by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIX.
AFTER THE EXPLOSION.
When the explosion occurred, the wind was nearly dead ahead, and we werefloating with the current, which was the particular reason why we hadcome so near being run down by the contestants.
"What's the matter?" asked Flora, alarmed by the noise, but unable toexplain the cause of it.
"One of those steamers has burst her boiler. Didn't you see the piecesfly?" I replied.
"But where are the people we saw laughing and talking as she went by?"continued she, with a shudder.
"A good many of them will never laugh and talk any more."
"Hookie!" shouted Sim, as soon as he comprehended the nature of thedisaster. "That's wus'n fallin' in the river."
"Get out the sail, Sim!" I added, sharply.
"What you want the sail for?" inquired he. "The wind ain't right forit."
"Up with it, and we will talk about that afterwards."
Letting go the steering oar, I hastened to Sim's assistance, while theraft whirled in the current as she went down the mighty river. Wehoisted the sail, hauled in the braces, and I took my place on theplatform again. After no little labor at the steering oar, I succeededin putting the raft before the wind, thus heading her up the river.
"What are you going to do, Buckland?" asked Flora, who was watching thescene of the accident with the most painful interest.
"Hundreds of those poor people have already perished, and more will bedrowned, unless they have some help," I replied, much excited. "I amgoing to try and get up there, so as to be of some service."
"O, I hope you will! But there are boats out picking them up already,"added she, wringing her hands, as she realized more vividly the natureof the terrible catastrophe.
"I'm going to do all I can," I replied, thrilled by the exciting scene,which, though a mile distant, we could understand and realize.
I expected the hull of the steamer would float down the river with theswift current, bringing with it all its fearful surroundings; but in herhaste to outstrip her competitor, she had run into the shallow water,and when riven by the explosion, had sunk. The awful scene, therefore,did not come down the stream, as I anticipated. In a few moments, threesteamboats, besides the one which had been engaged in the race, werehovering about the wreck, and at least a dozen boats were busy inpicking up the sufferers.
I found that it was utterly impossible to make any progress against thecurrent with the raft. Though the wind was tolerably fresh from thesouthward, and the sail drew well, it barely held its own. The wreck andthe raft remained about the same distance apart as at the moment of theexplosion. But it was a consolation to know that our services were notabsolutely needed, so abundant was the assistance afforded from theshore, and from the passing steamers.
In a short time parts of the wreck began to come down the river. Wepicked up a broken door, and other pieces of the wood-work, but nothingof any great value. We kept a sharp lookout for any survivors who mighthave been overlooked by the boats about us; but as yet we saw none, oreven any who had been killed. Finding we could be of no service, I wasabout to turn the raft, and resume our voyage, when Flora called myattention to an object floating at some distance from us.
"It's a woman, Buckland!" exclaimed she, clasping my arm with convulsiveenergy.
"So it is," I replied, with my heart almost in my throat.
We were all too young and inexperienced to behold a human beingapparently at the gates of death without a tremendous sensation ofhorror.
"Hookie!" gasped Sim, after he had gazed an instant at the object, hisbreath collapsing as he uttered the favorite expression.
"Can't you save her?" cried Flora, in trembling tones.
"I will if I can."
"O, do save her. It's terrible."
"She is clinging to a piece of wood, and has her head quite out ofwater," I added, as I turned the raft.
The unfortunate person was still some distance farther up the streamthan the raft. I told Sim to trim the sail, and I hoped to get my clumsycraft in such a position that the current would bring the woman towardsit, so that we could intercept her.
"Help! Help!" called the sufferer, in faint and fearful tones, as wecame nearer to her.
"Hold on a few moments longer," I replied.
"I can't!" she answered, evidently chilled by the cold, and exhausted byher fruitless struggles.
"Only a moment," I added.
That moment was a fearfully long one, and at the end of it came failure.The raft disappointed me. The current was bearing the helpless female byit, but not more than fifty feet distant. It might as well have been amile, so far as our capacity to overcome the space between us wasconcerned.
"Down with the sail, Sim!" I shouted, sharply.
"Hookie!" gasped Sim, still standing with his mouth wide open, gazing atthe poor woman.
"Down with it!" I repeated, giving him a kick to sharpen his wits.
He stumbled to the sail; but his fingers were all thumbs, and he couldnot untie the halyard. I was obliged to do it myself, for the sail hadfilled aback, and it was retarding the progress of the raft.
"Help! Save me!" cried the unhappy person again, but fainter thanbefore, as hope appeared to desert her.
"Hold on a moment more!" I shouted to her.
I grasped the steering oar, and vainly struggled to turn the raft, so asto bring it near enough to the sufferer to enable me to haul her onboard; but the only effect was to cause it to whirl in the current. Boththe woman and our craft were carried along by the stream, fifty feetapart; but neither had the power to approach any nearer to the other.
"I'm sinking!" called the woman, throwing one of her hands up into theair.
"No! Hold on for your life!" I shouted, as loud as I could scream.
My voice had some effect upon her, for she grasped the stick to whichshe was clinging.
"O, Buckland!" cried Flora, wringing her hands and sobbing hysterically."Can't you do something?"
"I can, and will!" I replied, with some of the earnestness that thrilledmy soul; and I felt that I ought to die myself rather than permit thepoor sufferer to perish before my eyes.
"Do!" gasped my poor sister; and I knew she would have sacrificed herprecious life to save that of the stranger.
"Come here, Sim!" I called.
My blundering deck hand came promptly at my call, and I gave him thesteering oar, bidding him keep the raft steady before the current. Itook the long lines, which I used as mooring ropes, and tied themtogether, making a cord at least a hundred feet in length. I took offall my clothes but my pants and shirt, and secured the cord around mybody, making fast the other end to the raft.
"Sim!" said I, startling him with the sharpness of my tones.
"Yes; I'm here, Buck! Hookie!" stammered he.
"Mind what you're about!"
"O, yes! I will!"
"When I tell you, let go the oar, and pull in on this rope."
"I'll help him," said Flora.
"Don't you touch the rope, Flora. You may get dragged overboard."
"What shall I do?"
"You may make a fire in the stove, if you can," I answered, wishing toget her out of the reach of danger if I could.
"I will, Buckland;" and she went into the house.
I was a powerful swimmer, and nerved by the peril of the stranger in thewater, I felt able to do anything. I let myself down into the river, andstruck out with all my strength towards the sufferer. The current of theMississippi is swift and treacherous. It was the hardest swimming I hadever known; and, dragging the rope after me, I had a fierce struggle tomake any progress. In going those fifty feet, it seemed to me that Iworked hard enough to accomplish a mile.
I reached the sufferer, and grasped the stick to which she clung. I wasnearly exhausted myself by the violence of my efforts. I waited a momentto regain my breath, before I attempted to deal with the difficulties ofthe situation. I glanced at the person for whom I was to struggle. Shewas not a woman, but a g
irl of fourteen. She was in a sinking condition,apparently more from the effects of fear than actual suffering, for thestick to which she clung afforded her ample support.
Afraid that the act of hauling us in would detach her from the stick, Igrasped it firmly with one hand, and clasped her around the waist withthe other. Her frame quivered with the cold and the terror of hersituation. As all persons in peril of drowning are apt to do, she wasdisposed to cling to me.
"Don't be afraid," said I to her. "You are safe now."
"Save me!" gasped she, hardly loud enough to be heard.
"Haul in!" I shouted to Sim.
I felt the rope cutting my waist as Sim jerked and tugged at it withall his strength. There was no lack of zeal on his part, but if anythinghad depended upon coolness and skill, we might both have been drowned. Ikept a firm hold upon my helpless charge, and managed to keep her headabove the water, though my own was dragged under several times by theclumsiness of my willing friend.
Sim pulled and hauled with energy, if not with skill. When he abandonedthe steering oar, the raft began to whirl, and thus to complicate hislabor. I caught a glance of the simple-minded fellow, as the craftturned, and I heard him yell, "Hookie!" He was nonplussed by the changeof the raft; but he did not know enough to follow it round upon theoutside. I am not sure this freak of the current did not save us from acalamity, for as it revolved, and the rope became tangled in theplatform, we were thrown against the raft, thus saving my helpmate halfhis toil. Fortunately the end of the stick on which I floated struck thelogs first, and broke the force of what might otherwise have been astunning blow.
"Tie the rope, Sim!" I called to my assistant, who was now on the otherside of the raft.
"O, Buckland!" cried Flora, as she came out of the house and gazed at mewith an expression of intense pain.
"Hookie!" ejaculated Sim, rushing to the point where I had seized holdof the raft.
AFTER THE EXPLOSION.--Page 221.]
He stood there, jumping up and down on both feet, bewildered andhelpless.