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"The captain cannot be on the bridge always," said Isobel

"He is seldom far from it in bad weather, if he is faithful to his

trust And I fancy ould all admit that Captain Courtenay--"

A curious shock, sharper and altogether e wave, sounded loud andin their

ears The ship treely still

The least experienced traveler on board knew that the engines had

stopped They felt a long lurch to port when the next sea clihted herself and rode on even keel,

while the stress and turainst wind and wave passed

away into a sustained silence

The half-caste stewards glanced at each other and drew together in

whispering groups, but the chief steward, an Englished his rowl of

command which sent his subordinates' attention, if not their thoughts,

back to their work In the strained hush, the running along the deck

of men in heavy sea-boots was painfully audible Water could be heard

pouring through the scuppers Stea forth somewhere with

vehement bluster These sounds only accentuated the extraordinary

truce in the fight of ship against sea The Kansas was stricken