The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne Read Free Book Online Page B

suspended in mid-air, and then, with a final effort from the
sailors, it was quickly lowered into the sea. But scarcely
had it touched the water, when it was caught by an enormous wave which, recoiling with resistless violence, dashed
it to atoms against the Chancellor's side.
    The men stood aghast; they were dumbfounded. Longboat and yawl both gone, there was nothing now remaining
to us but a small whale-boat. Not a word was spoken;
not a sound was heard but the hoarse whistling of the wind,
and the mournful roaring of the flames. From the center
of the ship, which was hollowed out like a furnace, there
issued a column of sooty vapor that ascended to the sky.
All the passengers, and several of the crew, took refuge in
the aft-quarters of the poop. Mrs. Kear was lying senseless on one of the hen-coops, with Miss Herbey sitting passively at her side; M. Letourneur held his son tightly clasped
to his bosom. I saw Falsten calmly consult his watch, and
note down the time in his memorandum-book, but I was
far from sharing his composure, for I was overcome by a
nervous agitation that I could not suppress.
    As far as we knew, Lieutenant Walter, the boatswain,
and such of the crew as were not with us, were safe in the
bow; but it was impossible to tell how they were faring, because the sheet of fire intervened like a curtain, and cut off
all communication between stem and stern.
    I broke the dismal silence, saying, "All over now Curtis."
    "No, sir, not yet," he replied, "now that the panel is
open we will set to work, and pour water with all our might
down into the furnace, and may be, we shall put it out, even
yet."
    "But how can you work your pumps while the deck is
burning? and how can you get at your men beyond that
sheet of flame?"
    He made no answer to my impetuous questions, and finding he had nothing more to say, I repeated that it was all
over now.
    After a pause, he said, "As long as a plank of the ship
remains to stand on, Mr. Kazallon, I shall not give up my
hope."
    But the conflagration raged with redoubled fury, the sea
around us was lighted with a crimson glow, and the clouds
above shone with a lurid glare. Long jets of fire darted
across the hatchways, and we were forced to take refuge
on the taffrail at the extreme end of the poop. Mrs. Kear
was laid in the whale-boat that hung from the stern. Miss
Herbey persisting to the last in retaining her post by her
side.
    No pen could adequately portray the horrors of this fearful night. The Chancellor under bare poles, was driven,
like a gigantic fire-ship with frightful velocity across the
raging ocean; her very speed as it were, making common
cause with the hurricane to fan the fire that was consuming
her. Soon there could be no alternative between throwing
ourselves into the sea, or perishing in the flames.
    But where, all this time, was the picrate? Perhaps, after
all, Ruby had deceived us and there was no volcano, such as
we dreaded, below our feet.
    At half-past eleven, when the tempest seems at its very
height, there is heard a peculiar roar distinguishable even
above the crash of the elements. The sailors in an instant
recognize its import.
    "Breakers to starboard!" is the cry.
    Curtis leaps on to the netting, casts a rapid glance at the
snow-white billows, and turning to the helmsman shouts
with all his might, "Starboard the helm!"
    But it is too late. There is a sudden shock; the ship is
caught up by an enormous wave; she rises upon her beam
ends; several times she strikes the ground; the mizzen-mast
snaps short off level with the deck, falls into the sea, and the
Chancellor is motionless.

Chapter XV - Shipwrecked
*
    THE night of the 29th continued. — It was not yet midnight; the darkness was most profound, and we could see
nothing. But was it probable that we had stranded on the
coast of America?
    Very shortly after the ship had thus come to a stand-still
a clanking of chains was heard proceeding from her bows.
    "That is well," said Curtis; "Walter and the