"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. Captain Beard had hollow
eyes and sunken cheeks. I had never noticed so much before how twisted
and bowed he was. He and Mahon prowled soberly about hatches and
ventilators, sniffing. It struck me suddenly poor Mahon was a very, very
old chap. As to me, I was as pleased and proud as though I had helped to
win a great naval battle. O! Youth!

"The night was fine. In the morning a homeward-bound ship passed us hull
down,--the first we had seen for months; but we were nearing the land at
last, Java Head being about 190 miles off, and nearly due north.

"Next day it was my watch on deck from eight to twelve. At breakfast the
captain observed, 'It's wonderful how that smell hangs about the cabin.'
About ten, the mate being on the poop, I stepped down on the main-deck
for a moment. The carpenter's bench stood abaft the mainmast: I leaned
against it sucking at my pipe, and the carpenter, a young chap, came to
talk to me. He remarked, 'I think we have done very well, haven't we?'