hen he was roused by a sudden shock and sat
upright clutching the side of the berth.

"What is it?" he said. "Are you there, Cattell?"

Afterward, when he recalled that moment, and tried to describe the
shock, he said it seemed as if the vessel were shaking herself, as a dog
shakes himself. The crash, which he had so often read about, he did not
hear at all; no sound except the heedless wind and the restless, beating
sea. It merely seemed as if the mighty ship were cold and had shuddered.

"It ain't anything, is it?" he asked, nevertheless climbing down from
his berth.

Then he became aware of something which startled him more than the shock
had done. The steady throbbing which had been continuously present since
that midnight when the ship first sailed, had ceased. The absolute
stillness under his feet seemed strange and ominous.

"It ain't--anything wrong--is it?" he repeated.

"I think we're struck," said Cattell quietly.

For a moment Tom breathed heavily, standing just where he was.

"Can I turn on the light?" he asked. The groping darkness seemed to
unnerve him more than anything else now--that and the awful stillness
under his feet.

"No--put the flashlight on the clock and see what time it is."

There were sounds outside now, and amid them the doleful distant voice
of the megaphone.

"Not three yet," said Tom.... "You--you sending out the call?"

"Yup."

A man in oilskins, carrying a lantern, threw open the door. The rain was
streaming from his garments and his hat.

"We're struck amidships," he said.

The telephone from the bridge rang.

"Answer that; find out where we are," said Cattell.

As Tom repeated the latitude and longitude the urgent "S O S" went forth
into the night. Lights were now visible outside, and the emergency gong
could be heard ringing, mingled with the hollow, far-off voice of the
megaphone.

"Better beat it to your post," said Cattell calmly, as his finger
played the key. "I'll take care of this." He did not seem at all
excited, and his quiet manner gave Tom self-control.

He went out and along the deck where the drenching rain glistened in the
fresh glare of the lights. Once, twice, he slipped and went sprawling to
the rail. He wondered whether it was from the roughness of the sea or
because the vessel was tilting over.

All about hurried people with life preservers on, some sprawling on the
deck like himself, in their haste. One man said the ship had been struck