"Now, my men, are you more steady? Recollect, be cool, and keep
silence. Carpenter, are the pumps rigged?"
"Yes, sir," replied the carpenter.
"Now, firemen, go for your buckets; let nobody else move. Silence--not
a word: three foremast guns main-deck, to your quarters. Silence and
quiet, if you please. Now, are you all steady?--then, to your quarters,
my men, and wait for orders."
It was astonishing how collected the ship's company became by the
judicious conduct of the captain, who now continued to command. When
the men had gone down to their stations, he directed the two junior
lieutenants to go and examine where the fire was, and to be careful not
to lift the hatches if they discovered that it was in the spirit-room.
I had been on the quarter-deck some time, and, being aware of the cause,
of course was not at all alarmed: and I had exerted myself very
assiduously in keeping the men cool and quiet, shoving the men down who
were unwilling to sit down on the deck, and even using them very
roughly; showing a great deal more _sang froid_ than any other of the
officers, which of course was not to be wondered at.
Mr Culpepper, who was most terribly alarmed, had come up on deck, and
stood trembling close to the side of the captain and first lieutenant;
he had pulled on his wig without discovering that it had been burnt, and
as I passed him, the burnt smell was very strong indeed; so thought the
captain and the first lieutenant, who were waiting the return of the
officers.
"I smell the fire very strong just now," said the captain to the first
lieutenant.
"Yes, sir, every now and then it is very strong," replied the first
lieutenant.
The purser's wig was just between them,--no wonder that they smelt it.
After two or three minutes the officers came up, and reported that they
could discover no fire, and that there was very little smell of fire
down below.
"And yet I smell it now," said Captain Delmar.
"So do I, sir," said the second lieutenant; "and it really smells
stronger on deck than it does down below."
"It's very odd; let them continue the search."
The search was continued; the first lieutenant now going down, and after
a time they said that the strongest smell was from the purser's cabin.
"Mr Culpepper, they say the smell is in your cabin," said Captain
Delmar; "go down, if you please; they may want to open your lockers."
Mr Culpepper, who still trembled like an aspen, went down the ladder,
and I followed him; but in descending the second ladder his foot
slipped, and he fell down the hatchway to the lower deck.
I hastened down after him; he was stunned, and I thought this a good
opportunity to pull off his wig, which I did very dexterously, and
concealed it. He was taken into the gun-room, and the surgeon called,
while I walked up on deck, and quietly dropped the wig overboard at the
gangway.
My reason for doing this was, that having no idea that my trick would
have created so much confusion, and have turned up the officers and men
as it did, I thought that the purser's wig would, the next morning,
account for the smell of fire, and an investigation take place, which,
although it might not lead to discovery, would certainly lead to
suspicion; so the wig was now floating away, and with the wig went away
all evidence.
After a search of nearly half an hour, nothing was discovered; the
drummer was ordered to beat the retreat, and all was quiet again.
I went to bed quite satisfied with the events of the night, and slept
the sleep of innocence--at least I slept just as soundly.
This mysterious affair ever remained a mystery: the only loss was the
purser's wig, but that was nothing, as Mr Culpepper acknowledged that
he did not know himself what he was about, and, for all he knew to the
contrary, he might have thrown it overboard.
My conduct on this occasion again gained me great credit. It had been
remarked by the captain and officers, and I rose in estimation. How I
might have behaved had I really supposed that the ship was on fire, is
quite another affair--I presume not quite so fearlessly. As it was, I
was resolved to take all the credit given to me and for that reason it
was not till a long while afterwards, that I hinted the secret even to
Bob Cross.