WE MAKE THE EFFORT It would be some time yet--fifteen or twenty minutes at the best--before I dared attempt to carry out my plan of escape.

In spite of the overspreading cloud, and steady rainfall, daylight lingered in the west, and a spectral glow hung above the ocean.

It was a peculiar, almost ghastly light, yet of sufficient intensity to render objects visible for a considerable distance.

However, there were preliminaries to be attended to, and I was eager to be busy.
The steward had aroused from his nap, and I watched him lower the table, and spread it with a white cloth.

Now the distant clatter of dishes proved him to be in the pantry.