But
the terrible fashion in which he coughed and strangled would quickly
have undeceived me, had not Louis, bending over the booby-companion,
uttered a startled exclamation.
I joined him, and one whiff of the air that came up from below made
me catch my breath and gasp. I had inhaled sulphur. On the instant
I forgot the Elsinore, the mutineers for'ard, everything save one
thing.
The next I know, I was down the booby-ladder and reeling dizzily
about the big after-room as the sulphur fumes bit my lungs and
strangled me. By the dim light of a sea-lantern I saw the old
steward, on hands and knees, coughing and gasping, the while he shook
awake Yatsuda, the first sail-maker. Uchino, the second sail-maker,
still strangled in his sleep.
It struck me that the air might be better nearer the floor, and I
proved it when I dropped on my hands and knees. I rolled Uchino out
of his blankets with a quick jerk, wrapped the blankets about my
head, face, and mouth, arose to my feet, and dashed for'ard into the
hall. After a couple of collisions with the wood-work I again
dropped to the floor and rearranged the blankets so that, while my
mouth remained covered, I could draw or withdraw, a thickness across
my eyes.
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