That the ship was on fire was the thought that naturally came to the minds of many of us, and it is not to be wondered at that pale cheeks were here and there to be seen, for I can conceive of nothing in my mind that could be more horrible than a fire at sea.

The alarm proved a false one, however, it being simply the daily fire practice of the ship's crew, in which we afterwards took considerable interest.
In spite of the fact that we were steaming along the beaten paths of navigation it was not until our fifth day that we encountered another ship, and then it was about eleven o'clock at night, and after the majority of the passengers had "sought the seclusion that a cabin grants," to again quote from Pinafore.

Suddenly, as we plowed the waters, the scene was brilliantly illuminated by a powerful calcium light on top of the wheel-house, and by its glare we saw not far distant a steamer that we afterward ascertained to be the one bound from Honolulu to San Francisco.

She had left San Francisco for the islands before the Presidential election had taken place, and as the Hawaiian Islands were not connected by cable with the United States, its passengers were ignorant of the result.

It had been arranged, however, that a single rocket was to be sent up from the Alameda in case of Harrison's election, and two in case of, his defeat.