ng of a sailor, and, in addition to my
own experience, the captain says we will have a storm ere many hours."

There was something in the voice and manner of the man which chilled
Stevens; but he retained his self-possession and answered:

"Of course you feel no serious apprehension? The ship is strong and able
to weather any storm."

"I believe it is; yet in a storm at sea we have no assurance of safety.
Our captain is incompetent and the vessel has, through a miscalculation,
gone a long distance out of her true course. Now what I wish to say is
this: should anything happen to me on this voyage, I want you to care
for my daughter. You have seen and talked with her every day since first
we met, and you know how good she is. I am her only relative on earth,
and Cromwell has set a price on my head. Should I perish, she will be
without a protector."

John Stevens was astonished at the strange request, but consented to
accept the charge, provided he should be spared and Mr. Holmes
should perish.

Mr. Holmes was not mistaken in his surmises about the weather. The day
of this interview was the nineteenth of September, and before night the
sky was obscured by great fleecy clouds, and in the evening the rain
fell in torrents. The firmament darkened apace; sudden night came on,
and the horrors of extreme darkness were rendered still more horrible by
the peals of thunder which made the sphere tremble, and the frequent
flashes of lightning, which served only to show the horror of the
situation, and then leave them in darkness still more intense. The wind
grew more violent, and a heavy sea, raised by its force, united to add
to the dangers of the situation.

"It is coming," Mr. Holmes whispered to John, whom he met in the
gangway.

"We are going to have a terrible storm," John answered.

"Yes; remember your promise."

"I will not forget it, Mr. Holmes; but why do you refer to it? Surely
you are as likely as I to outlive the tempest."

"No, no," Mr. Holmes answered, shaking his white head despairingly, "I
have an impression that my time has surely come."

John Stevens was startled by the remark, for he too was living in the
shadow of some expected calamity. He next met the passenger whom he had
seen under the lee of the hencoop, and his despair and grimaces were
enough to make even the discouraged John smile.

"Oh, I shall be drowned. I shall be drowned!" the poor fellow was
groaning. "Pray for me, some of you who can