The composer of the verses had turned the accident into a work of intent on the Padre's part, representing the latter combating the evil influence of sin. The reciter began with slight hesitation; then, finding that he was receiving unstinted approval, he warmed up to his task.
"Sin turned in, and soon was heard the music of his snore,
And then the Padre set to work as none had worked before.
He got a large belaying-pin, he got the vessel's lead,
And everything that weighed at all he piled upon the bed.
He took the screws out, one by one, that held the fixing frail,
Till all that stood 'twixt him and Sin was but a single nail.
Then with a fierce look in his eye, as one who thirsts for blood,
He hurled his weight upon the bunk--there came a sickening thud----"
Crash!
The old Awarua shook under the terrific impact of an unseen force, listed to starboard, and then slowly recovered, to heel to port. Simultaneously every electric light on the ship was extinguished, while above the noise of escaping steam arose the babel of hundreds of voices as the swarm of humanity slithered in a struggling mass along the sloping floor of the mess deck.
"Torpedoed, by Jupiter!" shouted a voice. The ominous words were taken up by others, and in the darkness an ugly rush was made for the upper deck.
CHAPTER V
Broken down in Mid-ocean
"It's all right, boys!" came a deep voice. "It's only the Padre fallen out of his bunk again."
The men recognized the voice.