Jack and Annie slipped through a door off the boatdeck. Teddy was at their heals.
"WOW" breathed Annie.
"Arf Arf!"Teddy barkedThey were at the top of the empty guard stairway.
It was beautiful. It was made of dark glossy wood. Ahuge dome with lights hung above it.
At the top of the stairs was a fancy clock. Thehands of the clock were at 12:20.
31"Oh, man, it's twenty minutes after midnight!" saidJack. "The ship's going down in two hours!"They hurried down the carpeted steps and into thefirst-class hallway. Teddy followed along.
Jack looked at the map in the book. "These are thestaterooms," he said. "This hall will take us to thethird-class open deck.""Hey, look," said Annie. "The floor's slantingdown."Jack caught his breath. She was right. "That meansthe front of the ship is already sinking," he said.
Just then, a man in a white uniform came down thehall.
He knocked on the doors.
"Put on your life belts at once and come up to theboat deck!" he called.
Men and women stumbled out of their rooms. Theywore elegant robes made of shiny cloth and velvet.
"What's going on?" a woman asked. "There's been alittle accident," the man in the uniform saidcheerfully.
"Oh, how silly," said the woman.
"It's not silly!" said Annie. "Do what he says!""Arf Arf"Teddy barked, as if he agreed with Annie.
"Shhh, Teddy!" said Jack.
He picked up the little dog. Then he and Anniehurried down the hall. They crossed the third-classopen deck, where more people were standing.
These people were not dressed in fancy clothes.
They mostly wore plain, dark coats. They didn't seemworried either. They were all joking and laughing.
Jack and Annie slipped through the crowd. Theywent into a big smoky room.
Four men were playing cards.
A woman played the piano. A young couple dancedto the music.
"Put on your life belts and go up to the boat deck!"Annie shouted.
The people looked at Annie in surprise. The cardplayers smiled at her.
She opened her mouth to yell again, but Jack pulledher out the door.
"Come on," he said. "We have to get down to thethird-class cabins before it's too late."They hurried down another hall. Thenthey climbed down another stairway. Jack carriedTeddy the whole way.
At the bottom of the stairs, they rounded a corner,and they both gasped.
The floor was really slanting down here, and watersloshed at the end of a hallway. "The Titanic issinking," said Jack.
"But no one understands!" said Annie.
"I know," said Jack. It made him feel terribly sad.
Teddy whined. Jack buried his face in the littledog's fur.
"Come on!" said Annie.
She began banging on the cabin doors. The doorsswung open. The cabins were all empty.
"The people from this hallway must be the ones upnear the lounge," said Jack. "Maybe we should godown to a lower deck."He started to walk back to the stairs. ButTeddy began barking furiously"What's wrong with him?" said Jack. "I don't know,"said Annie.
Suddenly, the dog leaped out of Jack's arms. Hecharged down the hall.
He was running straight toward the, water!
"Watch out!" cried Jack.
He and Annie ran after Teddy.
The dog began barking at a closed door. The dooropened.
A very small boy peeked out. |