OCTOBER 24 to 29.—For the last five days the sea has been very heavy, and although the Chancellor¹ sails with wind and wave in her favor, yet her progress is considerably² impeded³. Here on board this veritable fire-ship I cannot help contemplating⁴ with a longing⁵ eye this vast ocean that surrounds us. The water supply should be all we need.  
"Why not bore the deck?" I said to Curtis. "Why not admit the water by tons into the hold? What could be the harm? The fire would be quenched⁶; and what would be easier than to pump the water out again?"
 
"I have already told you, Mr. Kazallon," said Curtis, "that the very moment we admit the air, the flames will rush forth⁷ to the very top of the masts. No; we must have courage and patience; we must wait. There is nothing whatever to be done, except to close every aperture⁸."
 
The fire continued to progress even more rapidly than we had hitherto suspected. The heat gradually drove the passengers nearly all on deck, and the two stern cabins, lighted, as I said, by their windows in the aft-board were the only quarters below that were inhabitable. Of these Mrs. Kear occupied one, and Curtis reserved the other for Ruby⁹, who, a raving¹⁰ maniac¹¹, had to be kept rigidly¹² under restraint. I went down occasionally to see him, but invariably found him in a state of abject¹³ terror, uttering horrible shrieks¹⁴, as though possessed¹⁵ with the idea that he was being scorched¹⁶ by the most excruciating heat.
 
Once or twice, too, I looked in upon the ex-captain. He was always calm and spoke¹⁷ quite rationally on any subject except his own profession; but in connection with that he prated¹⁸ away the merest nonsense. He suffered greatly, but steadily¹⁹ declined all my offers of attention, and pertinaciously²⁰ refused to leave his cabin.
 
To-day, an acrid²¹, nauseating²² smoke made its way through the panelings that partition off the quarters of the crew. At once Curtis ordered the partition to be enveloped²³ in wet tarpaulin²⁴, but the fumes²⁶ penetrated²⁷ even this, and filled the whole neighborhood of the ship's bows with a reeking²⁸ vapor²⁹ that was positively³⁰ stifling³¹. As we listened, too, we could hear a dull rumbling³² sound, but we were as mystified as ever to comprehend where the air could have entered that was evidently fanning the flames. Only too certainly, it was now becoming a question not of days nor even of hours before we must be prepared for the final catastrophe³³. The sea was still running high, and escape by the boats was plainly impossible. Fortunately, as I have said, the mainmast and the mizzen are of iron; otherwise the great heat at their base would long ago have brought them down and our chances of safety would have been very much imperiled; but by crowding on sail the Chancellor in the full northeast wind continued to make her way with undiminished speed.
 
It is now a fortnight since the fire was first discovered, and the proper working of the ship has gradually become a more and more difficult matter. Even with thick shoes any attempt to walk upon deck up to the forecastle was soon impracticable, and the poop, simply because its floor is elevated somewhat above the level of the hold, is now the only available standing-place. Water began to lose its effect upon the scorched and shriveling planks³⁴; the resin............