Faith, watching
the mischievous monkey, as she stood in the center of the floor, was
taken unaware and flung with violence to one side, where she might have
been cruelly hurt against the hard wall, but for the amazing quickness of
Chester Carnegie, who flung himself between just in time to save her from
the blow. In the instant that he held her thus a blinding glare seemed
to wrap them in white fire, and with it a crashing peal of thunder
stunned them into deafness, then all was utter darkness.
For a second it seemed to each that earth and sea stood still, and
neither quite knew if life were still left to them, but the next instant
a cry rent the air--a cry frightful enough on land, doubly horrible on
the wide ocean--the cry of "_Fire!_"
CHAPTER XVI.
DANGER.
"Silence!" came in deep tones from the doorway, and before the first
paralysis of the dread alarm had time to become a panic, the captain's
irresistible voice caught their attention. He held a lantern aloft
and, after just one shriek of terror, the women, mostly prostrate on
the floor, turned to listen, while the men braced themselves to conquer
their weakness.
"Silence!" said the captain, steadying himself between the lintels of
the door, while the great steamer plunged, rolled, and pitched, like a
thing gone mad. "The ship has been struck by lightning, and the lights
put out. We are in the midst of a cloud charged with electricity, and
must stand the darkness for a little.
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