Also Read
The Accident of 'Patna'
Summary
Jim is quite content and at peace because 'Patna' is sailing very smoothly and peacefully. Jim experiences "a great certitude of unbounded safety and peace." The pilgrims are enjoying their sleep in their blankets, they are seen by Jim from the ship's bridge.
After a few moments, the second engineer appears there and starts quarreling with the skipper. The second engineer seems lightly drunk and when the skipper asks him where he got the drink from, Fie replies that he did not gel it from him because he is too miserly to give. Jim feels amused and entertained by their informal talk.
Suddenly, a strange thing happens there. A serious jolt shakes the ship and The engineer moved back and forth....suddenly pitched down....as though he had been cubbed from behind..." Jim and the skipper get amazed and look at the star and sea that look as undisturbed, and as calm as they were.
Analysis
This chapter meets its end with, a suggestion of suspense. The intensity of the accident is not revealed in this chapter. Thus the reader gets excited and curious to know what would happen afterward.