In Search of El Dorado | Page 3

rise, while her speed slackened so abruptly that those

who were standing only retained their footing with difficulty; a final jar,
succeeded by a crash, came, and the ship once more settled to her
bearings, floating smoothly and tranquilly as before.
By this time the occupants of the ward-room were all upon their feet,
staring at one another, speechless, with horrified eyes. But as the stern
of the ship settled and she again came to her bearings, Mr Brown, the
chief officer, who was one of the party, exclaimed:
"Ice--by the Living Jingo!--and we've hit it! More than that she's torn
the bottom off herself, unless I'm very greatly mistaken; and in another
minute there'll be the deuce and all to pay--a panic, as likely as not. To
your stations, gentlemen, and remember--the first thing to be done is to
keep the boat deck clear. Come on!" And he led the way up the
companion-ladder to the deck.
As Dick emerged into the open air, the first thing of which he became
conscious was a distinctly keener edge of chill in the atmosphere; next,
that the ship's engines had stopped; and third, that the second-class
passengers were swarming out of their quarters like angry bees, each
demanding of the other to be told what had happened. They were
evidently heading with one accord for the promenade deck, doubtless
en route for the boat deck; and Dick only reached the foot of the ladder
in the nick of time to meet the rush of the foremost.
"Hillo!" he cried, good-humouredly, planting himself square in front of
the ladder. "Whither away, good people? No, no; that is the first-class
quarters; you know that you have no right on the promenade deck.
Keep to your own part of the ship, please."
The crowd checked at the cool authoritativeness of Dick's tones; but a
big, burly man elbowed his way through the crush until he came face to
face with the young officer.
"Out of the way, youngster," he shouted. "Who are you, to talk of
`right' at a time like this? The ship is on the rocks and sinking, and--"
"Oh, my dear good man," interrupted Dick, wearily. "You make me

tired. Why do you start talking about things of which you know nothing,
and try to frighten your fellow passengers? You are the sort of chap
who yells blue murder if the lights in a picture theatre go out before
you think they ought, and starts a panic in which a lot of women and
children get badly hurt. Rocks! Why, we're hundreds of miles from the
nearest land. And as to the ship sinking, don't you know that she's
unsinkable--that she can't sink? The fact is that we've hit a bit of ice in
the darkness, and all the bumping that you felt was just the ice being
broken up by the ship as she ran past it. Now, take my advice, all of
you; go back to your cabins and turn in, or some of you will be
catching bad colds. Where are the parents of those children in
night-dresses? Whoever they are, they ought to be ashamed of
themselves for bringing the poor little kiddies into the cold in that rig!
Take 'em below and put 'em to bed again, there's good people. And go
to bed yourselves; it's the most comfortable place in the ship on a night
like this. I wish I had the chance to go there."
Dick's one idea in talking had been to subdue the tendency towards
panic which he had observed in the crowd before him, and to a certain
extent he had succeeded. That is to say, the parents of the children in
nightgowns had sheepishly herded their flock back into the deck-house,
while a few of the other passengers had followed them. But the
majority still lingered, waiting perhaps to hear further particulars. And
these the big, burly man--who, from his somewhat "loud" costume,
might be taken for a pugilist or a doubtful frequenter of race
courses--seemed determined to have. Dick's sarcasm had produced no
more effect upon him than rain does upon a duck, and he still stood
staring aggressively at the young officer.
"That's all very well," he declared truculently; "but if there's no danger,
what are all them sailors so busy about the boats up there for?"
The boat deck was by this time a scene of feverish but orderly activity,
every available seaman being mustered there, busily engaged, under the
supervision of the chief and second officers, on the task of stripping the
boats of their canvas, casting them loose, hoisting them out of their
chocks, and swinging them outboard ready for lowering.

"Why, you chump," answered Dick, "they are doing that for the express
purpose of reassuring people like