designed for a bath of the nymphs. Indeed one at a time, while
the other watched, we undressed and plunged into it, and never
was a tub more welcome than after our long days of tempest. Then
we returned to find that Bickley had already set the table and
was engaged in frying the fish very skilfully on the saloon
stove, which proved to be well adapted to the purpose. He was
cross, however, when he found that we had bathed and that it was
now too late for him to do likewise.

While he was cleaning himself as well as he could in his cabin
basin and Bastin was boiling water for tea, suddenly I remembered
the letter from the Danish mate Jacobsen. Concluding that it
might now be opened as we had certainly parted with most of the
Star of the South for the last time, I read it. It was as
follows:


"The reason, honoured Sir, that I am leaving the ship is that
on the night I tore up the paper, the spirit controlling the
planchette wrote these words: 'After leaving Samoa the Star of
the South will be wrecked in a hurricane and everybody on board
drowned except A. B. and B. Get out of her! Get out of her! Don't
be a fool, Jacob, unless you want to come over here at once. Take
our advice and get out of her and you will live to be old.--
SKOLL."


"Sir, I am not a coward but I know that this will happen, for
that spirit which signs itself Skoll never tells a lie. I did try
to give the captain a hint to stop at Apia, but he had been