"Every one, sir, from myself down.

The rest of us grasp that fact, even if you do not." And so it was that while Algernon Adonis Percival, under the watchful eye of a burly seaman, fell to work scraping the scuppers on the boat deck, the stern business of searching the ship went forward with a thoroughness that left no room for doubt as to the fears and apprehensions of the men who had her in charge.

Despite the fact that intensive, anxious hours of delving revealed no hidden, sinister agent of destruction, there was no relaxation on the part of the officers and crew.

One by one the passengers were examined; their rooms and their luggage were systematically overhauled.

No one resented these drastic operations, for by midday the whole ship's company knew what had transpired during the night.