Like a tired
child she crept into bed, and with a great sigh dropped her head on the
pillow.
The ship plowed on, its great lights cutting a steady course over the
black water, its whole bulk quivering to the heartbeat of the mighty
engines; whispered good-nights and laughing good-nights were said in the
narrow, hot hallways. Lights went out in cabin after cabin. The decks
were dark and deserted. Below stairs the world that never slept hummed
like a beehive; squads of men were washing floors, laying tables; the
kitchen was as hot and busy as at midday; the engine rooms were filled
with silhouetted forms briskly coming and going. Up on one of the dark
decks, with the soft mist blowing in his face, Jim spent the long night,
his folded arms resting on the rail, his sombre eyes following the
silent rush of waters, and in her cabin Julia lay wide awake and
battling with despair.
She had thought the old dim horror over and done with. Now she knew it
never would be that; now she knew there was no escape. The happy little
castle she had builded for herself fell about her like a house of cards;
she was dishonoured, she was abased, she was powerless.
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