west,
which changed and grew dim, and disappeared. And the stars came out, one
by one, and it was night.

Captain Solomon didn't have any of those many sails taken in, because
he knew that it would be pleasant weather all night, and that the wind
would be less rather than more. And it was such a beautiful night that
he didn't go to bed early, but stayed on deck until it was very late;
and he watched the stars and the water and he listened to the wash of
the waves as the ship went through them and he saw the foam that she
made; and he felt the gentle wind blowing on his cheek, and it all
seemed very good to him. Captain Solomon loved the sea. Then, when it
was very late, and they were just going to change the watch, he went
into the cabin to go to bed.

Before he had got his clothes off, he heard a commotion on deck, and the
mate came running down.

"The ship's on fire, sir," he said. "There's smoke coming out of the
forward hatch."

Captain Solomon said something and threw on his clothes that he had
taken off and ran out on deck. It was less than half a minute from the
time the mate had told him. And he saw a little, thin column of smoke
rising out of the forward hatchway, just as the mate had said. They had
the hatch off by this time, and the sailors were all on deck. The
hatchway is a square hole in the deck that leads down into the hold,
where the things are put that the ship carries. It has a cover made of
planks, and the cover fits on tightly and can be fastened down. It
usually is fastened when the ship is going.

Captain Solomon spoke to the mate. "Put her about on the other tack,"
he said, "and head for Boston, while we fight it. If we get it under, as
I think we will, we'll lose only a couple of hours. If we don't, we can
get help there. We ought to make Boston by daylight."

"Aye, aye, sir," said the mate. And he gave the orders in a sharp voice,
and most of the crew jumped for the sails and the ropes and pulled and
hauled, and they soon had the ship heading for Boston. But the second
mate and a few of the sailors got lanterns and lighted them.

And, when they had lighted their lanterns, the second mate jumped down
the hatchway into the smoke, and four sailors jumped down after him. And
they began tumbling about the bales of things; but they couldn't tumble
them about very much, for there wasn't room, the cargo had been stowed
so tightly. And the second mate asked Captain Solomon to rig a tackle to
ho