The contrast struck
him as dreadful. He wondered whether there were any power or infernal
population that could be amused by a tragedy such as enacted itself
before his eyes; how it came about also that such a tragedy was
permitted by the merciful Strength in which mankind put their faith.
The vessel was turning over, compressed air or steam burst up the decks
with loud reports; fragments of wreckage flew into the air. There the
poor captain still clung to the rail of the bridge. Seymour could see
his white face--the moonlight seemed to paint it with a ghastly smile.
The officer in command of their boat shouted to the crew to give way
lest they should be sucked down with the steamer.
Look! Now she wallowed like a dying whale, the moonrays shone white upon
her bottom, showing the jagged rent made in it by the rock on which she
had struck, and now she was gone. Only a little cloud of smoke and steam
remained to mark where the _Zanzibar_ had been.
III
HOW ROBERT CAME ASHORE
In place of the _Zanzibar_ a great pit on the face of the ocean, in
which the waters boiled and black objects appeared and disappeared.
"Sit still, for your lives' sake," said the officer in a quiet voice;
"the suck is coming."
In another minute it came, dragging them downward till the water
trickled over the sides of the boat, and backward towards the pit.
Pages:
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42