"It's a caise!" she whispered, making a hollow of her hand. "A h'iceberg's hot stuff once it begins to go."
CHAPTER XXXVII
HE DRIVES A SAP
One morning, after Captain Royal had been at the Hotel two months, Ernie missed the familiar soft thud of his feet as he came up the stairs three at a time after his bathe.
Ernie looked at his watch.
It was half-past seven; and the Captain was regular as the seasons. He wondered what was up. The strange dis-ease which possessed him, whenever his thoughts turned to Royal, was on him strong.
Then Ruth came out of the Captain's room. Her face, always grave, was graver than usual. The note of restraint Ernie had marked in it of late, whenever he met her, had given place to one of anxiety.
"What's up?" he asked.
"He's not getting up," she answered. "He's not well. Looks to me like the hot-chills."
The sick man heard the voices outside.