But, ere long,
she seemed to catch faint, distant sounds, that seemed like cries;
then came hurry and confusion on deck; then voices in the
cabin, one of which said: "they never can get it under, at this
rate!"
She rose, dressed herself hastily, and made her way through pale
and excited stewards, and the bewildered passengers who were
beginning to rush from their staterooms, to the deck. In the wild
tumult which prevailed, she might have been thrown down and
trampled under foot, had not a strong arm seized her around the
waist, and borne her towards the stern, where there were but few
persons.
"Wait here!" said a voice, and her protector plunged into the
crowd.
She saw, instantly, the terrible fate which had fallen upon the
vessel. The bow was shrouded in whirls of smoke, through which
dull red flashes began to show themselves; and all the length and
breadth of the deck was filled with a screaming, struggling,
fighting mass of desperate human beings. She saw the captain,
officers, and a few of the crew working in vain against the
disorder: she saw the boats filled before they were lowered, and
heard the shrieks as they were capsized; she saw spars and planks
and benches cast overboard, and maddened men plunging after them;
and then, like the sudden opening of the mouth of Hell, the
relentless, triumphant fire burst through the forward deck and shot
up to the foreyard.
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