The concluding sentence was uttered very slowly and clearly. It was evident he meant the ship’s company to understand him. Before any of his hearers attempted to question him, he jammed the sou’wester on his head and ran up the stairs. The dog followed, somewhat ruefully, the cozy saloon being far more to his liking than the wind-swept, spray-lashed chart-house. Mr. Malcolm promptly stirred his myrmidons with a command to fall in by boats’ crews, and Gomez won his chief’s approval by quietly translating the captain’s orders. Beyond Mrs. Somerville’s subdued sobbing there was little outward manifestation that another crisis in the history of the _Kansas_ and her human freight had come and gone. “The skipper did turn up, you see,” said the American, when Tollemache came to him. The silent man screwed his lips together as if he would put a padlock on them. “From your knowledge of the coast, do you think he will be able to beach the ship?” went on Gray, some humorous imp prompting him, even in that tense moment, to draw the expected answer from his new friend and ally. “Yes, in pieces,” said Tollemache, and the reply was neither humorous nor expected. CHAPTER IV. ELSIE GOES ON DECK As a little yeast leavens much flour so does the presence of a few stout-hearted men give strength and courage to a multitude. Although the rumor soon went the rounds that the giant wave which pooped the ship had carried away two of her six boats, there were no visible signs of flurry in the measures taken to equip the remaining boats for use. The men had confidence in their officers; every one worked smoothly and well. All told, there were eighty persons on board when the _Kansas_ left Valparaiso. Of these, seventeen, including the officers, were of European birth or lineage. The remaining sixty-three were men of mixed nationalities, ranging from Spanish-speaking Chileans to negroes. There were eight under-stewards, a cook and his assistants, and nearly fifty sailors and firemen. Unfortunately, the explosion in the stokehold had killed the chief engineer and one of his juniors, while six stokers were dead and several injured. It was discovered that, before he died, the chief had shut off steam, and thus prevented the accident from assuming far more serious proportions. The second engineer, a Newcastle man named Walker, who rushed to the engine-room at the first indication of a mishap, found his chief lying in collapse on the lever platform. Walker promptly opened certain levers which allowed the steam to escape freely; then he carried his comrade out of the spume to the deck. It was too late. Partial suffocation had placed too great a strain on a diseased heart; by the time Dr. Christobal was summoned, a brave man was dead.