"I hope you will be able to make yourself comfortable, sir; but your greatest need at the present moment appears to be dry clothing, when you have restored your limbs to their normal condition in the bath, and I will endeavor to supply this want," replied the commander.
"You are very kind, Captain Ringgold, and I shall never cease to be grateful to you for the service you have rendered to me and my companions; for all of us would have perished when the wreck of our steamer went down, without the prompt assistance you rendered to us," said the principal personage of the party, who was still shivering under the influence of the chill he had received in the cold waters of the sea.
The captain retired, closing the door of the room. He went to No. 12, to which Sir Modava Rao had been shown, and then to No. 13, which had been appropriated to Dr. Ferrolan. He assured both of them that dry clothing would be provided for them, and both of them stammered forth their obligations very profusely from between their chattering teeth. The doors were closed upon them after they had been instructed to call upon the stewards outside for anything they needed.
The commander had taken the measure of the trio, and knew where to apply for the clothing needed. The surgeon of the party was about the size of Mr. Sage, the chief steward of the ship; and he was asked to supply a full suit, including undergarments, shirt, socks, collar, and cravat. His lordship was about the size of Mr. Woolridge, who was more than happy to provide for the needs of this gentleman. Professor Giroud was a rather slender person; and from his wardrobe came the suit and other furnishings for the titled Hindu. The clothing of each person was placed on a stool at the door of his room, and he was notified where to obtain it.
"Mr. Sage, you understand by this time that we have sixteen places to be taken at the table," said Captain Ringgold to the chief steward.
"I think I had better set two tables, for sixteen would be rather crowded in the space we use now," replied Mr. Sage, who was a Napoleon in his calling. "I propose to arrange them as they were at the big dinner you gave at Aden."
"And while you are about it you may arrange for nineteen places at the tables," replied the captain; but he did not explain who were to occupy the three he had added to the number.
The commander went to his private cabin, after he had visited the pilot-house, and made a diagram of the two tables, assigning places to each of the party and the guests, but leaving three of the end places vacant. He showed it to Louis and Mrs. Belgrave, and they made no objection to the new arrangement. It was handed to the chief steward, who put a card with the name of the occupant of each seat on the plate in front of it. The revolving chairs at the tables had to be all changed, and more added to it; and Stevens the carpenter, with his assistants from the crew, were busy for an hour making the change.
When the commander visited the music-room, he was unable to answer any of the questions of his passengers as to the details of the wreck of the Travancore, though he gave the names and quality of the three gentlemen who had been invited to go below. The sleepers in the cabin had been aroused by the erratic movements of the steamer before daylight, especially by the change from rolling to pitching. There was a thundering roar of escaping steam at times, and all of them had "turned out" to ascertain the cause of the commotion. Felix and Morris had been the first to go on deck, and they had informed the others of the nature of the event which had caused the commotion on board.
The regular passengers had seen the strangers as they came down to the promenade deck from the cutters. They were naturally filled with curiosity to ascertain who and what the trio were. One was a lord, another a sir, and the third a surgeon; and this was all that was known to any one.