x was
on his breast, and his biretta at his feet. His voice was even and
unhurried, his features composed.

"Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world----"

"_Spare us, O Lord!_" came the response.

"Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world----"

"_Graciously hear us, O Lord!_"

"Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world----"

"_Have mercy on us!_"

"Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God----"

"_That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!_"

The priest rose from his knees. "And bear in mind, my children, that no
matter what sin you may have committed, God will forgive you. No one
born into this world of sin but has sinned at some time, so do not
despair. Offer up your prayers, your heart, to God. He will hear you. He
could save us, any one of us, or every one of us even now, if he so
willed. If he does not, it is because it is better so. But merely to be
saved in the body--what is that? A passing moment here, but the next
world--for eternity. It is your soul, not your body, which is to live in
eternity. Prepare your soul for that. And now our time is growing short,
compose your minds and your hearts, and all kneel and say with me an act
of contrition: O my God----"

"_O my God_--" came from them like a chanted hymn.

"I am most heartily sorry for all my sins----"

"_I am most heartily sorry for all my sins_----"

Lavis knelt and prayed also. When he rose from his knees it was to go to
the side of the Polish woman, who was also kneeling at the edge of the
crowd. He found her weeping.

"Why do you weep? Do you fear death so very much?"

"I weep for my baby."

"But your baby is safe--out there in the boat. They will bring him to
his father, who will be there waiting on the dock in New York."

"Yes, yes; but who will be there to give him the breast when he wakes?"

"Who will give--Father in heaven! Come--come with me." Lavis helped her
to her feet.

VI

Cadogan looked into the smoking-room. Lavis was gone. He hesitated,
wheeled quickly, returned to the deck, sought the nearest gangway, and
rapidly descended four decks. He traversed one passageway, another, and
entered what looked like a carpenter's shop, where, he knew, was a
thick-topped wooden table with its legs held by small angle-irons to the
wooden planking over the steel-deck floor.

Cadogan crawled under the table, hunched his shoulders, straightened his
legs, and had the table up by the roots. He steppe