This was known as a hang fire. The fire in the pan had not traveled into the barrel – perhaps the touch-hole had become blocked by a bit of dirt. Nonetheless, Jack kept the weapon aimed in the general direction of the Turk (which involved some guesswork because the Turk was hidden behind the cloud of smoke from the pan). There might still be a slow fire working its way through the touch-hole – the musket was likely to fire, without warning, at any point during the next couple of minutes.