I asked myself whether it would not first be
more prudent to consult with Lancelot. For I knew that with Captain
Marmaduke the first thing he would do would be to accuse Jensen to his
face, without taking any steps to countermine him, and then we should
have the hornets' nest about our ears with a vengeance.

But while I was creeping along in the dark, straining my ears for every
sound that might suggest that Jensen or Hatchett were following me, and
while my poor mind was anxiously debating as to the course I ought to
pursue, that came to pass which settled the question in the most
unexpected manner.

CHAPTER XVII

A VISITATION

My agitations were harshly interrupted. There came a crash out of the
silence, and before I could even ask myself what it meant I was flung
forward and my legs were taken from under me. I pitched on to a coil of
rope, luckily for me, or I might have come to worse hurt, and I had my
hands extended, which in a measure broke the force of my fall. But I
rapped my head smartly against the wall of the passage--never had I more
reason in my life to be grateful for the thickness of my skull--and for
a few moments I lay there in the darkness, dizzy--indeed, almost
stunned--and scarcely realising that there was the most horrible
grinding noise going on beneath me, and that the ship seemed to be
screaming in every timber. I could have only lain there for a few
seconds, for no human clamour had mingled with the sound of the ship's
agony when I staggered to my feet. My head was aching furiously, and my
right wrist was numb from the fall, but my senses had now come back to
me, and I knew that some great calamity had befallen the ship. In
desperation I pulled myself together and ran with all speed, heedless of
the darkness, to the end of the passage where the ladder was, and so up
it and on to the deck.

The weather was fair, and a moon like a wheel made everything as visible
as if it were daytime. The decks shone silver and the sky was as blue as
I have ever seen it; but the sea, as far as eye could reach, appeared to
be wholly covered with a white froth, which rose and fell with the waves
like a counterpane of lace upon a sleeper. All that there was to see I
saw in a single glance; in another second the deck was full of people.

Captain Marmaduke came on deck clad only in his shirt and breeches, and
Lancelot was by his side a moment after in like habit. At first the
sailors rushed hither and