Curtis endeavoured to silence
Ruby's ravings, whilst I, in as few words as I could, made M.
Letourneur aware of the extent to which the cargo was on fire.
The father's first thought was for Andre but the young man
preserved an admirable composure, and begged his father not to be
alarmed, as the danger was not immediate. Meanwhile the sailors
had loosened all the tacklings of the long-boat; and were
preparing to launch it, when Curtis's voice was heard
peremptorily bidding them to desist; he assured them that the
fire had made no further progress; that Mr. Ruby had been unduly
excited and not conscious of what he had said; and he pledged his
word that when the right moment should arrive he would allow them
all to leave the ship; but that moment, he said, had not yet
come.
At the sound of a voice which they had learned to honour and
respect, the crew paused in their operations, and the long-boat
remained suspended in its place. Fortunately, even Ruby himself
in the midst of his ravings, had not dropped a word about the
picrate that had been deposited in the hold; for although the
mate had a power over the sailors that Captain Huntly had never
possessed, I feel certain that if the true state of the case had
been known, nothing on earth would have prevented some of them,
in their consternation, from effecting an escape. As it was,
only Curtis, Falsten, and myself were cognizant of the terrible
secret.
As soon as order was restored, the mate and, I joined Falsten on
the poop, where he had remained throughout the panic, and where
we found him with folded arms, deep in thought, as it might be,
solving some hard mechanical problem.
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