and he clutched the rail to steady himself
as the ship he was on soared again with a strange intoxicating
motion. The next instant, as he glanced over the edge, he saw
that they were far out over the blackness of the sea.

"I think we might go below for a bit," said the priest in his ear.

There was no kind of difficulty in descending the stairs; there
was practically no oscillation of any kind in this still and
windless summer night, and the two came down easily and looked
round the lower deck.

This was far more crowded with figures: there were padded seats
fully occupied running round all the sides, beneath the enormous
continuous windows. In the centre, sternwards, ran a narrow
refreshment bar, where a score of men were standing to refresh
themselves. Forward of the farther stairs (down the well of which
they had seen the engineer's head), by which they were standing,
the deck was closed in, as with cabins.

"Like to see the oratory?" asked Father Jervis.

"The what?"

"Oratory. The long-journey boats, that have chaplains, carry the
Blessed Sacrament, of course; but there is only a little oratory
on these continental lines."

Monsignor followed him, unable to speak, up the central passage
running forwards; through a pair of heavy curtains; and there, to
his amazed eyes, appeared a small altar, a hanging lamp, and an
image of St. Michael.

"But it's astounding!" whispered the prelate, watching a man and
a woman at their prayers.

"It's common sense, isn't it?" smiled the priest. "Why, the
custom began a hundred years ago."

"No!"

"Indeed it did! I learnt it from one of the little guide-books
they give one on these boats. A company called the Great Western
had mosaic pictures of the patron saint of each boat in the
saloon. And their locomotives, too, were called after saints'
names. It's only plain common sense, if you come to think of it."

"Are lines like this--and railways, and so on--owned by the State
now? I suppose so."

The other shook his head.

"That was tried under Socialism," he said. "It was one of their
smaller failures. You see, when competition ceases, effort
ceases. Human nature is human nature, after all. The Socialists
forgot that. No; we encourage private enterprise as much as
possible, under State restrictions."

They paused as they came out again.

"Care to lie down for a bit? We shan't be in till three. The
Cardinal engaged a room for us."

He indicated a small cabin th