g so low
that they seemed almost to touch the water. A terrific report followed,
which shook the ship.

"Oh, I'm so frightened!" wailed Mrs. Stuart, clinging nervously to Mr.
Fitzhugh's arm, much to the annoyance of that gentleman, who felt none
too comfortable himself.

"Nonsense, Cora, don't be so foolish!" protested Grace. "We're perfectly
safe here, no matter what happens."

"She's beginning to roll," said the professor, as the ship gave a sudden
lurch.

"Why are we rolling--is it getting rough?" asked Grace, who was
beginning to show signs of trepidation. "There doesn't seem to be any
wind."

"It's so deuced dark one can't see a bally thing!" stammered Mr.
Fitzhugh.

The night was pitch-dark, and after the brilliancy of the electric
lights, to which their eyes had grown accustomed all evening, the
surrounding wall of blackness seemed all the more opaque and
impenetrable. Still, there was no wind, and the heat was suffocating.
The uncanny silence continued. What could be seen of the sea was smooth,
and oily, and illuminated in spots with green phosphorescent lights. A
deep swell had set in. Rolling in great billows from the south, it
caused the steamer to rock so violently that the women had to hold fast
in order to keep their feet.

"Isn't this rolling horrible? Each minute I imagine the steamer is going
to turn over!" exclaimed Mrs. Stuart, so alarmed that she hardly knew
what she was saying.

"A heavy swell like this," explained the professor calmly, "either
follows a gale or comes in advance of one. This sea is evidently the
forerunner of a storm. The ladies had better go below before it gets any
worse."

"I wouldn't think of going to bed," declared Mrs. Stuart emphatically.
"Just think if we had to take to the boats and I were in my
curl-papers."

Still no wind; only a weird moaning in the distance, which was
distinctly audible amid the profound, mysterious silence. The lightning,
now more frequent, revealed a sky terrifying in aspect. The suspense was
nerve-racking to the stoutest hearted. The captain was heard shouting
orders on the bridge. Officers and sailors hurried aft, and, driving the
passengers below, closed and barricaded the storm doors. Gathered at the
port-holes, their anxiety increasing each moment, the passengers waited
and watched. Momentarily, the sea grew more convulsive. The waves
increased perceptibly in size, and the ship rocked more violently.
Nearer and nearer came that we