find out what I had better do," he
returned. "I thought most probably you would be able to advise me, and I
didn't want to go to him." Here he nodded his head in the direction of
Pharos's cabin. "If you could only have heard the way he bulliragged me
yesterday you would understand why. If I'd been a dog in the street he
couldn't have treated me worse, and all because I was unable to make the
boat travel twice as fast as her engines would let her go."

"But I don't see how I'm to help you in this matter," I said, and then
added, with what could only have been poor comfort, "We don't know who
may be the next case."

"That's the worst part of it," he answered. "For all we can tell it may
be you, and it might be me. I suppose you're as much afraid of it as I
am."

I had to confess that I was, and then inquired what means he proposed to
adopt for stamping it out.

"I don't know what to do," he answered, and the words were scarcely out
of his mouth before another rap sounded on the cabin door. He opened it
to find a deck hand standing outside. A muttered conversation ensued
between them, after which the captain, with a still more scared look
upon his face, returned to me.

"It's getting worse," he said. "The chief engineer's down now, and the
bosun has sent word to say he don't feel well. God help us if this sort
of thing is going to continue! Every mother's son aboard this ship will
make sure he's got it, and then who's to do the work? We may as well go
to the bottom right off."

Trouble was indeed pursuing us. It seemed as if I were destined to get
safely out of one difficulty only to fall into another. If this terrible
scourge continued we should indeed be in straits; for the Continent was
barred to us on one hand, and England on the other, while to turn her
head and put back to Hamburg was a course we could not dream of
adopting. One thing was plain to me; to avoid any trouble later we must
inform Pharos. So, advising the captain to separate those who had
contracted the disease from those who were still well, I left my cabin
and crossed to the further side of the saloon. To my surprise Pharos
received the news with greater equanimity than I had expected he would
show.

"I doubted whether we should escape unscathed," he said; "but the
captain deserves to die of it himself for not having informed me as soon
as the first man was taken ill. However, let us hope it is not too late
to put a stop to it. I must go and se