e till you get to it," he
quoted.

The judge--whose elderly maiden sister was aboard and abed but
awake and alarmed and amazed and astounded that he should be so
helpless--assented, too, but thought there was now no call for further
delay; Prophet's Island was nearer every moment and the sooner "those
people" were well ashore the safer--and easier--for everybody.

"I was giving our numbers time to grow," remarked the senator.

"And the cholera time to spread?" queried the judge.

"We're but a small minority yet," persisted the senator.

"A minority always rules," smilingly said the bishop.

The senator smiled back. "There are two or three hundred of those deck
passengers alone," he responded.

"Senator," said the judge, "what of that? We've taken upon ourselves to
speak for all the cabin passengers on this boat, whether as yet they
agree with us or not. They are as numerous as those foreigners, sir,
and, my God! sir, _they_ are our own people. Self-preservation is the
first law!"

"Oh, surely you know," protested the senator, "I'm with you, heart and
soul! We must extricate these people of our own from a situation whose
desperateness most of them do not recognize. We'll go to the captain
now, as soon as--as we must. But let us agree right here that whatever
we require him to do we also require him to do of his own free will. He
must shift no responsibility upon us. You have, of your sort, bishop, a
constituency quite as sensitive as the judge's or mine, and we don't
want to give any one a chance to start a false story which we might find
it difficult to run down. And so we can hardly be too careful----"

The absent four had returned while he spoke. "Sir," interrupted the
general, whose th's were getting thick, "ththat is what we have
been--too careful!"

The hearts of the four were on fire. A chance word of the barkeeper,
they said, had sent them to the stateroom of Hayle's twins, who, with
tears of wrath, had confessed themselves prisoners; prisoners of their
own word of honor--"after being knocked down----"

"What?" cried senator, judge, and bishop.

"Yes, sirs, one of them literally knocked down by the acknowledged
minion of one Courteney, for having ventured to differ politically with
another and for daring to mention the pestilence to a third."

The seven poured out to the guards and started for the roof. The bell up
there tolled for the landing at Whippoorwill Ferry. About to ascend a
stair, they u