here too (though I'm sure I don't know how he came), and
thanks to him I got back again on to the bridge deck; but the bishop did
not come with us. He stayed down there amongst those sullen animal
blacks, imploring them, praying with them, soothing them. He was a
braver man than I, that Portuguese.

Another night came down, and the steamer wallowed in inky blackness. In
the morning we were still more helpless. The mates, the few remaining
sailors, the stewards and cooks, and the two yellow traders had gone;
the captain lay in the alley-way with a knife between his
shoulder-blades; the bishop and I and Tordoff were the only white men
remaining on board. Yes, Tordoff. I went into the pantry smoking a
cigarette, and found him there, eating biscuits and raisins.

"You here?" I said, "Why, man, I thought you cleared out with the rest."

"No," he said, "I thought it would be so fine to stay behind and be able
to scoff the cabin grub just as I pleased. I just stayed for the grub,
it's worth it."

"You're rather a decent sort of liar," I said; "do you mind shaking
hands?"

"I don't see the need," he said; "and besides, I'm using my hands to eat
these raisins; but you may kick me if you like. There isn't a redder
fool than me in both Atlantics. By the way, how's the padre?"

"Very sick. I looked into his room and found him lying in his bunk. He
couldn't talk."

"I put him there. Found the old fool preaching to those beasts on all
fours this morning, and looked on till he dropped; then I lugged him
under cover."

"Any more dead?"

"Five pegged out during the night. They were lying pleasantly in and
amongst the others, and there were seven more sick. I told the head-man
when I went down with the padre to have them put over the side or I'd
kill him. And when I came back I found he'd shoved over the whole dozen.
The man-and-a-brother's a tolerable brute when he comes to handling his
own kind, Mr. Calvert."

We went out then and set the passenger-boys to washing down decks. We
could not give them the hose because there was no donkey working; but
they drew water in buckets and holystoned and scraped and scrubbed till
they cleaned the infection out of the decks, and sweated it out of
themselves. The cholera seemed to have exhausted itself. There were
three other cases, it is true, but they were mild, and none died. In
their fright the boys would have chucked their friends overboard as soon
as they were taken sick, but I pr