ever been to it was two passages
through Sunda on a voyage to and from Canton."

"M-m!" returned Kennedy. "Did annything out of the common happen to ye
that voyage?"

"N-o, I think not," said I, trying to remember precisely what, if
anything, had happened. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," replied my companion, "chiefly, I think, because yonder's the
Malay coast, and here we are, a valuable ship, becalmed, and helpless
because we've lost the blades of our propeller."

"Oh! but that is sheer nonsense," I said. "You are thinking about
pirates, I suppose. But, my dear chap, with the incoming of steam,
piracy went out, because it no longer paid to be a pirate. You never
hear of such a thing in these days."

"Not very often, I admit," agreed Kennedy. "Yet it was only about a
week before we sailed from New York that I read in the _Herald_ a story
of a ship being picked up derelict, in this same Strait; and when she
was boarded, her crew, consisting of twenty-seven