He was too
seasick to investigate, but next morning found the ship's tortoise lying
on its back and feebly waving its feet and head.
Then the engines slowly ceased, and there was silence. What had
happened? The steamer gave four timid hoots. The people in the cabin lay
in the darkness wondering if they had broken down, for it was not nearly
midnight. At last the mate came in.
"Why, you're all in the dark," he said.
Some one asked, "When shall we get to Brindisi?"
"We're there," said the mate.
The steamer rocked on the sea, waiting for an escort through the mine
field, lights were sparkling in the distance, and now and then
flashlights cut the dark blue of the sky. Great black ships surged by in
the gloom, ships with insistent queries as to who we were and whence we
came.
At last an escort came: we were berthed and lay about waiting for the
dawn.
Long after day came the doctor, who passed us, and we stepped ashore
saying--
"Thank God we are back in Europe once again.
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