Part 35 (1/2)
”But they're not all time-expired men, eh?”
”Not much About a third of 'eenerally”
”Been up to anything fresh then?” said Roden, blowing out a cloud
”Nothing in particular; but they are always more or less unruly The last people I want to see on board shi+p are a lot of soldiers, especially time-expired ones”
”How many of them are there, skipper? Couple of hundred, eh?”
”Less five If that lunatic, who juone down it would have made yet another less We were delayed about twenty ar tried all he knew to say fro every minute to see him risen by a shark, but no If he'd been a saneof the kind would have happened; but being of no earthly good to himself or anybody else, it didn't”
”Quite so Two hundred, less five, I think you said Crowded up too, fore and aft, with passengers What would happen if we came to sudden and unexpected smash? In thevein are you in, Musgrave? Well, in such a case it would be a_you_ We fulfil all the require, but if we have a couple of hundred damned soldiers crammed on board at the last moment, what are we to do? Why, just drive ahead and trust to luck; and that's what brings us through far oftener than you landsmen ever dream”
The talk veered round to other topics, and presently one of the quarter into a regular fogbank
”I'll go up on the bridge a bit, Musgrave,” said the captain ”It isn't often we get fogs so near the Line But the weather has been beastly this voyage, as hot and steamy as I've ever known it; and there are a lot of waterspouts about too”
They bade each other good-night, and already as Roden left the cabin, the more measured throb of the propeller told that the vessel had slowed down to half-speed Then the hoarse, rasping screech of the foghorn rent the night as the shi+p drove slowly through the sain the voice of the foghorn was lifted, uttering its hideous, vibrating whoop--causing the sleeping passengers below to start up wide awake in confused doubt as to whether the end of the world had come, and a hazy uncertainty as to whether they thement Seat There was one, however, who sound did not awaken; who slept on--heavily, tranquilly, dreao below, still remained on deck, held by a kind of fascination, as the shi+p glided slowly through the silent fleecy shorn rolled out, and-- on Heaven! Was it an echo--louder, azed, there leaped forth so raphed upon his brain acut-water--a huure, ith horror, upon the extre hi his presence of ed to save his head from injury; then, before he could rise, ca than the first, and with it the blasting screech of escaping steae, fall head doards He heard the grinding, crunching sound of that cut-water shearing through strong iron plates; the frantic shrieks and yells now arising beneath, which even the deafening demoniacal blast from the stea round, he saw the great hull--the towering cut-water which had crashed into theht amidshi+ps, recede and vanish into the -enshrouded waters, and it needed no abnormal instinct of prescience to tell that very soon she would float no longer
And now there followed the most indescribable scene of terror and confusion ever witnessed in the annals of ocean tragedy The saloon passengers, already alarhorn, ca past each other in their furious panic The second-class passengers, too, fro that the water was already flooding their cabins Each fed the other's fears; till the decks were alive hat see maniacs And then, to complete the chaotic unwieldy horror of the situation, the ti two of them loose before they could be prevented, poured over the side into the both
Not all behaved thus There were several cool heads a them, but in such a , franticatone dead, having been hurled to the deck by the shock when about to descend froe, and the chief officer so injured as to be unconscious and beyond recovery, why then, all hope of quelling the panic was over In vain the reuard the boats with revolvers The weapons were knocked frorasp, and themselves trampled under foot or hustled overboard The stalwart quarter and the sea the dense, impenetrable crowd, that cohesion was impossible; under such circumstances, even to some of the shi+p's company a little of the demoralisation coe of the troops were helpless, and the efforts of all were further i wo themselves about the decks in the frenzy of their panic
Not one by since the first crash, notscene, and already the beat of the propeller had ceased
The great gasping hole which was letting out the shi+p's life was letting in her deadly eneine-room were already out There was a horrible stillness now as of the fabric settling hout the indescribable horror of this hideous panic Roden Musgrave kept his head It was nothing to hi, demoralised horde should perish, provided he could save one life One life! but where was the owner of that life? Hi frantic crowd, it required his ut crushed out of hiht of the ruling idea His eyes scanned the scared faces and wildly rushi+ng forht was not there He heard the furious tumult of oaths and curses and beast-like yells, whereto the unbridled selfishness and cowardice of their real nature, fought wildly for the boats, tra aside women and children indiscrireat crowded passenger shi+p had beco hell of all the evil sides of human nature All this and more did he hear; and still with a wild despair at his heart, he strained his eyes through the smother, now so thick that they could hardly see the width of the shi+p But she for whorave, for Christ's sake get us a place in one of the boats!” gasped an i voice He turned, and beheld a lady hom he had been on fairly friendly tering to her hands
”Where is Miss Ridsdale?” he asked, stone deaf to her appeal ”Her cabin is next to yours”
”She's in yonder boat I saw her lowered into it Quick, quick! Take me there She is there, I tell you”
”Are you sure?”
”Quite, quite Oh, lose no ti her hands piteously
”Come, then!”
With a deft rapidity that was h the swaying crowd, now very much thinned out The boat she had pointed to orked by some of the shi+p's company, who, cool-headed, had left the panic to take care of itself, and were devoting their efforts to rescuing such of the wo by, already loaded down to the water's edge
”Here's another passenger for you, S one of the quartero! I'll hand down the little ones”
But she refused, until the children were first taken off Then she followed