“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 me with a respect for him that partakes half of timidity and half of awe.