But he gained little comfort from thinking.

If it was a coincidence, well and good.

If not-- A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room "on the saloon deck." It was a small room, very different from the Atkins library, and Captain Cy, in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close to the steam radiator.

He looked far from well.
"Evenin', Heman," he said as the congressman entered.

"Pretty dirty night, ain't it?
What we'd call a gray no'theaster back home.