Chapter 9 - Page 2

combustion was right in the middle of the cargo and that we
should be obliged to flood the entire hold before we could get at
the right place. That scheme consequently was no good. During
the night, I had the deck bored in various places and water
poured down through the holes; but that again seemed all of no
use. There is only one thing that can be done; we must persevere
in excluding most carefully every breath of outer air, so that
perhaps the conflagration deprived of oxygen may smoulder itself
out. That is our only hope."

"But, you say the fire is increasing?"

"Yes; and that shows that in spite of all our care there is some
aperture which we have not beep able to discover, by which,
somehow or other, air gets into the hold."

"Have you ever heard of a vessel surviving such circumstances?"
I asked.

"Yes, Mr. Kazallon," said Curtis; "it is not at all an unusual
thing for ships laden with cotton to arrive at Liverpool or Havre
with a portion of their cargo consumed; and I have myself known
more than one captain run into port with his deck scorching his
very feet, and who, to save his vessel and the remainder of his
freight has been compelled to unload with the utmost expedition.
But, in such cases, of course the fire has been more or less
under control throughout the voyage; with us, it is increasing
day by day, and I tell you I am convinced there is an aperture
somewhere which has escaped our notice."

"But would it not be advisable for us to retrace our course, and
make for the nearest land?"

"Perhaps it would," he answered. "Walter and I, and the
boatswain, are going to talk the matter over seriously with the
captain to-day. But, between ourselves, I have taken the
responsibility upon myself; I have already changed the tack to
the south-west; we are now straight before the wind, and
consequently we are sailing towards the coast."

"I need hardly ask," I added; "whether any of the other
passengers are at all aware of the imminent danger in which we
are placed."

"None of them," he said; "not in the least; and I hope you will
not enlighten them. We don't want terrified women and cowardly
men to add to our embarrassment; the crew are under orders to
keep a strict silence on the subject. Silence is indispensable."

I promised to keep the matter a profound secret, as I fully
entered into Curtis's views as to the absolute necessity for
concealment.