Lavis took Andie's hand. "A good man, Andie. And a good man yourself, Andie. Good-by, and God bless you!"
"Thank you, sir. Good-by, sir. And the same to you." Andie turned to the rail and with folded arms set his face to the impassive sea.
Lavis passed on to where from a tarpaulined hatch a Catholic priest was saying a litany, while around him a body of kneeling men and women were responding. He had donned his cassock, and a shining silver crucifix was on his breast, and his biretta at his feet. His voice was even and unhurried, his features composed.
"Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world----"
"Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world----"
"Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world----"
"_That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!_"
The priest rose from his knees. "And bear in mind, my children, that no matter what sin you may have committed, God will forgive you. No one born into this world of sin but has sinned at some time, so do not despair. Offer up your prayers, your heart, to God. He will hear you. He could save us, any one of us, or every one of us even now, if he so willed. If he does not, it is because it is better so. But merely to be saved in the body--what is that? A passing moment here, but the next world--for eternity. It is your soul, not your body, which is to live in eternity. Prepare your soul for that. And now our time is growing short, compose your minds and your hearts, and all kneel and say with me an act of contrition: O my God----"
"_O my God_--" came from them like a chanted hymn.
"I am most heartily sorry for all my sins----"
"_I am most heartily sorry for all my sins_----"
Lavis knelt and prayed also. When he rose from his knees it was to go to the side of the Polish woman, who was also kneeling at the edge of the crowd. He found her weeping.
"Why do you weep? Do you fear death so very much?"
"But your baby is safe--out there in the boat. They will bring him to his father, who will be there waiting on the dock in New York."
"Yes, yes; but who will be there to give him the breast when he wakes?"
"Who will give--Father in heaven! Come--come with me." Lavis helped her to her feet.
Cadogan looked into the smoking-room. Lavis was gone. He hesitated, wheeled quickly, returned to the deck, sought the nearest gangway, and rapidly descended four decks. He traversed one passageway, another, and entered what looked like a carpenter's shop, where, he knew, was a thick-topped wooden table with its legs held by small angle-irons to the wooden planking over the steel-deck floor.