The Survivors of the Chancellor · Chapter
XIII explained
From October 24th to 29th, the fire aboard the Chancellor intensifies, forcing passengers onto the deck as smoke and heat become unbearable.
What happens
From October 24th to 29th, the fire aboard the Chancellor intensifies, forcing passengers onto the deck as smoke and heat become unbearable. Curtis orders the crew to wait and seal all openings, but the flames spread rapidly. A hurricane strikes, making escape by boat impossible. Curtis salvages provisions. On the 29th, the deck panels burst, releasing flames. The madman Ruby escapes confinement, shouts about the picrate, and leaps into the fiery hold. Curtis threatens mutineers with a cutlass to prevent premature boat launch.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Sacrifice
Curtis salvages provisions and threatens mutineers to preserve the only chance of safety, while Ruby's leap into the fire represents a desperate sacrifice.
Leadership and Authority
Curtis's firm command, including using a cutlass to stop the crew from launching boats, demonstrates decisive leadership under extreme duress.
Hope and Despair
The passengers wait in silence, with the picrate explosion seen as a possible relief from the torture of suspense, highlighting the oscillation between hope and despair.
Characters to notice
- Robert Curtis
Curtis maintains command, advising Kazallon that admitting air would worsen the fire, ordering wet tarpaulin over partitions, salvaging provisions, and threatening mutineers with a cutlass to prevent launching boats in the hurricane.
- Mr. Kazallon
Kazallon suggests boring the deck to let in water, but Curtis explains the danger. He visits Ruby and Silas Huntly below, and later recalls the prisoner when Ruby escapes.
- Silas Huntly
Huntly remains calm in his cabin, declines attention, and later emerges with blackened face, bows to Curtis, and climbs to the top of the mizzenmast.
- Miss Herbey
Miss Herbey brings Mrs. Kear on deck when the fire reaches her cabin.
- Mrs. Kear
Mrs. Kear is brought on deck shrieking wildly as the fire reaches her cabin.
- Jynxstrop
Ruby, a raving maniac kept under restraint, escapes confinement, shouts about the picrate, and hurls himself into the fiery hold.
Key passages
“Why not bore the deck? ... Why not admit the water by tons into the hold? What could be the harm? The fire would be quenched; and what would be easier than to pump the water out again?”
Kazallon suggests flooding the hold to extinguish the fire, but Curtis explains that admitting air would cause the flames to rush upward.
Kazallon's proposal and Curtis's rejection highlight the technical dilemma of fighting a fire in a confined wooden ship.
“Touch the tackling of the davit, one of you; only touch it, and I'll cleave your skull.”
Curtis threatens to kill any crew member who attempts to launch a boat in the hurricane, asserting his authority to preserve their only chance of survival.
Curtis's forceful command prevents a premature and likely fatal boat launch.
“The picrate! the picrate! ... we shall all be blown up! the picrate will blow us all up.”
Ruby, the madman, screams about the explosive picrate before leaping into the fire, heightening the terror of an imminent explosion.
Ruby's cry and suicide underscore the constant threat of the picrate cargo.