from the steward, as he had frequently done before, and smoked a cigarette. He seemed more peaceful than usual when I wished him good-night.
The next day, Sunday, the 26th of June, when I saw Shaayea, I did not refer in any way to the conversation of the previous night, for fear of exciting him, but I led him to speak of general subjects, such as the commerce, the products, and the manufactures of Northern Syria, and I asked him to teach me the Hebrew alphabet. This amused him for a little time, and while I read to myself, he sat near smoking, reading silently from a Hebrew psalter. We had crossed the Bay of Biscay, and in the evening we stood by the cabin-door, watching the sun go down, red and glorious, behind the dark clouds which seemed to rest upon the broad Atlantic. Shaayea said that he was sorry that the night had come, and then complained of feeling very low-spirited, and very tired of the journey. I told him that after one more day we should land at Liverpool, and I gave him my London address, saying that he might write to me from Manchester to tell me how he was, whether he liked England, and to let me know if I could help or serve him in any way. He kissed my hands and cried, as if from extreme weakness.
The captain requested me to advise Shaayea to rest that night in a sheltered place, as there was a heavy swell on the sea, and he would be likely to get wet if he remained in an exposed part of the deck. I explained this to Shaayea, but he said, "I can not go to the other end of the ship-I am afraid." He seemed very much agitated, and when the captain was going to his cabin, Shaayea caught hold of him, and kissed his hands and his feet vehemently, but the captain raised him up and said, "Come, Solomon, no more o'that; cheer up, be a man! Dormez! dormez!"
He asked for an effervescing draught, and I requested the steward to bring one for him, and he did so. Shaayea had taken one a few days before.
At half-past nine or ten o'clock, I said, "It is late,
