and.

"I had to go down myself, drag the bodies on to the slings, then climb on
deck and heave them up with the donkey. And each trip I took a drink. I
was pretty drunk when the job was done."

"And you never caught it yourself?" I queried. Mr. Mellaire held up his
left hand. I had often noted that the index finger was missing.

"That's all that happened to me, sir. The old man'd had a fox-terrier
like yours. And after the old man passed out the puppy got real, chummy
with me. Just as I was making the hoist of the last sling-load, what
does the puppy do but jump on my leg and sniff my hand. I turned to pat
him, and the next I knew my other hand had slipped into the gears and
that finger wasn't there any more.

"Heavens!" I cried. "What abominable luck to come through such a
terrible experience like that and then lose your finger!"

"That's what I thought, sir," Mr. Mellaire agreed.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Oh, just held it up and looked at it, and said 'My goodness gracious!'
and took another drink."

"And you didn't get the cholera afterwards?"

"No, sir. I reckon I was so full of alcohol the germs dropped dead
before they could get to me." He considered a moment. "Candidly, Mr.
Pathurst, I don't know about that alcohol theory. The old man and the
mates died drunk, and so did the third engineer. But the chief was a
teetotaller, and he died, too."

* * * * *

Never again shall I wonder that the sea is hard. I walked apart from the
second mate and stared up at the magnificent fabric of the _Elsinore_
sweeping and swaying great blotting curves of darkness across the face of
the starry sky.

CHAPTER XXII

Something has happened. But nobody knows, either fore or aft, except the
interested persons, and they will not say anything. Yet the ship is
abuzz with rumours and guesses.

This I do know: Mr. Pike has received a fearful blow on the head. At
table, yesterday, at midday, I arrived late, and, passing behind his
chair, I saw a prodigious lump on top of his head. When I was seated,
facing him, I noted that his eyes seemed dazed; yes, and I could see pain
in them. He took no part in the conversation, ate perfunctorily, behaved
stupidly at times, and it was patent that he was controlling himself with
an iron hand.

And nobody dares ask him what has happened. I know I don't dare ask him,
and I am a passenger, a privileged person. This redoubtable old
sea-relic has inspired