CHAPTER 34
afe on the Mirabelle, Chris, exhausted and increasingly conscious of the pain of the whiplash, took his own shape with sighs of thankfulness and looked about him. A wind was rising, rocking the interlocked ships, and he could plainly see that the crew of the Mirabelle had done enormous damage to the Vulture and its attacking men. Cannon shots from the opening sally, and at such close range, had broken two of its three masts, and the decks of the Vulture were a clutter and tangle of lines, sails and splintered spars. The fact that the men of the Mirabelle were in better physical shape than the pirates stood them in good stead, for their agility and strength had carried them through the battle even against the wilier and more murderous knowledge of Claggett Chew's men. The pirates, Chris could see, were turning back, and those who still fought were one and all wounded or grazed, and losing ground with every passing moment.
Chris had been so terrified and panicstricken by his ownpersonal danger and fight for life that it took him a few minutes to catch his breath and grasp the situation from where he stood on the Captain's bridge. Wondering if he still had the strength to force a leak in the Vulture's hull, as he had begun to do, he felt in the leather pouch at his neck for the knife. At the bottom of the pouch his fingernails hit a gritty substance, and into his head came an echo of Mr. Wicker's words: "Remember the leather pouch!"
Taking out the knife, the folded balloon, and the map of where the Jewel Tree had been, Chris, leaning against the side of the Mirabelle, shook out the grainy stuff into the palm of one hand.
It looked like ground-up lava. Gray-black, almost a powder, it had a faintly sulphurous smell. As he turned it speculatively in his hand, wondering how he was supposed to use it, a few grains sifted between Chris's fingers and fell over the side into the sea.
Instantly, as soon as they touched the water, several infinitesimal flames started up, burning on the waves as hardily as if they had fallen onto dry grass, and their heat produced a sturdy mist which rose in heavy spirals from every grain.
Then Chris knew what it was for. Shaking every particle carefully back into the bag, he hurried to find Captain Blizzard.