"Well, I feel oppressed, too," observed Bess, looking moodily seawards.
"I wouldn't wonder if something is brooding over us. A big storm, or--"
"More sharks," suggested Dwight.
"I always supposed they were under us--that is, the sea kind," put in Mr.
Allyne, appearing out of the dusk, accompanied by his friend. "Of course
there are land sharks, but--"
"Not on this ship!" cried Hope promptly.
"Glad to have my fears relieved," flashing a glance at her.
"And, if you'll let me, I was going to say storm, or pestilence,"
continued Bess in a resigned tone.
"Well, I stopped worrying over that when my sick man kindly refrained
from developing smallpox, or ship fever," said Carnegie, sinking down
upon a cushion between Bess and Faith. "I was anxious for a day or two,
though, and so was our surgeon."
"And he is quite well again?" asked Mrs. Vanderhoff.
"Convalescing, thank you. We consider him entirely out of--Ah! that was
vivid."
He referred to a flash of lightning that seemed to rend the heavens,
followed by a terrific report that made the girls cower close together.
"There _is_ going to be a storm," exclaimed Mr. Lawrence, coining close
to the group. "I would not wonder if it is a fierce one, too. There has
been a strangeness in the air for the past half hour, as the girls have
remarked. Shall we go inside?"
"Oh, not yet," said Mrs. Vanderhoff, "What a delicious little breeze!"
She turned to catch it full in the face, and gasped as she pointed to the
horizon.
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