On his way to the saloon he stopped at the entrance of the second
cabin; called one of the stewards, and while putting a piece of
money in his hand, requested him to take a bowl of soup up to the
old man on deck, and to see that he wanted nothing.

Then Ishmael paid a visit to each of his suffering companions.

First he opened the door of Judge Merlin's stateroom, and found that
gentleman with his face sulkily turned to the wall, and in a state
of body and mind so ill and irritable as to make all attempts at
conversation with him quite dangerous to the speaker.

Next Ishmael looked in upon Mr. Brudenell, whom he luckily found
fast asleep. And then, after having given the stateroom stewards a
strict charge concerning the comfort of these two victims, Ishmael
passed on to the dining saloon. It was nearly empty. There were even
fewer people gathered for dinner than there had been for breakfast.

The tables had the storm-guards upon them, so that each plate and
dish sat down in its own little pen to be kept from slipping off in
the rolling of the ship. But this arrangement could not prevent them
from occasionally flying out of their places when there was an
unusually violent toss.

At the table where Ishmael sat there was no one present except the
old retired merchantman, Captain Mountz, who sat on the opposite
side, directly under the port lights. And with the rolling of the
ship these two diners, holding desperately onto the edge of the
table, were tossed up and down like boys on a see-saw plank.