Really the situation is terrible enough to appall any one.
"When do we go down, John ?" he asks.
"Good Heaven! I trust not at all," and he cheers the other with what the captain has told him.
"I wish you could tell the ladies that." "Where are they ?" asks John.
"Come with me!" In a few seconds the doctor sees the ladies, who have a state-room together.

They are fully dressed, and look woe-begone.

At each lunge of the vessel they gasp, and, when a particularly big one occurs, fall into each other's arms.
Both are brave enough, and yet the situation is such that a strange feeling creeps over the stoutest heart.
When John appears, and tells them what the captain has said, it reassures them considerably, and they feel better.
Presently he leaves them, and seeks his berth, where he actually goes to sleep.

Tired nature will assert her power, even under the most discouraging conditions.
During the night the storm abates.
John Craig is awake early, and can tell that all is well from the easy motion of the steamer, for her plunges are few and of small moment.

A silence broods over the scene; the tired passengers have gone to sleep; all John can hear as he lies there is the dull throb of the engines and the swish of water against the side of the vessel..