"Are we going to blow up?"
"Is the ship sinking?"
"Don't be alarmed!" Captain Falcon exhorted them, but, even as he spoke, there came a second dull rumbling, a trembling of the vessel, and another explosion, louder than the first. There were screams from frightened women and children, and a number of men passengers made a rush for the boats, as the sailors had done before.
CHAPTER VII
IN PORT
"Stand back!" cried Captain Falcon, and again his hand went to his pocket as though to draw a weapon. "Stand back! The same rule applies to you men passengers as to the sailors. Women and children first! Do you hear? Stand back!"
The rush was halted almost before it started. Then Mr. Switzer, who had taken no part in it, said slowly:
"Dot is right. Gentlemen, ve are forgetting ourselves!"
"And it took him—above everyone else—to remind them of it," said Mr. DeVere in a low voice. He had remained by the side of his daughters.