en my thoughts were stopped by
a great crash that shook the vessel from stem to stern.

"My son, William Revell Moody, jumped from his berth and rushed on deck.
He was back again in an instant, crying that the shaft was broken and
the ship sinking. Then ensued a scene the like of which I hope never to
witness again. There was no panic, but the passengers, who had scrambled
on deck at the first warning, looked at each other in an appealing way
that was, if anything, more terrible than demonstrative fear. The
captain told us there was no danger, and some of the second cabin
passengers returned to their berths only to tumble back pellmell a
moment later. The rising water had driven them out. Some of them lost
all their clothes and valuables.

"At this point the officers buckled on their revolvers, but there was no
need to use them. The people, though terribly frightened, did not seem
to realize what had happened. The women didn't scream, but stood around
trembling and with blanched faces. Nobody said a word, but each waited
for his neighbor to speak. We felt that we might be looking on our
graves.

"The captain told us at noon that he thought he had the water under
control and was in hopes of drifting in the way of some passing vessel.
The ship's bow was now high in the air, while the stern seemed to settle
more and more. There was no storm, but the sea, was very rough, and the
ship rolled from side to side with fearful lurches. I think that if she
had pitched at all the overstrained, bulkheads would have burst and we
should have gone to the bottom. The captain cheered us by telling us
that he thought we should run in with a ship by 3 o'clock that Saturday
afternoon, but the night drew on and no sail appeared to lighten our
gloom.

"We knew the ship was sinking when we came on deck, but there was no
panic. The big engines of the ship were all working at the pumps, but
the water was steadily gaining in spite of them. With each roll of the
ship it could be heard like the roar of the surf. All the day was passed
in anxiously watching for a sail. We could not talk of religion, for the
first word brought forth a hundred exclamations, 'Are we sinking?' Then
in that first night one woman went insane. It seemed an age until the
Sabbath morning came, When the vigil on the deck was resumed.

"I think that was the darkest night in all our lives. None of us thought
to live to see the light of another day. Nobody slept. We were al