ll. It was so strong as to puzzle Bicker
even, in his watch; and its most unpleasant manifestation caused him to
look about for the carcass of a rat on the bridge deck.

We had come by this time into a highway of ships. The first that passed
us, a small steamer, was not much noticed; nor the next, which passed in
the night. "Her lamp gave a blink and then went out," said Bicker, and
wished he could have emulated a mate of his acquaintance who likewise
signalled to a passer-by in vain. "If you damn'd foreigners can't answer,"
he sent out as she came alongside presently, "why the hell don't you
keep out of sight? Good night!" But, on being pressed, he admitted that
the "foreigner" replied: "Thank you. And you're a lady."

Then, however, another ship belonging to the same company with the
_Bonadventure_ was seen afar through the afternoon. As the two drew
level, ceremony took place. The houseflag was dipped and raised and
dipped again by both; the red ensign was dipped; and the homeward-bound
sounded her monosyllable three times, to which our own whistle replied
in equal number. This, as old-fashioned a courtesy as could be wished,
excited several others aboard the _Bonadventure_ besides the tyro; and
as the chief engineer began his tea, he thus referred to the prevailing
spirit.

"--Well, so we passed one of _our_ ships again to-day! I was lying in my
hammock asleep, when the mess-room boy came running up, panting out:
'Sir, here's one of our ships!' And I mumbled out something like, 'All
right, John, there's room enough for us to pass, isn't there?' Everybody
was seemingly out on deck, peering up at the mate to see if he had
forgotten the flags; everybody was staring at the funnel with the eye of
expectancy, wondering 'When the hell's that damn'd whistle going?'--I
didn't get up for it. I suppose that's equivalent to contempt of court or
high treason."

The bland face of the sage lighted up with pleasure as he carefully gave
us this impression of his.

After the storm, the air was thunder-heavy all that day. Great
dragon-flies, and butterflies in sultry brown and red, and that must
have been borne out to sea on the strong breeze, were fluttering over the
decks and the water. At night, there was abundant lightning in the
distance: most of all on the eastern horizon, with its world of
waters, the flashes were of a dusky redness, and of vague mountainous
outline. They came fast and furious, until the moon at last seeme