esulted in my getting wet through to the skin. Upon
the completion of my task, therefore, I retired to my cabin and effected
a complete change of garments; and I had barely finished my toilet when
I heard the sound of the gong summoning the party to breakfast.

While I was discarding my drenched garments and donning dry ones, I
became aware of the fact that the thunderstorm was at last easing up a
little. The lightning flashes were no longer a continuous blaze; the
thunder no longer was one continuous, uninterrupted crash and crackle
and boom, like the firing of two enormous fleets engaged in fighting a
fiercely-contested action, but each peal was separate and distinct, with
momentarily increasing intervals between the peals. Thus when we
presently met and sat down to breakfast, conversation of a sort was
possible, although by no means easy. The topic of the moment was of
course the storm, and I was not at all surprised to learn that the
entire party had been thoroughly terrified, and were by no means
reassured even now, when if was indisputable that the storm was passing.

We were all rather inclined to be silent at that meal. Mrs Vansittart
and her daughter both confessed to the possession of distracting
headaches, the result, no doubt, of their terror, and even Julius was in
a distinctly subdued mood; nobody but myself ate at all heartily, and I
think they were all glad when I laid down my knife and fork and made it
possible for them to rise from the table. The ladies and Julius
announced their intention to retire to their respective cabins in the
hope of obtaining relief in slumber; and as work on deck was quite out
of the question so long as the rain continued, I decided to follow their
example, having myself lost some hours of sleep. I accordingly carried
out my resolution, and soon sank into a condition of semi-oblivion,
during which I was only partially conscious of the fact that, although
the rain was still sluicing in torrents, the thunder and lightning had
dwindled away to a few distant rumblings and occasional flashes.
Finally this consciousness also passed and I fell sound asleep.

When I awoke rather more than an hour later, I at once became aware that
both the rain and the thunder had entirely ceased. It was still so dark
that until I referred to my watch I had the impression that I must have
overslept myself, and that the night was coming on. Then I flung open
the port of my cabin, which had be