Travel Scholarships

13. Into the Unknown

{ 307 i n t o t H e u n k n o W n Into theUnknown This time, it was not about drawing alongside another vessel at a few cables’ length or even a few miles out to sea. It was about a ship on fire that had to be abandoned. It was about a frail open boat that was going to be exposed to many perils on an empty sea, and with the uncertain hope of meeting another ship in those waters! While Will Mitz, hastily making preparations for their departure, was lowering the Alert’s last boat over the side, what was happening in the ship’s hold? From below decks, roars of the damned filled the air. A continual hammering shook the bulkheads and hatch covers.Would the prisoners end up breaking through? Or maybe they would tear open a hole in the hull and, after escaping into the sea, climb up onto the deck? As for the cause of the fire, the most likely hypothesis was that a cask of alcohol had been broken and it had ignited through the carelessness of Morden or one of the others while they were drunk. At present, the fire extended throughout the entire forward hold, from the bow to the bulkhead that separated it from the stern. Even if the blaze were to be contained by this rear bulkhead, the ship was still doomed—there would soon be nothing left of it but debris floating on the surface of the sea. As soon as the rowboat had been lowered into the water, released from its hoist, and made fast alongside the ship, Will Mitz began loading it with everything necessary for what would perhaps be a long trip. To Louis Clodion and Albertus Leuwen, who took their places in the boat, he passed two boxes of preserved food and hardtack from the storeroom, the last cask of alcohol, two barrels of drinking water, a portable stove, two sacks of coal, a small supply of tea, a few weapons and ammunition, and various tools and kitchen utensils. At the same time, Tony Renault and the others brought on board the rigging—a small mast with its halyard, a mainsail with its yard, a flying jib—along with four oars, the tiller, a compass, and a general map of the Antilles. He also added some fishing lines, since it might be necessary to catch some fish to supplement their food supply. Mr. Patterson was the first to take his seat aboard the boat.This poor man, who looked shattered from all these hardships, no longer thought about his stuffed trigonocephalus presently being consumed by the fire 13 These preparations were completed in a quarter of an hour. { 309 i n t o t H e u n k n o W n nor even about the indecipherable words of his Latin quote! He was thinking only about having to take to the sea in this small boat, which Will Mitz also loaded with some spare clothing, rain gear, blankets, and a tarpaulin that would serve as an awning. These preparations were completed in a quarter of an hour while the screams below deck intensified in the flames that were now beginning to consume the rigging and the masts above. At any moment, they feared to see someone emerge from the blazing hold, a half-burnt ghost in the midst of this roaring furnace . . . It was time to abandon the Alert. Nothing had been forgotten, and Will Mitz was about to get aboard the rowboat himself when Niels Harboe said: “And the money? . . .” “Yes,” replied Will Mitz. “This money comes from our benefactor.We must save it, or it will be lost with this ship of which there’ll soon be nothing left! . . .” And, returning to the wardroom, he took the money from the mentor ’s cabin, came back on deck, climbed over the ship’s side, took his place in the rowboat, and said: “Push off!” Once the mooring line was released, the boat began moving away in a westerly direction. At this moment, due to the overheated and pressurized air in the ship’s hold, there was a terrible explosion! It was so powerful that the foremast, along with all its canvas, was ripped away and thrown over the port side. At the same time, the shock pushed the Alert down into the sea, but it resurfaced...