the mass that lay inert, motionless on the
smiling sea?

Every one on board realized, with sinking heart, that the Doraine was to
go on drifting, drifting no man knew whither, until she crossed the
path of a friendly stranger out there in the mighty waste. No cry
of distress, no call for help could go crackling into the boundless
reaches. That was the plight of the Doraine and her people on the
mocking day that followed the disaster, and unless fate intervened that
would be her plight for days without end.

Mr. Mott, temporarily in command, addressed the passengers in the main
saloon, where they had congregated at his request. He did not mince
matters. He stated the situation plainly. It was best that they should
realize, that they should understand, that they should know the truth,
in order that they might adapt themselves to the conditions he was now
compelled of necessity to impose upon them. They were, so to speak,
occupying a derelict. Help might come before nightfall, it might not
come for days. He hoped for the best but he intended to prepare for the
worst.

Without apology he laid down a rigid set of rules, and from these rules,
he made it perfectly clear, there could be no deviation. The available
supply of food was limited. It was his purpose to conserve it with the
greatest possible care. Down in the holds, of course, was a vast store
of consigned foodstuffs, but he had no authority to draw upon it and
would not do so unless the ship's own stock was exhausted. Passengers
and crew, therefore, would be obliged to go on short rations. "Better
to eat sparingly now," he said, "than not to eat at all later on." He
concluded his remarks in this fashion:

"Remember that we are all in the same boat. We don't know how long we'll
be drifting like this and we don't know where we're drifting to. It's an
everlastingly big ocean we're on. We ought to thank God we're not at the
bottom of it now. If we're lucky we'll be picked up soon, if not,--well,
it's up to us, every one of us, to make the best of it. We're alive,
and that's certainly something. We'll all find it easier if we keep
ourselves busy. That's why I'm asking you, one and all, to do a good
day's work regularly, one way or another, from now until relief comes.
We can't have any loafers or quitters on board this ship. That means
everybody, rich and poor. You may think I'm putting a hardship on you,
seeing as how you have paid for your passage and all that, but