I carefully felt the bolts to ascertain if they worked easily, and with my fingers examined the staples to see if they were clear and strong. Yes, both were clear and in order. Then noiselessly and tremblingly I lowered the lid and shot the bolts, and so expeditiously and quietly was it done that had there been even less noise below, it is probable that the men would scarcely have known the moment of their trapping, though they would soon perceive the fact from the air becoming hot and vitiated. Groping about I soon found the knife on the cabin floor, and sprang on deck, noticing that the night had grown much darker, and sombre clouds hid the moon; still there was plenty of light for me to see to lower the boat. But now another fact arrested my attention, a startling fact: there was smoke quietly curling up from the fo’castle. I rushed to the hatch, but, looking down, could see nothing for the dense smoke; on listening intently, however, I heard a faint crackling sound as of burning wood. _The ship was on fire!_ Should I release the prisoners? No, that would never do, my life would be forfeited to my humanity without a doubt. Probably they would break out of the strong-room long before the fire reached so far aft, and although I had the only boat, they would probably have sufficient time to rig up some kind of raft, upon which they could remain safely till they were picked up and taken into port by a passing trading vessel. I could imagine them being hanged at Newgate on my evidence! Keeping my eyes on the companion way, I popped into the galley, and fished a huge junk of salt beef out of the boiler in which I had seen the cook place it the night before, for the purpose of soaking it to remove some of the super-abundant salt with which it was saturated. A bucket of doubtfully clean water stood in a corner; I tasted it, and found it was fresh, poured it into a large stone bottle, spilling half of it in my hurry, rammed a dirty cloth into the neck by way of cork, and put bottle and beef into the boat. I hastened to lower the jolly-boat from the davits, but before she touched the water one of the falls jammed, the forward one luckily, and, as I lowered away on the aft one, the stern rested in the water, while the bows remained a couple of feet above it, in a dangerous position. This is not at all an uncommon occurrence, but my nerves were so shaken by the terrible ordeal I had passed through, that I fancied I heard the noise of feet on deck, so seizing my knife I cut away like a madman, making a dozen random cuts where one well-directed one would have sufficed. The boat swung round before I could unhook the other fall, and I was within an ace of meeting a watery grave when she righted, and bumped against the brig’s black side.