their staterooms, perhaps
thinking discretion the better part of valor. The steamer's chairs were
taken from the deck and only a few persons remained outside. Some of them
were clad in warm ulsters. They walked the usual half-hour. Most of these
promenaders were men of business who were required to make frequent ocean
passages. They were as familiar with moistened decks, cloudy skies, and
heavy seas as the land-lubbers are with stone pavements and hotel
corridors.

CHAPTER V

DISCOMFITURES AT SEA

The green and red lights on the starboard and port sides and the white
light on the foremast now burned brightly. The boatswain's shrill whistle
furled the sails snugly to every spar, leaving the sailors little time or
spirit for their usual song, as barometer-like they too sensed the
approaching storm. The ship's watch forward was increased as the wind
grew strong, and the weather ahead had become thick and hazy.

The captain quickly left the table when the steward placed in his hand
a bit of writing from the first officer, which read, "The barometer is
falling rapidly." Captain Morgan and an officer paced the bridge with
eyes alert. Heavy clouds of smoke from the triple stacks revealed that
a hundred glowing furnaces were being fed with fuel, assistant engineers
were busily inspecting, and oilers were active in lubricating the
ponderous engines that every emergency might be promptly met.

Ports were closed and every precaution taken. The anxiety of officers and
sailors and the increased agitation of the sea was soon noticed by the
ship's gay company. Before ten o'clock most of the passengers were glad
of the good-night excuse for retiring. The smoking room, however, was
crowded with devotees to the weed. Old-timers were busy with cards, or
forming pools on the first day's run from Sandy Hook, or speculating as
to the time of arrival at Queenstown.

The atmosphere of the room was as thick as the weather outside. It is
no wonder that a club man of New York, making his first trip to Europe,
inquired of his Philadelphia friend, "Why do Americans smoke so
continually?"

He answered, "It is easier to tell why the English drink tea and why
Americans drink coffee. But to answer your question, I suppose the
mixture of races quickens the flow of blood and produces the intense
activities we witness. Besides, the enlarged opportunities offered in
a new and growing country present attractive prizes in the commercial,
pol