CHAPTER XXII-IN THE GRIP OF THE STORM

The _Horolusa_ had left Norfolk with the sun shining, but after she had steamed a day on her way to Boston the weather changed, the sun becoming obscured by heavy clouds and the air growing sultry and heavy. The pa.s.sengers took little note of this, except in a casual way, but the ships' officers wore a somewhat worried look as they went about their duties, for the barometer had been falling steadily all the morning and had now reached a low point that forecasted trouble, and that in the near future. The sea was calm, with a long, oily heave that soon sent a number of the pa.s.sengers to the seclusion of their staterooms.

Dr. Dale and his party were fairly good sailors, however, and they stayed in a corner of the deck that they had preempted, and discussed the various happenings during the trip. Everybody had had an enjoyable time, and they could look back and think of a dozen pleasant incidents that had made the tour one to be remembered in after years.

"I think it was nothing short of an inspiration that led you to propose this trip, Doctor Dale," said Mrs. Layton. "I antic.i.p.ated a good time, but I never imagined that it could be half so enjoyable as it has turned out to be."

"It has indeed been a memorable one," agreed the doctor. "In fact, it has been so very successful that I think we should take others from time to time. The change is good for all of us, too. Mrs. Dale claims to feel infinitely better than when we started, and I am sure we can all say the same thing."

"Yes, indeed," agreed Mrs. Plummer. "I hope the weather will continue as perfect as it has been so far, although it doesn't look very promising just at present."

"It has clouded over rather rapidly," said the doctor, surveying the gloomy sky. "But I hardly imagine it will amount to anything. It is very unlikely that we shall have a storm at this time of year, you know."

Even as he spoke a sharp puff of wind blew across the decks, whistled in the rigging, and died away. A few minutes later another gust came, this time a little stronger, and before they fairly realized it, a brisk breeze was blowing. Meanwhile, the cloudiness had deepened, and the sea was beginning to rise. Under the lowering sky the ocean turned a dull gray color, flecked by little white caps as the breeze continually freshened.

By the time the dinner gong sounded, the little party was glad to go below decks out of the wind, which had a raw edge to it. The boat was now rolling and pitching considerably, and there was a comparatively scanty gathering around the long tables. Conversation was rather limited, and immediately after dinner the ladies of the party retired to their staterooms.

Dr. Dale and Mr. Layton went up on deck again, and they were astonished at the change which had taken place even in the short time they had been below.

The wind had risen to a gale, and was driving before it big rolling seas crested with foam. The vessel plowed into these, at times plunging her bows completely under and sending a flood of green water back over her decks as she rose and shook herself free of the weight of water. Life lines had been rigged about the decks, and without these it would have been almost impossible to get about at all. The doctor and Mr. Layton and a few other men sought the lee of a deck house, where they gazed out over the wild waste of waters with astonishment not unmixed with alarm.

Still, they knew that their ship was a staunch one and that they had little to fear unless some unforeseen accident took place.

All that afternoon the ship wallowed and plunged through the angry seas, her speed reduced until she had only enough to keep her head into the wind. At times the stern would rise high in the air, until the propeller was lifted clear of the water, whereupon the engines would race madly for a few seconds before the stern went down and the propeller bit into the water once more. Everything moveable about the decks had been lashed down, or it would have been over the side long ago.

Darkness came early over the tossing waste of waters, and the men retired to the snug smoking room, where they discussed the storm in a desultory manner.

Those who felt so inclined had just risen to go to the dining room for supper when they were thrown back into their chairs by a shock that caused the vessel to shiver from stem to stern. It seemed to hesitate and stand still for a moment, and then started on again as though nothing had happened. Excited voices and footsteps were heard all over the ship, and those in the smoking room gazed at one another in consternation.

A few minutes later the engines stopped, and as her steerage-way slackened the great vessel fell into the trough of the waves, where she rolled and wallowed in a helpless manner.

"We'd better go and look after the ladies," said Dr. Dale. "I'm afraid something serious has happened."

Dr. Dale and Mr. Layton made their way with all possible speed to the staterooms occupied by the ladies, whom they found grouped together in the corridor anxiously awaiting their arrival.

Meanwhile events were moving quickly on the ship's bridge and in her wireless room. The _Horolusa_ had struck a derelict, floating awash with the surface of the sea, and a big rent had been torn in her bows. The ship's officers realized at once the serious nature of the accident. The pumps were set going and the wireless man was instructed to send a call for a.s.sistance. For what seemed an age he repeated the S. O. S. call without receiving any answer, but at last his receiver buzzed, and he listened eagerly for the answer. But at once a puzzled look came over his face, and he turned to his fellow wireless man.

"Whoever's answering our message gives the call of the Ocean Point station, and yet it can't be either of the regular radio men there," he said. "This message is being sent by an amateur, I'll swear to that."

"Sounds that way," the other agreed, after listening to the head set a moment. "But you can tell by the strength of the signals that it can't be just an amateur station. Possibly the regular operator is away or sick, and some amateur has taken his place."

"Well, he says he will relay our call, anyway," said the other. "Amateur or not, he seems to be on the job and doing the best he can for us. And Heaven knows we need all the help we can get, because we're in a bad way."

The _Horolusa_ was indeed in sore straits. Her bow had settled low in the water and the big waves broke over it continually. The crew had made several attempts to launch the lifeboats, but the vessel was rolling so badly that they were smashed to splinters against her sides before they could reach the water. The wind howled wildly around the superstructure and in the rigging, and it was also raining heavily, soaking the shivering pa.s.sengers to the skin as they stood huddled about the decks.

Life preservers had been handed about and nearly everybody wore one of these.

High up in the wireless cabin the two operators could hear the call for help flashing out loud and clear from the powerful land station as it was repeated over and over by the unknown sender there. Little did Bob's father and mother suspect that their son was aware of their peril and was trying desperately to save their lives and those of the hundreds of other pa.s.sengers on the big ship.

At last, after what seemed an interminable time to the anxious wireless men, they heard an answering call from some ship laboring through the black and stormy night, and a little while later they heard still another ship promise to go to their a.s.sistance.

"Glory be!" they exclaimed, in unison. "I hope they're not far away,"

said one. "I'm afraid the old _Horolusa_ has taken her last voyage. If the forward bulkhead gives way, she'll go down like a shot."

"They can't make much speed in a sea like this, either," said the other anxiously. "But I see the YS station has stopped sending. I guess he must have heard those boats promise to come to our help. And they sure can't get here a bit too soon."

The _Horolusa_ was indeed in a desperate condition. Below decks the engineer force was laboring mightily to brace the forward bulkhead so that it would stand against the tremendous pressure of the water without. The bulkhead was sagging inward, and even as the men labored they could see flakes of paint come off the iron as it bent inward. It took the highest kind of courage to work in the face of such peril, because they knew if the bulkhead once gave way they would be drowned under tons of water without any chance whatever to escape. They braced big timbers against the frail wall that meant the only barrier between them and instant death.

"I guess that's about all we can do, men," said the chief engineer at length. "I'll call for a few volunteers to stay below and keep the pumps running, and the rest of you had better get up on deck. She's likely to go at any minute."

A few hardy souls volunteered, and the rest swarmed up the long iron ladders, thankful to get away from the awful menace of that bulging bulkhead. Arrived on deck, they found conditions there little better than those they had just left below. Several of the lifeboats had been wrecked by big seas, and the remainder had been stove in when the crew attempted to lower them down the side.

Dr. Dale's little party kept together, and they all did the best they could to encourage each other. The pa.s.sengers had been informed that two vessels were coming to their a.s.sistance, but even to the inexperienced eye of a landsman it was evident that the _Horolusa_ was settling steadily lower in the water. Big seas broke constantly over her bows and encroached further and further up the sloping decks as the pa.s.sengers were driven steadily toward the stern. The ship's officers pa.s.sed about the decks, keeping order and doing the best they could to rea.s.sure the pa.s.sengers. The captain had ordered rockets sent off from the bridge, and these soared aloft at intervals and cast a momentary light over the wild and endless succession of mountainous waves that seemed like a victorious army marching on a helpless city.

Dr. Dale offered up an earnest prayer for their safe deliverance from this terrible peril, in which all those within hearing joined; and it seemed indeed as though nothing short of divine interposition could save them from a watery grave.

The clank of the pumps resounded through the ship and sounded to the pa.s.sengers like the knell of doom. The crew worked in relays, and as fast as one shift had toiled to the verge of exhaustion another group took their places. They worked with the energy of desperation, for they knew that they were fighting for their own lives as well as for those of the pa.s.sengers.

In the meantime the engineers were risking their lives a dozen times over in trying to patch up the rent in the damaged bow of the boat. Some of them had been lowered over the side by means of ropes, and the sea dashed over them constantly as they sought to cover the rent with heavy canvas. If this could be done successfully it would keep out the bulk of the water, and the pumps might be able to keep the vessel going until the promised help arrived.

That help seemed an endless time in coming, but at length the captain's night gla.s.ses caught sight of a point of light upon the waves. It came nearer and nearer until it became evident that a ship was bearing down upon them. A great rocket soared into the air in answer to those sent up by the _Horolusa_, and in the light from it could be seen the outline of a large steamer that changed its course and swept around until it was parallel with the _Horolusa_ and yet at a sufficient distance to prevent the vessels being driven into each other.

The roar of the storm prevented any call being heard from one captain to the other, but down in the wireless room the operators were busy and a plan of action was agreed upon. By this time the patch of sail had been fastened over the hole in the bow of the _Horolusa_, and she had ceased to settle in the water. With the sea shut out from the bow, the pumps speedily cleared out the water that was already in the hold of the ship and she was perceptibly rising in the water. If the patch held, the vessel might still be saved, or at least kept afloat until the sea calmed down, when permanent repairs could be made.

As the fate of the _Horolusa's_ lifeboats had proved that it was impossible for small boats to live in such a sea, it was arranged that the _Falcon_ as the rescuing vessel was named, would stand by until morning or until the storm abated, and then either take the _Horolusa's_ pa.s.sengers aboard or try to help the vessel itself into port.

Two hours later the lights of another vessel loomed above the horizon and the steamer _Esperanto_ came hurrying to help. She too offered to stand by and give every a.s.sistance in her power.

The relief of the pa.s.sengers of the _Horolusa_, who for hours had been gazing into the very eyes of death, were beyond the power of words to express. When Dr. Dale, who had visited the wireless room, came back to report that the S. O. S. message that had brought the two vessels to their aid had been relayed from Ocean Point the wonder of those from Clintonia broke out in exclamations.

"And a curious thing," the doctor added, "is that the operators feel sure that the call was sent by amateurs. There was something about it-something halting, uncertain-that made them sure it didn't come from a professional. Perhaps-who knows?-it may have been Bob or Joe whose message saved the ship!"

"If we are really saved," came with a shudder from Mrs. Layton. "If only the storm were over!"

"And we were safe on land," added Mrs. Plummer.

She had scarcely spoken when the steamer gave a mighty heave and they heard the rush of water over her bow.

"We're sinking! We're sinking!" came a scream from one frightened pa.s.senger.

"Not yet," added another quickly. "But it looks mighty bad."

CHAPTER XXIII-FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH

It was in a tumult of excitement that the radio boys started out to run down Dan Ca.s.sey, who they felt sure was the rascal who had a.s.saulted Brandon Harvey and robbed the safe. They were, too, in a frenzy of apprehension about the fate of their parents and friends out on the stormy sea.