by James Otis
CHAPTER VI.
THE LAST RESORT.
Mr. Emery and the sailing master had decided that the yacht should bekept at full speed, headed for the nearest land, until the water whichwas being pumped into the hold drowned the fires in the furnaces, whenrecourse must necessarily be had to the boats.
There could no longer be any question but that the entire forwardportion of the hold was a mass of flames which it would not be possibleto hold in check very much longer.
By this time all on board understood that the yacht was to be abandoned,and, with the exception of those in the engine-room and at the pumps,every one gazed as if fascinated at the clouds of smoke arising fromnear the bow. Already were tiny curls coming from between the deckplanks, and Teddy heard Mr. Walters say in a low tone to Neal's father:
"I am afraid the flames will burst through before the furnaces areflooded. It is too late to cut another hole in the deck, and by an hourat the latest we must take to the boats."
"Have the crew been told off?"
"I will attend to that now."
Then the sailing master announced to each man the boat to which he wasassigned, and during the next hour hardly a word was spoken. Teddy andNeal conversed now and then in whispers, as if not daring to make anoise, and the sailors worked in grim silence.
Nothing save the clank of the pumps and the throbbing of the screw couldbe heard.
When the hour had passed it was no longer possible to force water intothe hold. The heat was so great that the hose burned as fast as it couldbe pushed through the aperture, and long tongues of flame were appearingaround the edges of the hatch.
All hands, including the boys, were formed in line, and water sent belowin buckets for twenty minutes more, when the word was given to slackenspeed.
The lower deck had burst through, and there was no more than time forJake and his assistants to clamber up the ladders before the flames hadcomplete possession of the yacht from the bow to the engine-roomcompanion-way.
There was no time to be lost in lowering the boats, and the men wereforced to leap in regardless of the previous assignment, for once thefire burst the bonds which had confined it so long it swept aft withalmost incredible rapidity.
Teddy and Neal, bewildered by the flames which actually burned theirflesh as they stood by the rail while the sailors let go the falls, hadonly thought of reaching the craft in which their property was stowed,and Jake followed; but as the little tenders were allowed to drop asternbeyond reach of the intense heat the boys discovered that Mr. Emery wasnot with them.
He had charge of one boat; Mr. Walters commanded another; Jake was heldresponsible for the safety of the third, and the last was handled by themate.
"Shall we come with you, father?" Teddy shouted.
"I don't think it will be advisable to make any change now, and you areas safe in one boat as another."
"I'll answer for them," Jake cried cheerily, and the sailing masteradded:
"Jake can handle a small boat better than any one here, therefore youneed not fear an accident will result through carelessness."
"How am I to steer?" the engineer asked.
"Due west. The boats must remain together, and in each one is a lanternto be hung up during the night to lessen the chances of being separated.Two men in every craft are to be kept at the oars all the time, and, inorder to make the work light, they should be relieved hourly. Theindications are that the weather will hold clear; it is only a couple ofhundred miles to the Cuban coast, and we are not likely to be cooped upin these cockle shells very long."
As he ceased speaking Mr. Walters gave the word for the oarsmen to beginthe work which it was supposed would be continued without intermissionuntil all were in a place of safety, and the boats were pulled about amile from the burning steamer, when, as if by common consent, they werebrought to a standstill to watch the destruction of the Sea Dream.
The jaunty little craft was moving through the water slowly, envelopedin flames from bow to stern, and the boys gazed at her with a feeling ofsadness which did not arise solely from the fact of their present peril.It seemed to them as if she could understand that those who should havesaved her had fled when her need of assistance was greatest, and she wascreeping slowly away to die alone.
"The poor thing can't swim much longer," Jake said, as if speaking tohimself. "The boiler will explode----"
Even as he spoke a black cloud of smoke shot up from amidships, followedby a shower of fiery fragments, some of which struck in the immediatevicinity of the boats, and then the glare of the conflagration suddenlyvanished as the Sea Dream sank beneath the waves.
It would have been strange indeed if each member of the little party hadnot experienced a feeling of sorrow and desolation at this moment.
The yacht which, a few hours previous, had appeared so stanch, was nolonger afloat, and their only hope of reaching land was in the tinyboats which could hardly be expected to live in an ordinary sailingbreeze.
The tears were very near Teddy's and Neal's eyelids, and Jake's voicewas quite the reverse of steady as he gave the word for the men toresume work at the oars.
Instead of releasing his hold on Neal the reptile heldfirm, etc. See Page 193.]
Night was close at hand. The sun had already set, and the short-livedtwilight cast a sinister grayish hue over the waters. Mr. Walters' boathad the lantern raised at the bow on the end of an oar where it swunggently to and fro, and in a few moments all the others could bedistinguished by the same signal.
During such time as they had been waiting to witness the end of the SeaDream the little crafts had drifted farther apart, until the one incharge of Neal's father was nearly half a mile away, and the sailingmaster could be heard shouting for them to be brought nearer together.
"We shall probably have a breeze to-night," he cried when Jake's boatapproached within easy hailing distance, "and if it should come you mustrig up something to serve as a sail, for your only chance of keepingafloat will be to run before it. You have a compass, and remember thatland is to be found to the westward."
"Ay, ay," the engineer replied, as he looked around in vain for somesign of the wind, and then he added in a low tone to the boys:
"I allow Mr. Walters is off in his reckonin' this time, for there isn'ta breath of air stirring now."
"We may get it later," Neal said apprehensively, and Jake muttered tohimself; but yet so loud that Teddy could hear him:
"It'll be tough on us if it comes out of the wrong quarter."
In ten minutes from the time the word had been given to bring the boatsinto closer order the mantle of night had fully fallen, and thelocation of the other crafts could only be told by the tiny, swayinglights, or the hum of voices.
Jake's boat was loaded less deeply than the remainder of the littlefleet. In addition to himself and the two boys, there were but threesailors on board, and the stock of provisions was correspondingly small.As a natural consequence she rode higher out of the water, and althoughbuilt on the same model as the others, the engineer insisted she was byfar the fastest sailing craft.
An hour had not elapsed before it was possible to test her quality inthis respect.
The breeze which Mr. Walters predicted came up from the east, and as itsfirst influence was felt Jake shouted in a tone of relief:
"We're in luck this time, lads. Here's what will shove us along in theright direction, an' we can count on striking land without too muchwork. Lash a couple of coats to the oars, an' set them up close by theforward thwart; you'll find a chance there to make 'em fast."
This apology for a sail was soon gotten in place, and, small as was thesurface presented to the wind, the little boat surged ahead, ripplingthe water musically under her bow.
Jake held the rudder lines, the boys sitting either side of him on thebottom of the boat where they could stretch out at full length in casethey felt inclined to sleep, and after they had listened to the swish ofthe sea under the stern for some time Neal asked as he raised his he
adto look over the side:
"Where are the others?"
"Considerable distance astern. I knew this one could show them herheels."
"But the orders were that we must not separate," Neal exclaimed inalarm.
"That is true; but how can we help ourselves just now? We can't shortensail, because there would be nothing left, and we're bound to run aheadof the waves, small as they are, or be swamped."
"But suppose we never see them again?"
"Don't worry about that; we're all headin' in the same direction, an'have only got to wait till they overtake us after land is sighted."
Although Jake spoke in a positive tone Teddy and Neal were far fromfeeling comfortable in mind; but, as he had said, nothing differentcould be done, and each tried to hide his fears from the other.
The weight of the wind increased as the night advanced, and by the wordsof caution which the sailors uttered from time to time, the boys knewthat those who should best understand such matters were anxiousregarding the outcome of this night run.
Now and then a small quantity of water would dash over the side; but itwas quickly bailed out, and, as one of the men said, "did more good thanharm, for it gave them something to do."
Notwithstanding the gravity of the situation, Neal and Teddy fell asleepbefore midnight, therefore they were unconscious of the fight whichtheir companions were making for life. It was necessary the frail craftshould be kept dead before the wind; otherwise she would have beenswamped by the following waves, which were now running dangerously high,and the skill of the helmsman was all that prevented her fromdestruction.
Not for a single moment during the hours of darkness was it safe torelax the vigilance, and the constant strain on one's nerves was morefatiguing than the real labor.
Just as the day was breaking Neal awoke, and then he aroused Teddy byasking Jake:
"Can you see the other boats?"
"Not yet; but some of them may be in sight at sunrise. It isn't possibletheir lights would show up more than a mile off."
"Isn't the sea running very high?" Teddy asked timidly as he attemptedto stand erect; but Jake grasped him by the shoulder as he said quickly:
"It isn't safe to move around very much. Lie quiet until the wind diesaway a bit; we've got more'n we want, and the boat must be kept trimmedmighty carefully or there'll be trouble."
It was only necessary for the boys to watch their companions in order tolearn the dangers which beset them, and, clasping each other's hands,they waited in anxious suspense for the rising of the sun to learn ifthe remainder of the party was near.