dden outcry that
might confirm the awful suspicion of fire having broken out below; but I
heard nothing save the continuous hiss and roar of the sea under the lee
bow and along the bends, the heavy slop of water in over the rail with
every lee roll of the ship, and the thunder and piping of the wind
aloft, and I was beginning to hope that it was no worse than a false
alarm, when the man who a few minutes previously had come aft to summon
the mate came running--yes, positively running--along the deck again.
He stumbled up the poop ladder and came to me, puffing and panting, with
every sign of the most extreme agitation, and delivered his message.

"Mr Temple!" he gasped--the skipper always insisted upon the
"midshipmen" apprentices being "Mistered" by the foremast hands, upon
the ground that we were officers, if only in embryo--"Mr Temple, the
mate says will ye please slip below and quietly call Cap'n Roberts
without disturbin' the passengers. Ye are to tell him that the ship's
afire in the forehold, and that Mr Bligh will be much obliged if he'll
come for'ard to the fo'c'sle at once. And when ye've done that, ye're
to continue your lookout on the poop until ye're relieved."

"Ay, ay, Mason, I'll do that," I answered. Then, as we turned together
to leave the poop, I asked: "Is the matter serious, Mason? Has Mr
Bligh actually found the seat of the fire; and is there a chance of our
being able to master it?"

"Can't say, as yet," answered the man. "We ain't actually found the
fire; but it's there all right."

I shivered involuntarily, although the night was warm, for I happened to
know that a good deal of the cargo which we were carrying was of a
highly combustible character, such as furniture, pianos, Manchester
goods, and the like, to say nothing of several cases of sporting
ammunition. I knew that if once the fire happened to get a good hold
upon such material as that the chances were all against our being able
to master it, especially in such a strong breeze as was then blowing.

And if we should be compelled to leave the ship--!

I thought of those poor helpless women and children peacefully sleeping
down below, and of what their plight might be if we were driven to take
to the boats out there in the heart of the South Atlantic, hundreds of
miles from the nearest land.

Tiptoeing my way to the skipper's cabin, I rapped gently with my
knuckles on the panel of the door, and bent my head to listen for a
rep