The Survivors of the Chancellor: Chapter 12

Chapter 12

CHAPTER XII.

OCTOBER 22nd.--Curtis has told the captain everything; for he
persists in ostensibly recognizing him as his superior officer,
and refuses to conceal from him our true situation.  Captain
Huntly received the communication in perfect silence, and merely
passing his hand across his forehead as though to, banish some
distressing thought, re-entered his cabin without a word.

Curtis, Lieutenant Walter, Falsten, and myself have been
discussing the chances of our safety, and I am surprised to find
with how much composure we can all survey our anxious
predicament.

"There is no doubt" said Curtis, "that we must abandon all hope
of arresting the fire; the heat towards the bow has already
become well-nigh unbearable, and the time must come when the
flames will find a vent through the deck.  If the sea is calm
enough for us to make use of the boats, well and good; we shall
of course get quit of the ship as quietly as we can; if on the
other hand, the weather should be adverse, or the wind be
boisterous, we must stick to our place, and contend with the
flames to the very last; perhaps, after all, we shall fare better
with the fire as a declared enemy than as a hidden one."

Falsten and I agreed with what he said, but I pointed out to him
that he had quite overlooked the fact of there being thirty
pounds of combustible matter in the hold.

"No" he gravely replied, "I have not forgotten it, but it is a
circumstance of which I do not trust myself to think I dare not
run the risk of admitting air into the hold by going down to
search for the powder, and yet I know not at what moment it may
explode.  No; it is a matter that I cannot take at all into my
reckoning, it must remain in higher hands than mine."

We bowed our heads in a silence which was solemn.  In the present
state of the weather, immediate flight was, we knew, impossible.

After a considerable pause, Falsten, as calmly as though he were
delivering some philosophic dogma, observed,--

"The explosion, if I may use the formula of science, is not
necessary, but contingent."

"But tell me, Mr. Falsten," I asked, "is it possible for picrate
of potash to ignite without concussion?"

"Certainly it is," replied the engineer.  "Under-ordinary
circumstances, picrate of potash although not MORE inflammable
than common powder, yet possesses the same degree of
inflammability."

We now prepared to go on deck.  As we left the saloon, in which
we had been sitting, Curtis seized my hand.

"Oh, Mr. Kazallon," he exclaimed, "if you only knew the
bitterness of the agony I feel at seeing this fine vessel doomed
to be devoured by flames, and at being so powerless to save her."
Then quickly recovering himself, he continued, "But I am
forgetting myself; you, if no other, must know what I am
suffering.  It is all over now," he said more cheerfully.

"Is our condition quite desperate?"  I asked.

"It is just this," he answered deliberately "we are over a mine,
and already the match has been applied to the train.  How long
that train may be, 'tis not for me to say."  And with these words
he left me.

The other passengers, in common with the crew, are still in
entire ignorance of the extremity of peril to which we are
exposed, although they are all aware that there is fire in the
hold.  As soon as the fact was announced, Mr. Kear, after
communicating to Curtis his instructions that he thought he
should have the fire immediately extinguished and intimating that
he held him responsible for all contingencies that might happen,
retired to his cabin, where he has remained ever since, fully
occupied in collecting and packing together the more cherished
articles of his property and without the semblance of a care or a
thought for his unfortunate wife, whose condition, in spite of
her ludicrous complaints, was truly pitiable.  Miss Herbey,
however, is unrelaxing in her attentions, and the unremitted
diligence with which she fulfils her offices of duty, commands my
highest admiration.

OCTOBER 23rd.--This morning, Captain Huntly sent for Curtis into
his cabin, and the mate has since made me acquainted with what
passed between them.

"Curtis," began the captain, his haggard eye betraying only too
plainly some mental derangement, "I am a sailor, am I not?"

"Certainly, captain," was the prompt acquiescence of the mate.

"I do not know how it is," continued the captain, "but I seem
bewildered; I cannot recollect anything.  Are we not bound for
Liverpool?  Ah!  yes!  of course.  And have we kept a north-
easterly direction since we left?"

"No, sir, according to your orders we have been sailing south-
east, and here we are in the tropics."

"And what is the name of the ship?"

"The 'Chancellor,' sir."

"Yes, yes, the 'Chancellor,' so it is.  Well, Curtis, I really
can't take her back to the north.  I hate the sea, the very sight
of it makes me ill, I would much rather not leave my cabin."

Curtis went on to tell me how he had tried to persuade him that
with a little time and care he would soon recover his
indisposition, and feel himself again; but the captain had
interrupted him by saying,--

"Well, well; we shall see by-and-by; but for the present you must
take this for my positive order; you must, from this time, at
once take the command of the ship, and act just as if I were not
on board.  Under present circumstances, I can do nothing.  My
brain is all on a whirl, you cannot tell what I am suffering;"
and the unfortunate man pressed both his hands convulsively
against his forehead.

"I weighed the matter carefully for a moment," added Curtis, "and
seeing what his condition too truly was, I acquiesced in all that
he required and withdrew, promising him that all his orders
should be obeyed."

After hearing these particulars, I could not help remarking how
fortunate it was that the captain had resigned of his own accord,
for although he might not be actually insane, it was very evident
that his brain was in a very morbid condition.

"I succeed him at a very critical moment;" said Curtis
thoughtfully; "but I shall endeavour to do my duty."

A short time afterwards he sent for the boatswain, and ordered
him to assemble the crew at the foot of the main-mast.  As soon
as the men were together, he addressed them very calmly, but very
firmly.

"My men," he said, "I have to tell you that Captain Huntly, on
account of the dangerous situation in which circumstances have
placed us, and for other reasons known to myself, has thought
right to resign his command to me.  From this time forward, I am
captain of this vessel."

Thus quietly and simply the change was effected, and we have the
satisfaction of knowing that the "Chancellor" is now under the
command of a conscientious, energetic man, who will shirk nothing
that he believes to be for our common good.  M. Letourneur,
Andre, Mr. Falsten, and myself immediately offered him our best
wishes, in which Lieutenant Walter and the boatswain most
cordially joined.

The ship still holds her course south-west and Curtis crowds on
all sail and makes as speedily as possible for the nearest of the
Lesser Antilles.

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