In Chapter 2, Jensag awakens and explains the reason for his anger: he tells Cargunka about the singer on the phonograph record, whose stage name is Stella Bavanga. The song, "The Fate of the "Laughing Sally"", about a lost schooner, had been a hit five years earlier. The singer herself was later sent on a sea voyage for health reasons, on a barque also named the "Laughing Sally", captained by a man named Barstow. This ship, too, was lost at sea three years ago. The singer, presumed drowned, was Jensag's wife.