"Sure, we can eat supper tonight in an oasis, if we're so minded--with Ouled Nails and houris to hand round the palm-wine and--" "You forget, my dear fellow," the Master interrupted, "that the first man who goes carousing with wine or women, dies before a firing-squad.
That's not the kind of show we're running!" "Ah, sure, I did forget!" admitted the Celt.

"Well, well, a look at a camel and a palm tree could do no harm.

And it won't be long, at this rate, before--" A sudden, violent concussion, far aft, sent a quivering shudder through the whole fabric of the giant liner.

Came a swift burst of flame; black, greasy smoke gushed from the stern, trailing on the high, cold air.

Long fire-tongues, banners of incandescence, flailed away, roaring into space.
Shouts burst, muffled, from below.