Iceberg

Hazel recalls a story that her father used to tell her about a Viking king who knew that he could never be as powerful as the heavens and earth. Unlike that king, the Titanic boasts the ability to “command the very tides of the ocean” and is said to be unsinkable (4). Hazel stands in line to board the steerage deck but doesn’t have enough money for a ticket. After walking for days and sleeping in barns, as well as promising her mother that she would go, Hazel attempts to find another way to board. Hazel’s father died two years earlier, and her mother struggles to meet the expenses of raising five children. As a result, Hazel’s aunt offered to take care of Hazel while she lives in New York and works at a garment factory. Hazel feels like she’s giving up her dreams to go.

Hazel looks around for a way to board and is stopped by a girl from first class named Sylvia Thorngood. Sylvia, who doesn’t seem to notice that Hazel is dirty and has only a small bag, talks about having dinner together on the ship. A woman arrives, looking at Hazel like she’s less-than, and hurries Sylvia away. Afterward, Hazel sneaks into the cargo area and stows away inside a luggage trunk.

Hazel’s trunk is loaded onto the ship, and another is put on top of it, temporarily trapping her inside. After crew members move the trunks around, Hazel can get out. She overhears men talking about a fire on the ship. Making her way to the third-class level undetected, Hazel follows groups of people as they head to the deck to wave goodbye to their loved ones and to England.

A porter named Charlie Blight invites Hazel up to the first-class deck to get a better view, and Hazel gets to see the grand staircase and a view of all Southampton. While there, she overhears a couple talking about their “plan” to find some money on board the ship. A man comes up to the deck and points out that the Titanic is about to crash into another ship, commenting that he hopes Captain Edward Smith won’t “put a hole in this ship too” like he did the Olympic (22). Hazel makes a note of this, resolving to find out what happened to the Olympic, and it occurs to her that she could write and sell the story about her experience of being on the Titanic. An advertisement of the luxurious Titanic appears at the chapter’s end.

Charlie takes Hazel back to the lower deck after an officer notices that she’s out of place. On the way, Charlie tells her about how some of the gates between the decks lock and explains that third-class passengers are kept away from first-class passengers for “health reasons.” He also tells her about a ship called La Bourgogne that sank in 1898 and didn’t have enough lifeboats for all on board. The crew took the boats for themselves, and most of the passengers died. When Hazel asks what might happen if people are locked below on the Titanic during an emergency, Charlie advises her to get to the top deck at the first sign of danger.

Hazel asks Charlie about the fire on the Titanic, and Charlie explains that coal stores often catch fire on their own. It’s almost impossible to stop the fire, so the crew instead works to manage it. He urges Hazel to keep her voice down while discussing it, not wanting to upset any passengers. When she tells Charlie that she plans to write about the ship’s secret fire, he walks away, not wanting to be part of the exposure.

Back on the lower decks, Hazel wanders around in search of a place to spend her nights. She walks down an extraordinarily long corridor called Scotland Road and goes to the poop deck to see the view from the back of the ship. While there, she reflects on how passengers in third class can look back on the poverty they’re leaving behind, while first-class passengers look ahead to their next opportunity. Hazel’s only scrap of paper is already filled with notes, so she decides to sneak back up to the top decks to find more. On the way, she meets an elderly lady named Mrs. Abelman, who asks Hazel to help her down some stairs. Hazel agrees and learns that Mrs. Abelman is traveling alone just like her and used to work for a wealthy family but was accused of theft by their housekeeper, which led her to her current life.

Mrs. Abelman can see that Hazel is smart and bold, particularly because she’s willing to leave her family behind and go out into the world alone. Hearing that Hazel wants to be a journalist, Mrs. Abelman gives her a leather notebook, which Hazel immensely appreciates. She encourages Hazel to always tell the truth and invites her to spend time with her later. Hazel decides to write the truth about the Titanic, no matter what it does to the reputation of its captain and makers.

On the first night, Hazel sleeps underneath a stairwell, waking constantly and growing increasingly hungry. When she feels fairly certain that no one is around, she gets up to search for food and finds Charlie standing nearby, looking at her. They stare at one another, but the silence is soon broken as Charlie accuses Hazel of committing a crime by stowing away. He reveals that he checked the passenger list and couldn’t find her name on it. She tries to explain that she only did what she had to do for her family and plans to repay the ticket as soon as she can. He looks at her, expressionless, and then leaves, telling her to wait for him. When he returns, he leads Hazel to an unoccupied cabin, complete with a bed and some food waiting for her. He tells her that she can stay in the cabin and go anywhere that third-class passengers are allowed. Overcome with gratitude, Hazel insists that Charlie call her by her first name and gives him a hug to thank him, knowing that she has made a friend.

Three days before the Titanic sinks, it leaves its final stop in Ireland. Hazel continues exploring the ship and finding out as much as she can about its history. At breakfast, she overhears two ladies talking about the Olympic and asks what happened to it. One woman explains that Captain Smith wanted to prove the ship’s speed and entered into a sort of race with a battleship. The battleship was sucked into the Olympic’s wake and punctured it, but because of the Olympic’s double hull, Smith was able to sail it back to port for repairs. Hazel starts to get a strange feeling like something will go wrong and wonders if she should have left the ship but tells herself that she’s on the verge of a great story. When she overhears another couple talking about the ship’s fast speed, Hazel spots Sylvia from above, waving down at her. Next to her are her governess, Miss Gruber, and the Mollisons, who Hazel suspects are on the ship for nefarious reasons.

Hazel runs into Charlie at lunch and asks about the coal fire again. He explains that while it’s contained, it’s burning up coal very quickly, and the ship may not make it to New York if it doesn’t move quickly enough. He holds the belief that the ship is unsinkable because even though it only has one hull, it’s double-reinforced on the bottom.

Unconvinced that the ship is safe, Hazel worries about it not having a double hull, and Charlie looks slightly alarmed but covers by saying that even if a problem did occur, the ship should stay afloat long enough for a rescue. Before leaving, Charlie shares positive news: Sylvia invited Hazel up to first class for dinner. Hazel worries about sticking out in her old, tattered dress, but Sylvia sent her a nice one to wear. Hazel remembers her mother saying something about high-class people having “intelligence, charm, and wealth” and knows that she at least has intelligence (69). The chapter’s end displays and compares the first- and third-class menus; the latter is simpler and features more comfort foods, while the first-class menu features lighter, more delicate menu items.

Charlie finds a lost ribbon on the ground and gives it to Hazel to wear to the dinner. He tells her that she looks classy and directs her to Café Parisien. There, Hazel is greeted by Miss Gruber, who inspects her appearance, scolds her about a knot in her hair, and asks why she’s going to the US. Hazel is nervous about not technically being allowed on the first-class deck and thinks about the cost of the meal she’s about to eat, but seeing Sylvia quells her concerns temporarily.

Sylvia introduces her to Mr. Emerson Waddington, a man studying ship design, and the Mollisons soon join the group. Hazel tries to tell Sylvia about her suspicions but doesn’t have time, and Mrs. Mollison seems to recognize Sylvia from the day before. She accuses Hazel of stealing her notebook and insults the writing profession, but Hazel ignores it, changing the topic to the ship. She asks the engineering student about the ship’s hull, and he admits that an iceberg could be a problem for the Titanic but adds that the lookout crew would see it in time. He also explains that the ship has bulkheads, which are large locking doors that seal off sections from flooding. The ship is thus thought unlikely to sink.

Hazel sits at dinner, hating the oysters and every other strange food put in front of her. Miss Gruber stares at her disapprovingly, particularly when she puts her elbows on the table, and when Mrs. Mollison hears that Hazel’s father was a fisherman, she insists that she leave the table. Sylvia defends Hazel, proclaiming that she’ll be a great journalist one day, and insists that Hazel stay. When the captain enters the café, a man asks him about icebergs, and the captain assures the man that all risks will be known well in advance. Hazel decides to ask some questions too, wondering both how fast the ship is going and how quickly it can turn. The captain tells her and everyone else listening that the lookout crew will be able to see any danger well in advance and then leaves before Hazel can ask any more questions. When Hazel sits down, she sees that Sylvia is embarrassed and that Miss Gruber is angry at her. Miss Gruber says that Hazel doesn’t belong, and Hazel takes it as her cue to leave.