re to break out. What if she should blow up?"

"Now, don't be foolish, Emily," answered the captain. "There's nothing
on board that can blow up, and it would be worse than cowardly to leave
the ship while there's a chance of saving her. The boats are all ready
to be lowered instantly, and at present there is no more danger here
than there would be in them."

Not a soul on board the Wildfire went to bed or undressed that night,
and Mark and Ruth were the only ones who closed their eyes. They stayed
on deck until midnight, but then, in spite of the excitement, they
became too sleepy to hold their eyes open any longer, and Mrs. Coburn
persuaded them to take a nap on the cabin sofas.

All night the ship flew like a frightened bird towards her port, under
such a press of canvas as Captain May would not have dared carry had
not the necessity for speed been so great. As the night wore on the
decks grew hotter and hotter, until the pitch fairly bubbled from the
seams, and a strong smell of burning pervaded the ship. At daylight the
American flag was run half-way up to the mizzen peak, union down, as a
signal of distress. By sunrise the Highlands of Navesink were in sight,
and they also saw a pilot-boat bearing rapidly down upon them from the
northward.

As soon as he saw this boat Captain May told his passengers that he was
going to send them on board of it, as he feared the fire might now
break out at any minute, and he was going to ask its captain to run in
to Sandy Hook, and send despatches to the revenue-cutter and to the New
York fire-boat Havemeyer, begging them to come to his assistance.

Mrs. Coburn and Ruth readily agreed to this plan, but Mark begged so
hard to be allowed to stay, and said he should feel so much like a
coward to leave the ship before any of the other men, that the captain
finally consented to allow him to remain.

The ship's headway was checked as the pilot-boat drew near, in order
that her yawl, bringing the pilot, might run alongside.

"Halloo, Cap'n Bill," sang out the pilot, who happened to be an old
acquaintance of Captain May's. "What's the meaning of all that?" and he
pointed to the signal of distress. "Got Yellow Jack aboard, or a
mutiny?"

"Neither," answered Captain May, "but I've got a volcano stowed under
the hatches, and I'm expecting an eruption every minute."

"You don't tell me?" said the pilot, as he clambered up over the side.
"Ship's afire, is she?"

The state of affairs