ht at
Valetta.

Darker grow the heavens. Thunder rolls, and the electric current cuts
the air, illuminating the wild scene with a picturesque touch that is
almost ghastly in its yellow white.

The steamer is well built, and in good condition to withstand the
tempest, roar as it may. John tires of the weird spectacle at last,
and he, too, makes a plunge for the cabin, reaching it just in time to
escape a monster wave that makes the vessel stagger, and sweeps along
the deck from stem to stern.

Below he finds considerable confusion, such as is always seen on board a
steamer during a storm. Timid men looking as white as ghosts, frightened
women wringing their hands and screaming with each plunge of the ship,
as if they expect it to be the last.

A few foreign passengers are aboard, and they do not seem free from the
contagion, though inclined to be more stoical than the Europeans.

As the steamer plunges, some of the passengers are huddled in a corner.
Loud praying can be heard, and those who are least accustomed to such
things on ordinary occasions are most vehement now.

A Mohammedan is kneeling on his rug, with his face turned in the
direction of Mecca, as near as he can judge, and going through with
the strange rigmarole of bows and muttered phrases that constitute his
religion.

This scene is not a very pleasant one, but there are features about it
which are worth being noticed, and John stands to gaze before seeking
his room.

He has heard from the captain that the boat is perfectly safe, unless
the storm should grow much heavier, and with this assurance intends to
seek his berth and sleep, if such a thing be possible.

He moves toward his state-room. Just then a billow strikes the steamer
almost amidships, and she rolls. This, not being expected, causes John
to slide across the cabin floor, to the accompaniment of a chorus of
cries from the frightened people, who are huddled in a corner by this
new move on the part of the vessel.

He brings up alongside a state-room door, which is in the act of being
opened, even as he bangs up against it.

Consequently John has the greatest difficulty in maintaining his
balance, and in order to keep from sliding through the door grasps the
sides.

Some one has opened it. A face is exposed close to his own, a face that,
although not terror-stricken, bears the evidence of sudden alarm, as
though the new pitch of the vessel and renewed shrieks from within have
aroused