Oh! how thirsty! And we had to be careful with the
water. Strict allowance. The ship smoked, the sun blazed. . . . Pass the
bottle.
"We tried everything. We even made an attempt to dig down to the fire.
No good, of course. No man could remain more than a minute below. Mahon,
who went first, fainted there, and the man who went to fetch him out
did likewise. We lugged them out on deck. Then I leaped down to show
how easily it could be done. They had learned wisdom by that time,
and contented themselves by fishing for me with a chain-hook tied to a
broom-handle, I believe. I did not offer to go and fetch up my shovel,
which was left down below.
"Things began to look bad. We put the long-boat into the water. The
second boat was ready to swing out. We had also another, a fourteen-foot
thing, on davits aft, where it was quite safe.
"Then behold, the smoke suddenly decreased. We re-doubled our efforts
to flood the bottom of the ship. In two days there was no smoke at all.
Everybody was on the broad grin. This was on a Friday. On Saturday no
work, but sailing the ship of course was done. The men washed their
clothes and their faces for the first time in a fortnight, and had a
special dinner given them. They spoke of spontaneous combustion with
contempt, and implied _they_ were the boys to put out combustions.
Somehow we all felt as though we each had inherited a large fortune. But
a beastly smell of burning hung about the ship.
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