Murdock's last orders were to Quartermaster Moody and
a few other petty officers who had taken their places in the
rigid discipline of the ship and were lowering the boats.
Captain Smith came up to him on the bridge several times
and then rushed down again. They spoke to one another
only in monosyllables.

There were stories that Captain Smith, when he saw the
ship actually going down, had committed suicide. There is
no basis for such tales. The captain, according to the testimony
of those who were near him almost until the last, was
admirably cool. He carried a revolver in his hand, ready
to use it on anyone who disobeyed orders.

"I want every man to act like a man for manhood's sake,"
he said, "and if they don't, a bullet awaits the coward."

With the revolver in his hand--a fact that undoubtedly
gave rise to the suicide theory--the captain moved up and
down the deck. He gave the order for each life-boat to make
off and he remained until every boat was gone. Standing
on the bridge he finally called out the order: "Each man
save himself." At that moment all discipline fled. It was
the last call of death. If there had been any hope among
those on board before, the hope now had fled.

The bearded admiral of the White Star Line fleet, with
every life-saving device launched from the decks, was returning
to the deck to perform the sacred office of going down