Of what followed immediately I have no recollection. I knew vaguely

that the ship rolled and had a serious list to starboard, that orders

were being hoarsely shouted from the bridge, that the moon was shining

fitfully, that the sea was black and choppy; I also seemed to catch

the singing of a hymn somewhere on the forward deck. I suppose I knew

that I existed. But that was all. I had no exact knowledge of what I

myself was doing. There was a hiatus in my consciousness of myself.

The proof of this is that, after a lapse of time, I suddenly

discovered that I had smoked half-way through a cigarette, and that I

was at the bows of the steamer. For a million sovereigns I could not

explain under what circumstances I had moved from one end of the ship

to the other, nor how I had come to light that cigarette. Such is the

curious effect of perturbation.

But the perturbation had now passed from me, just as mysteriously as

it had overtaken me. I was cool and calm. I felt inquisitive, and I

asked several people what had happened. But none seemed to know. In

fact, they scarcely heard me, and answered wildly, as if in delirium.

It seemed strange that anything could have occurred on so small a

vessel without the precise details being common property. Yet so it

was, and those who have been in an accident at sea will support me

when I say that the ignorance on the part of the passengers of the

events actually in progress is not the least astounding nor the least

disconcerting item in such an affair. It was the psychology of the

railway accident repeated.

I began to observe. The weather was a little murky, but beyond doubt

still improving. The lights of the French coast could clearly be seen.

The ship rolled in a short sea; her engines had stopped; she still had

the formidable list to starboard; the captain was on the bridge,

leaning over, and with his hands round his mouth was giving orders to

an officer below. The sailors were still struggling to lower the boat

from the davits. The passengers stood about, aimless, perhaps

terror-struck, but now for the most part quiet and self-contained.

Some of them had life-belts. That was the sum of my observations.

A rocket streamed upwards into the sky, and another and another, then

one caught the rigging, and, deflected, whizzed down again within a

few feet of my head, and dropped on deck, spluttering in a silly,

futile way. I threw the end of my cigarette at it to see whether that

might help it along.

"So this is a shipwreck," I ejaculated. "And I'm in it. I've got

myself safely off the railway only to fall into the sea. What a d----d

shame!"




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