Craig paused and in growing perplexity watched what Higgins was doing. The captain was vigorously kicking the steel wall of the bridge. He was pounding his right foot against it as if he was trying to kick it down. There was a look of pain on his face. Craig watched for a second, then grinned.
"Does it hurt?" he said.
"Yes!"
"Then it must be real," the big man suggested.
Higgins left off kicking the wall. Craig knew why he had been kicking it—to assure himself that the wall was really there. Higgins was a man in a nightmare but instead of pinching himself to see if he was awake, he kicked the wall.
"Damn it!" the captain muttered. "Why did this have to happen to us?"
"Destiny," Craig mused. "Fate. How did the steamer I was on happen to get bombed? How did I happen to be in the life-boat that wasn't machine-gunned? How did we happen to get picked up? The only answer is fate."
"That's a darned poor answer," Higgins said.
"It's the only answer," Craig replied. "Your dove is coming back."