The Life Savers: A story of the United States life-saving service

by Anonymous

  CHAPTER XI.

  THE STRANDED STEAMER.

  Benny delayed in carrying out the instructions given by Sam Hardyonly sufficiently long to remove Fluff's collar and medal, and afterthat but little time was spent in "filling himself up," because theexcitement had driven away what small remnant of appetite was leftafter the feast which Mr. Bradford had set before them.

  Fluff, wearied perhaps by the attentions bestowed upon him in the city,was perfectly willing to occupy the bed which the cook made up for himnear the kitchen stove, and failed to exhibit any sign of displeasurewhen his young master left him.

  "I guess he's had all the excursion he wants in one day," Benny saidas he followed Sam out into the fast gathering gloom, and the latterreplied sagely:

  "Dogs are much like boys, No. 8, as I've said before. They think ofnothin' but pleasure while the fun is goin' on, an' when it's over aredisposed to pay more attention to their own weariness than duty."

  "But Fluff couldn't help staying in the city just as long as we werethere," Benny said, as if thinking some apology was needed for the dog."He would have been willing enough to come home if we'd shown him theway."

  "I dare say he would, Benny, I dare say he would; and now we'll turnour attention to the work before us instead of givin' any heed to boysor dogs. I'm thinkin' the captain of that steamer will change his mindabout landing the passengers when he learns that the tugs can't getto him for quite a spell, an' after he takes note of that fog-bank toseaward."

  Benny gazed in the direction indicated by the surfman's outstretchedhand, but failed to distinguish anything which betokened fog, until Samcalled his attention to a dark line along the horizon, and also to thefact that there was a decided change in the temperature.

  "There'll be a smother upon us in less than half an hour, an' it'sfortunate I brought an extra supply of Coston signals. That's anothercase, No. 8, where people would talk of luck, an' yet it was onlyreasonable foresight, such as any man ought to exercise."

  Sam was making his way along the coast at his best pace, which was sorapid that at times Benny was forced to run, and when ten minutes hadpassed the boy asked, panting for breath:

  "Why are you hurrying? All the crew are out to the steamer, and a watchashore won't be needed until quite a while after they have come back."

  "True, lad; but it's necessary to get the location of the ship wellfixed in mind before the fog shuts down. Once that has been done we cango out to her without any great trouble, providin' we're needed."

  The two arrived none too soon at the post they were to occupy.

  On gaining the bluff opposite the steamer, the mist, which had beenrapidly creeping over the ocean, had already begun to envelop her, andno more than the spars could be distinguished.

  "Ten minutes' delay, and we'd have been too late, not only to make herout, but to hear what orders Tom Downey may have to give," the surfmansaid, and Benny could faintly distinguish amid the vapor a dark spotwhich he understood, because of Sam Hardy's words, to be the surf-boatcoming shoreward.

  Five minutes later the crew rested on their oars within an hundred feetof the bluff, as the keeper shouted:

  "Did you send a message to the city?"

  "Ay, sir, and there will be no tugs here much before high water."

  "Keep your ears open for the steamer's whistle, which will be soundedthree times if the captain decides that he needs assistance."

  "And what then, sir? It will be hard making out such a signal as thatnow the fog-horn has begun to blow."

  It was as if the keeper had only realized this fact by thus beingreminded of it, and after a brief consultation with the crew he shoutedagain:

  "We'll come ashore on that bit of shingle just below, and you may joinus there."

  Having said this he gave some order to the men, and the surf-boat waspulled out to sea again, disappearing almost immediately in the fogwhich had by this time reached the land.

  "Why are they coming ashore?" Benny asked as Sam Hardy set outnorthward.

  "He counts on havin' the surf-boat in case she may be needed, for, ifthis smother clears away before the moon rises, there'll be a sea onthat will trouble yonder steamer considerably."

  Sam followed the trend on the shore a hundred yards or more, coming toa halt where a narrow strip of pebbly beach lay between two frowningwalls of rock, and Benny said to himself that it would not be possible,however familiar the life-saving crew were with the coast, for themto find their way through this dangerous passage while the fog was sodense that objects a dozen feet away could hardly be distinguished.

  In this he was mistaken, however. The men had been forced many times,either to save their own lives or in the aid of others, to pursuequite as blind a course, and two or three minutes later the surf-boatcame between the frowning walls against which the waves were alreadybeginning to dash with an ominous moan.

  Now Benny had an opportunity of observing how much labor might berequired of the life-saving crew when it became necessary to takeprecautions.

  The captain of the stranded steamer had refused to allow his passengersto be taken off when it might have been done without difficulty, andnow, aground as she was, much danger was to be apprehended. This couldbe guarded against only by leaving the surf-boat where she mightreadily be launched. At the same time the remainder of the coast mustbe patrolled lest other ships needed assistance, and the crew wereforced to perform all their regular duties while remaining on the alertto answer a call from this point.

  "Suppose the steamer should whistle for assistance, and at the sametime a vessel went ashore the other side of the station?" Benny asked."How could one crew attend to both?"

  "It would be the keeper's duty to decide which craft was in thegreatest danger, or, if both were in much the same position, wherethe largest number of lives might be saved, and then one or the otherwould be left to her fate. There's where the responsibility of thekeeper comes in, my son, and a heavy one it is like to be under certaincircumstances."

  The surf-boat had been hauled up beyond reach of the tide when itshould rise, and all the men ordered out on patrol.

  There was no time to be spent in eating supper, for the most dreaded ofall dangers upon the Eastern coast had suddenly presented itself, andthe life-saving crew must labor to the utmost extent of their powerswithout thought or heed of self until, perchance, exhaustion shouldovercome them.

  Sam and Benny were left alone, and a long, dreary vigil did theykeep, although the surfman tried to enliven it for the lad by tellingstories, or explaining again and again the duties of each member of thecrew under supposititious circumstances.

  The fog hung low and dense until nearly midnight, when the wind hadso increased in force that it was "blown away," to use Sam Hardy'sexpression, and the steamer revealed to view.

  That the surf had been rising all this time the watchers on shore knewfull well by the roaring and pounding of the waves upon the rocks, butyet even Sam Hardy, experienced in such matters as he was, betrayedsurprise when the lifting of the fog revealed the situation of thestranded steamer.

  At the time she was first discovered the vessel lay motionless as if atanchor in a quiet haven; now the heavy swell, dashing over the shoal,was so high that at times it seemed as if the steamer's decks must beflooded, and Sam Hardy cried anxiously and impatiently:

  "Why don't that pig-headed captain signal for assistance? I've seen acraft more staunch than she knocked to pieces by the surf when therewasn't half a gale of wind, an' now we're likely to have before mornin'all the breeze that a water-borne craft can stagger under, to saynothin' of one that's aground."

  "Perhaps he's waitin' until daylight," Benny suggested, and hiscompanion replied with a note of anger in his voice:

  "If he does it'll be too late, for in that shallow water we couldn'tget a life-boat to her, an' the time has already passed when we mightbe able to use the surf-boat."

  Five minutes later the two watchers on shore saw, coming around thepoint, the heavy boat from the
station, and understood that KeeperDowney believed the moment had arrived when assistance should berendered, even though as yet it had not been asked for.

  "I reckon the cook is No. 1 in that crew," Sam muttered half to himselfas he watched the buoyant craft toss like an egg-shell on the heavywaters. "Downey might at least have sent him out here, an' let me takemy proper place, for now the life-boat has been launched there's littleneed of keepin' a man on duty at this place."

  It was a brave sight to see that staunch boat breasting the waves whichat times appeared to raise her literally on end, but yet steadilycontinuing the course, and the timid ones aboard the stranded steamermust have hailed her as a thing of beauty and of mercy.

  Benny had never seen the life-boat in service, and so engrossed was hewith the spectacle that he could give no attention to anything else.

  By this time not a vestige of fog could be seen. The stars weretwinkling brightly in the sky, and, save for the tremendous wind whichseemed gathering force every instant, one would have said that therewas no fear of disaster alongshore.

  The life-boat ran down the coast, heading directly for the steameruntil she was within perhaps an eighth of a mile, when, turning, sheput straight out to sea in the teeth of the wind as if running awayfrom the stranded vessel, and Benny cried:

  "Mr. Downey's afraid to go any nearer; but why doesn't he come back tothe station?"

  "Bless your heart, lad, he's countin' on boardin' that craft as soon asmay be; but with such a sea runnin', an' over that shallow water whichis like to let the life-boat down on the shoal when she gets into thetrough of the sea, he's bound to take every precaution. Now! He's castthe grapnel, an' you'll see them drop back as close aboard the steameras can be done with safety."

  This manoeuvre was performed rapidly, and with the least possible delay.

  Almost before Sam had ceased speaking the life-boat was lost to view onthe starboard side of the steamer, and there she remained so long thatthe surfman cried impatiently:

  "What can they be doin'? Surely there has been time enough to take offa full load, an' Tom Downey knows as well as any other man, that in anhour from now no craft ever put together by human hands can lay overthat shoal without being dashed to pieces on the bottom."

  It was soon seen, however, that Tom Downey was not delaying, forpresently the life-boat was pulled up to her grapnel, and then headedfor the station, with none save the regular crew on board.

  Now it was that Sam Hardy lost his temper entirely; he stormed andscolded, shaking his fist toward the stranded craft until, almost inalarm, Benny asked the reason of his excitement:

  "Can't you see that again the commander of the steamer has refusedassistance? Tom Downey went off believin' the pig-headed masterwould realize the danger by this time, an' counted on bringin' thepassengers ashore; but he's been sent away empty-handed, and when thatcaptain comes to his senses it'll be too late for us to give him anyassistance."

  "Surely, Mr. Downey has done all a man can, and if anything happensnow it's the master of the steamer who is responsible," Benny saidsoothingly.

  "That doesn't relieve us from some shadow of blame in case anythinghappens. We shall be raked over the coals if that craft goes to pieces,an' Downey will be forced to explain why he didn't insist on saving thepassengers, if not the crew!"

  "But he couldn't if the captain refused."

  "True for you, lad; but it'll hurt us all the same, for the crew ofa life-saving station feels a certain degree of responsibility forevery life lost in their district, and thus far our record has beenexceptionally good."

  It was useless for Sam to scold and fret.

  The circumstances could not be altered, and all he might do was tostand on the shore watching the increasing violence of the waters,knowing full well that each moment lessened the chances of renderingassistance to the stranded steamer.

  Then came Joe Cushing, who was doing patrol duty on that portion of theshore, and Sam asked for the particulars of the life-boat's voyage.

  "When we came alongside Downey explained to the skipper what was liketo be the condition of affairs an hour later; but couldn't beat anysense into his head. He refused to allow a single passenger to leave,although many of them were anxious to do so; but asked again that wesend another message into the city for tugs," Joe Cushing replied. "Itseems that the craft hasn't taken ground so badly but that she could bepulled off with her own engines, by the aid of a couple of tugs, an'the master declares she'll stand more poundin' than she's likely toreceive this night, all of which may be true. Just as we were leavin'he asked the keeper to have the crew on hand in case he decided laterto land with his own boats."

  "With his own boats in this surf!" Sam Hardy exclaimed.

  "Ay, that's what he allowed. Of course Tom Downey told him it couldn'tbe done, an' said all a man might to dissuade him from makin' such anattempt. Then we came away, an' Sam, you know as well as I, that nowthere's no crew in this or any other country that can put out acrossthe shoal an' get back with their boat."

  "Know it, of course I do!" Sam Hardy cried, and then for ten minutesor more the two surfmen discussed the situation angrily, but withoutmaking matters any better, save perhaps it might be that their ownminds were relieved by much talking, after which Joe Cushing went onpatrol again.

  When he was gone Benny asked:

  "Are we to stay here, sir?"

  "Ay, lad, until we starve, unless Tom Downey orders us in."

  The wind was piercing cold, and the two on the shore were exposed toits full force while they remained where it was possible to keep thesteamer in view.

  Sam urged Benny to find a sheltered spot where he might be partiallyscreened from the wind; but the lad refused, saying decidedly:

  "I have been ordered here, sir, the same as you were, and I'll do whatany other member of the crew would in my place."

  "All right, No. 8; but I hold to it that there's such a thing as havin'too much grit. You want to toughen up; but you're goin' too strong atthe start. If you're bound to hold on, keep pace with me while I trotaround here a spell."

  Then the two paced back and forth along the rocky coast nearly an hourwhen, although constantly expecting it, they were startled by thesteamer's shrill whistle.

  Three blasts blown, and Sam Hardy exclaimed:

  "He's come to his senses at last; but when it's too late! Now, whateverhappens, he'll say he was 'unlucky,' although we know it was nothin'but sheer willfulness."

  "What are we to do?" Benny asked, as if thinking they must immediatelyset to work in an attempt to answer this call for assistance.

  "That's for the keeper to say. If I was in his place I'd get thebeach-wagon over here, for the boats are of no use."

  "Sha'n't I run back toward the station so's to help them in casethey're comin' with the cart?"

  "No, Benny. Our orders were to stay here, an' here we'll wait."

  To show that the call for assistance was heard and understood, SamHardy flashed his Coston signal, and less than half an hour laterthe crew from the station came up at full speed, but without thebeach-wagon.

  "We'll make one fight with the surf-boat," Tom Downey said hurriedlyto Sam, "and if that proves useless, as I reckon it will, we'll try tosend a line aboard, although there's little show it can be done whileshe lays so far from shore."

  Hardy joined the crew as they ran toward the surf-boat, which washauled up on shore a short distance away, and Benny wondered that heshould be so willing to make the attempt when but a short time previoushe had declared it an absolute impossibility they could gain thesteamer's side in either boat.

  Now the lad saw for the second time what an heroic struggle _his_ crewcould make against almost insurmountable difficulties.

  Across the shoal the sea was running wildly, while inshore the spraydashed so high as to completely hide the steamer from view at times.

  It seemed little short of madness to put out even in the staunchlife-boat, yet Tom Downey and his brave fellows made the venturewithout he
sitation.

  With three on either side and the keeper at the stern, they waited withthe surf-boat close at the water-line until the heavy swell had brokenupon the shore and was receding, when, following it, they ran intothe waves breast-deep, leaping aboard their craft instantly she waswater-borne.

  Benny literally held his breath in suspense as, under the impulse ofsix oars, the surf-boat was forced out into that tumult of waters, andere she had sailed a hundred yards the heavy waves, striking her bow,lifted her up, up, up, until she was literally pitch-poled backwards,throwing every member of the crew into the sea.

  A cry of horror burst from the lad's lips as he ran down to the pebblybeach, fancying his puny strength might avail in that terrific strugglewhich must ensue, for he had good reason to fear that not one of hiscomrades would reach the shore alive.

  The men had prepared themselves for this battle by throwing off allsuperfluous clothing, despite the chilling wind, and now was shownthe advantage which they had over deep-water sailors, for, knowingevery trend of the current along the coast, and accustomed to availthemselves of it under all conditions of weather, it was possible forthem to do what one who had not been bred to such dangers would havelost his life in doing.

  The lad who stood trembling with apprehension on the shore wasliterally amazed at seeing one after another of the sturdy fellowsemerge from the foaming waters, and make his way ashore either bycreeping on his hands and knees, or, throwing himself backward upon thecrest of a wave, and allow the volume of water to sweep him upon thebeach even at the risk of dashing him against the rocks.

  No more than ten minutes had elapsed from the time the surf-boat putout before the last member of the crew was on the cliff, all bruisedand beaten more or less, but alive and ready for further duty, even ata time when such a duty seemed impossible.