"Ay, ay, sir!"
There was the clank-clank of the semaphores, and suddenly two bursting, answering blasts that hid the huge funnels in a cloud of feathery white.
The admiral in the steamer-chair threw off his wrappings and leaped to the rail.
A loud, anxious hail from above: "Lookout, there forward! Can you make out anything?"
"Oh, see what I've done!" faltered the Silly Ass in a frightened whisper.
Miss Dorn grasped his shoulder.
There had followed a sudden cry that rose in a diapason of mad fear:
"Vessel ahead! Starboard your helm, sir! Starboard your h-e-l-m!"
The helm was already over; the ship was swinging wide. Another quick order. The second officer leaped again to the semaphores. The huge fabric trembled, racking in every plate, as both engines reversed at full speed, the screws churning and thundering astern. And now a rift came in the encircling fog, as if it had been cut by a mighty sword.
Clear and distinct, not half a cable's length away, wallowed a great black shape. The mighty bow swept veering past her quarter, then her stern, and clear of it by no more than thirty yards!