I suppose I must at last have fallen asleep, for when I opened my eyes the sea had risen a good deal, and the boat was rolling heavily. Pulling my watch from beneath my pillow, I saw that it was nearly fourwe were due into port at Dieppe before four. The timbers of the ship creaked at intervals; the door of my cabin rattled; I could hear footsteps on deck and in the alleyway beside my door.
"Have you heard the dreadful news, sir?" a scared-looking steward said to me as I made my way towards the companion ladder half an hour laterI had taken care to adjust my disguise exactly in the way that Preston had taught me to.
"Nowhat?" I asked, stopping abruptly.
"A saloon passenger has hanged himself during the night."
"Good God!" I exclaimed. "Who is it?"
"I don't know his name. He was in number thirty-twoalone."
"Thirty-two! Surely that was a cabin in the alleyway where I had heard the gasp, not far from my own cabin."
"Are you certain it was suicide?" I asked.
"Oh, it was suicide right enough," the steward answered, "and he must have been hanging there some hoursby a rope. Seems he must have brought the rope with him, as it don't belong to the boat. He must have come aboard intending to do it. My matehe found him not half an hour ago, and it so scared him that he fainted right off."
"Have you seen the poor fellow? What was he like?"