"What is to become of me?" Frederick questioned himself. He scarcely
heard Hans Füllenberg's jolly shout of greeting as the young man reeled
past. Hans Füllenberg did not fail to observe whose door it was that
Frederick von Kammacher had just closed behind him, nor that, as he stood
there with the knob still in his hand, he seemed to be in a state of
indecision and absorption.
The siren was sending up its deafening roar. It was that wild, fearful,
ascending cry, as if torn from the breast of a monster bull, which he had
first heard on the tender. There was something menacing in it, and at the
same time something of an anxious warning. Frederick never heard it
without applying menace and warning to himself. Likewise, the driving
mist seemed to be a reflection of his soul; or his soul a reflection of
the driving mist and also of the vessel, as it struggled onward into the
unknown, unseeing and unseen. He stepped over to the railing and looked
straight down the ship's side. There he could tell with what tremendous
rapidity the _Roland_ was cleaving the water.
"Isn't man's courage utter madness?" he thought. Could any one, from
captain to the lowest sailor, prevent the propeller-shaft from snapping
at any moment? The screw was constantly rising and buzzing in the air.
Who could sight a vessel in time to prevent the collision that would
inevitably smash in the thin walls of the great hollow body? Who could
hope to avoid one of the many derelicts drifting in the fog almost
submerged? What would happen if the might of the waves were to hurl that
great lumped mass of wood and iron against the _Roland's_ side? What
would happen if the engines were to break down? If a boiler were to
prove unequal to the uninterrupted strain put upon it? Then, too,
icebergs were met with in those waters. And suppose the storm were to
grow worse.
The things that European civilisation has accomplished are tremendous.
The trouble is, the object to which the means are applied is not worthy
of the means. The how is great. The wherefore receives only a stammering
reply. So much is certain, that the life of the average man to-day is
fuller of adventure and heroism than the life of a bold adventurer a
hundred and fifty years ago.
Frederick went to the smoking-room on deck. He found the card players,
Doctor Wilhelm, Arthur Stoss, Professor Toussaint and some more gentlemen
gathered over their afternoon coffee.
"Hullo!" they shouted when he appeared in the doorway.
The room smelled strong of coffee and the pungent odour of tobacco. In
the instant that Frederick held the door open, the wreaths of mist and
heavy tobacco smoke met.
"What's the matter, gentlemen?" Frederick asked.
"Did you operate on the dancer," someone cried, "to remove that mole two
inches from her backbone right over her left hip?"
Frederick turned pale, and said nothing. Had he uttered a single word,
the result might have been a scandal, perhaps even a duel, out there on
the high seas.
He seated himself beside Doctor Wilhelm and acted as if the shout of
greeting and the unknown man's question had not referred to him. Doctor
Wilhelm proposed a game of chess. Frederick accepted, and while playing,
he had time to choke down his humiliation and resentment. He glanced
about furtively to find the speaker.
"There are some people, Doctor von Kammacher," Arthur Stoss said in
a raised voice, "who leave their decency in Europe when they travel
to America, though that does not reduce the price of the passage."
The man at whom the remark was aimed left it unanswered.
"But, Mr. Stoss," said an elderly man from Hamburg, whose conscience in
regard to the offence thrust upon Frederick was evidently clear, "we're
not in a ladies' parlour, and we needn't take jokes amiss."
"I am not in favour of jokes," said Stoss, "that are made at the expense
of persons who are near at hand, but not present, especially when a lady
is concerned. I am still less in favour of them when they are coarse and
indecent."
"Oh, Mr. Stoss," rejoined the man from Hamburg, "everything in its place.
I have nothing against sermons, but we're having bad weather here on the
ocean and this room is not a church."
"Besides, nobody mentioned names," another man said.
Here the American jackanapes joined in the cross talk.
"When Mr. Stoss is in New York," he said drily, "he will hold services
every night at Webster and Forster's."
"Some American youngsters are celebrated for their cheek," Stoss
countered.
"Directly after the celebrated Barrison sisters' appearance, after the
song 'Linger Longer Loo,' Mr. Stoss will raise his hands to heaven and
beg the audience to pray." The American spoke without moving a muscle of
his face. He had the last word. The next instant the slim young fellow
was outside the door.
Arthur Stoss had the pleasure of knowing he was a fool for his pains.
But, like Frederick, he paid no attention to the thrust, or to the
laughter it provoked.
"People are very much mistaken," he said, turning to Professor Toussaint,
who was sitting beside him and to whom he had been introduced a few
minutes before, "if they suppose that morality among vaudeville
performers is laxer than among any other set of persons. It's an
absolutely false assumption. A performer above the average, who must
always be at the very height of his powers, has to practise moderation to
the point of abstinence if he wants to remain on top. Does anybody
suppose that a loose life is compatible with those startlingly bold feats
that an acrobat does every day and tries to improve upon every day? Damn
it! It's something to make your ordinary mortal marvel at. Why, to do any
one of the many things we do, we have to practise asceticism and
chastity, and patiently peg away day after day at hard, dangerous work.
Your plain business man, who never omits his glass of beer, has no idea
what it is like." He continued to sing the praises of vaudeville actors.
"May I ask what your specialty is, Mr. Stoss?" asked Hans Füllenberg.
"A very easy specialty, once you know how. But if it should ever come to
a duel between you and me, young man, you'd have to choose what eye or
ear or tooth you'd be ready to part with."
"He's as good a shot as Carver," someone said. "He can take the middle
right out of an ace three or four times in succession."
"Just like any other display of skill. But don't for a moment suppose,
gentlemen, that even if a man has arms and doesn't have to hold the gun
with his feet and pull the trigger with his toes, that he learns how to
do it without sweating and self-denial and endless patience."
"Somebody said you play the violin like Sarasate," said Hans Füllenberg.
"Not exactly. Nor need I, considering the way I was born. But I am fond
of music and my audiences go wild over my playing."
Captain von Kessel entered. He was received with a general "Ah!" Through
the door burst a great wave of sunlight.
"The barometer is rising, gentlemen."
The fog had lifted, and now the men in the smoking-room realised that the
_Roland_ was rocking no more than easily and comfortably and was making
its way with majestic speed.
This acted like a charm. The captain left the door open and had Pander
hook it back. A man, who had been lying asleep in a corner--in that half
sleep which is the mildest symptom of seasickness--rose to a sitting
posture and rubbed his eyes. Hans Füllenberg and a number of other men
hastened out on deck. Doctor Wilhelm and Frederick, who had lost the
game, followed.