"That's what happened here. I was standin' on
the coamings of the hatch at the time, peerin' down
into the smoke and steam, thinking the fire was
nearly out, directing the men what to h'ist out and
what to leave, when first thing I knew there came
a dull, heavy thump, as if we'd struck a rock
amidships, and up puffed a cloud of smoke and
sparks that keeled me over on my back and nearly
blinded me.

"I knew then that the fire had just begun to take
hold; that thump might have been a cask of rum or
it might have been a box of nitro-glycerine. Whatever
it was, there was no time to waste in stoppin'
the blaze before it reached the rest of the cargo.

"Captain Bogart had felt the shock and now came
runnin' down the deck with the dog at his heels. He
knew I'd take care of the fire and he hadn't left the
bridge, but the way she shook and heaved under the
explosion was another thing.

"By this time the passengers were huddled together
on the upper deck, frightened to death, as
they always are, the women the coolest in the crowd.
All except two little old women, sisters, who lived
out of Rio and who had been with us before. Fire
was one of the things that scared them to death, and
they certainly were scared. They hung to the rail,
their arms around each other--the two together didn't