"Shall we start soon?" I murmured to a steward.
"Yes, sir, in another five minutes. Weather's moderating, sir."
Other passengers were in the saloon, and more followed. As this would be the first steamer to leave Dover that day, there was a good number of voyagers on board, in spite of adverse conditions. I heard people talking, and the splash of waves against the vessel's sides, and then I went to sleep. Nothing could have kept me awake.
CHAPTER X
THE STEAMER
I awoke with a start, and with wavering eyes looked at the saloon clock. I had slept for one hour only, but it appeared to me that I was quite refreshed. My mind was strangely clear, every sense preternaturally alert. I began to wonder what had aroused me. Suddenly the ship shuddered through the very heart of her, and I knew that it was this shuddering, which must have occurred before, that had wakened me.
"Good God! We're sinking!" a man cried. He was in the next berth to me, and he sat up, staring wildly.
"Rubbish!" I answered.