“What’s that?” cried the King, in a startled voice, sitting up, but falling back with a groan. “Oh, how my head swims! Can you swim, Denis, boy?” he moaned.
“Yes, sir; but no one could swim in a sea like this.”
Boomp! Crash! Rush!
“What’s that, boy?” groaned the King again. “Why don’t you tell me? Didn’t I ask before?”
“It was a big wave, sir, leaping at the vessel’s bows, and curling over and rushing along the deck.”
“How dreadful!” said the King. “Why is it so dark? Is it the sea flooding the ship?”
“No, sir; it is nearly night.”
“Oh yes, I forgot. I think I have been asleep. Are we almost there?”
“No, sir. It is a long way yet.”
“If I could only go to sleep! Why didn’t I let that doctor come? Denis, my boy, if I die, or if we are drowned, or— go up and ask the shipmaster how long it will be before we get across.”