here is fire on board?"

In an instant I regretted my words. Most earnestly I wished them
unuttered, But it was too late: their effect upon Ruby was electrical.
He was paralyzed with terror his limbs stiffened convulsively; his eye
was dilated; he gasped for breath, and was speechless. All of a
sudden he threw up his arms and, as though he momentarily expected an
explosion, he darted down from the poop, and paced frantically up and down
the deck, gesticulating like a madman, and shouting,--

"Fire on board! Fire! Fire!"

On hearing the outcry, all the crew, supposing that the fire had now
in reality broken out, rushed on deck; the rest of the passengers soon
joined them, and the scene that ensued was one of the utmost confusion.
Mrs. Kear fell down senseless on the deck, and her husband, occupied in
looking after himself, left her to the tender mercies of Miss Herbey.
Curtis endeavoured to silence Ruby's ravings, whilst I, in as few words
as I could, made M. Letourneur aware of the extent to which the cargo
was on fire. The father's first thought was for Andre but the young
man preserved an admirable composure, and begged his father not to be
alarmed, as the danger was not immediate. Meanwhile the sailors had
loosened all the tacklings of the long-boat; and were preparing to
launch it, when Curtis's voice was heard peremptorily bidding them to
desist; he assured them that the fire had made no further progress; that
Mr. Ruby had been unduly excited and not conscious of what he had said;
and he pledged his word that when the right moment should arrive he
would allow them all to leave the ship; but that moment, he said, had
not yet come.

At the sound of a voice which they had learned to honour and respect,
the crew paused in their operations, and the long-boat remained
suspended in its place. Fortunately, even Ruby himself in the midst
of his ravings, had not dropped a word about the picrate that had
been deposited in the hold; for although the mate had a power over the
sailors that Captain Huntly had never possessed, I feel certain that if
the true state of the case had been known, nothing on earth would
have prevented some of them, in their consternation, from effecting an
escape. As it was, only Curtis, Falsten, and myself were cognizant of
the terrible secret.

As soon as order was restored, the mate and, I joined Falsten on the
poop, where he had remained throughout the panic, and where we found
him with folded