The next moment he had forgotten his philosophy, and his companion his
business. Both flew to the assistance of the fair intruder, who, albeit
the least injured of the trio, clung breathlessly to the bulwarks.

"Miss Keene!" ejaculated both gentlemen.

"Oh dear! I beg your pardon," said the young lady, reddening, with a
naive mingling of hilarity and embarrassment. "But it seemed so stuffy
in the cabin, and it seemed so easy to get out on deck and pull myself
up by the railings; and just as I got up here, I suddenly seemed to be
sliding down the roof of a house."

"And now that you're here, your courage should be rewarded," said the
Senor, gallantly assisting her to a settee, which he lashed securely.
"You are perfectly safe now," he added, holding the end of the rope in
his hand to allow a slight sliding movement of the seat as the vessel
rolled. "And here is a glorious spectacle for you. Look! the sun is just
rising."

The young girl glanced over the vast expanse before her with sparkling
eyes and a suddenly awakened fancy that checked her embarrassed smile,
and fixed her pretty, parted lips with wonder. The level rays of the
rising sun striking the white crests of the lifted waves had suffused
the whole ocean with a pinkish opal color: the darker parts of each wave
seemed broken into facets instead of curves, and glittered sharply. The
sea seemed to have lost its fluidity, and become vitreous; so much so,
that it was difficult to believe that the waves which splintered
across the Excelsior's bow did not fall upon her deck with the ring of
shattered glass.