I rushed to the door and saw all the
gentlemen hurrying on their clothes and getting confusedly towards the
stairway. I went back to Mary, and we put on our things in silence,
and, as soon as we could, got into the upper saloon. It was an hour
before we could learn anything certainly, except that we had run into
another vessel. The fate of the Arctic came to us both, but we did not
mention it to each other; indeed, a quieter, more silent company you
would not often see. Had I had any confidence in the administration of
the boat, it would have been better, but as I had not, I sat in
momentary uncertainty. Had we then known, as we have since, the fate
of a boat recently sunk in the Mediterranean by a similar
carelessness, it would have increased our fears. By a singular chance
an officer, whose wife and children were lost on board that boat, was
on board ours, and happened to be on the forward part of the boat when
the accident occurred. The captain and mate were both below; there was
nobody looking out, and had not this officer himself called out to
stop the boat, we should have struck her with such force as to have
sunk us. As it was, we turned aside and the shock came on a paddle-
wheel, which was broken by it, for when, after two hours' delay, we
tried to start and had gone a little way, there was another crash and
the paddle-wheel fell down. You may be sure we did little sleeping
that night.
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