I hailed the deck again. After some time a man in an unexpectedly
cheerful but also muffled tone, as though he had been trying to speak
with his mouth shut, informed me, 'Coming directly, sir,' and vanished.
For a long time I heard nothing but the whir and roar of the fire. There
were also whistling sounds. The boats jumped, tugged at the painters,
ran at each other playfully, knocked their sides together, or, do what
we would, swung in a bunch against the ship's side. I couldn't stand it
any longer, and swarming up a rope, clambered aboard over the stern.
"It was as bright as day. Coming up like this, the sheet of fire facing
me, was a terrifying sight, and the heat seemed hardly bearable at
first. On a settee cushion dragged out of the cabin, Captain Beard,
with his legs drawn up and one arm under his head, slept with the light
playing on him. Do you know what the rest were busy about? They were
sitting on deck right aft, round an open case, eating bread and cheese
and drinking bottled stout.
"On the background of flames twisting in fierce tongues above their
heads they seemed at home like salamanders, and looked like a band
of desperate pirates. The fire sparkled in the whites of their eyes,
gleamed on patches of white skin seen through the torn shirts. Each
had the marks as of a battle about him--bandaged heads, tied-up arms, a
strip of dirty rag round a knee--and each man had a bottle between his
legs and a chunk of cheese in his hand.
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