"It is so dark—so strange—so still!" she murmured. "What has happened?"
"God! Didn't they waken you?" he cried in sharp surprise.
"Is the ship-sinking?" Her odd bewilderment of voice and gaze puzzled him.
He nodded. "We struck a rock. The passengers have been taken off. We're the only ones left. In Heaven's name where have you been?"
"I was asleep."
He shook his head in astonishment. "How you failed to hear that hubbub—"
"I heard something, but I was ill. My head—I took something to ease the pain."
"Ah! Medicine! It hasn't worn off yet, I see! You shouldn't have taken it. Drugs are nothing but poison to young people. Now at my age there might be some excuse for resorting to them, but you—" He was talking to cover the panic of his thoughts, for his own predicament had been serious enough, and her presence rendered it doubly embarrassing. What in the world to do with her he scarcely knew. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were grave as they roved over the cabin and out into the blackness of the night.
"Are we going to drown?" she asked, dully.
"Nonsense!" He laughed in apparent amusement, showing his large, strong teeth.