ther was of the most
disagreeable variety, the sky being overcast by clouds of a leaden hue
while the huge waves were lashed into foam by the wind, and this,
together with a heavy ground swell, gave to the steamer a most
uncomfortable motion. This sort of affair was too much for my wife, and
also for the other ladies in the party, with the exception of Mrs.
Williamson, who proved to be a good sailor, and they remained in their
staterooms. I had thought that I, too, was an immune, not having been
sick since we left San Francisco, but the motion of the boat proved to
be too much even for me, and I was forced to pay common tribute to
Neptune that the King of the Seas is wont to exact from most
land-lubbers. Tener and Fred Pfeffer were about the only ball players
that escaped, and that Pfeffer did so I shall always insist was due to
the fact that he could speak German and so got all the good things to
eat that he wanted, while the rest of us, not being so fortunate, were
obliged to put up with what we could get. Even Daly and Fogarty were
obliged to keep quiet for a time, and this was something of a relief to
the more sober members of the party. One afternoon after the last-named
gentleman had begun to feel a little better he called to a passing
waiter and asked for a cheese sandwich. The Dutchman, doubtless thinking
that he was doing that irrepressible a favor, brought up a big plate of
sauerkraut and steamed bolognas, and the effect of this on the weak
stomachs of those who happened to be in that vicinity can be better
imagined than described. If John Tener had not happened along and
grabbed that waiter by the scruff of the neck and the slack of his
pants, hustling him out of sight, there is no telling what might have
happened, but I am inclined to think that murder might have been done.

After we had left the Australian Bight behind us and entered the Indian
Ocean the seas calmed down and, the weather, which prior to that time
had been cool and uncomfortable, became warm and pleasant. The ladies
were again enabled to join us on deck and with music, cards, books and
conversation the time passed pleasantly enough.

The steerage passengers were to us a never-ending source of amusement
and interest, as we watched them working in their various ways and
listened to their strange and incomprehensible gibberish. An old Hindoo
one day raffled off a richly-embroidered silk pillow at a shilling a
chance, and this, with my usual go