CHAPTER IXA NIGHT OF UNCERTAINTYBob sprang to the floor. He was joined immediately by Joe, who shared the stateroom with him. As they hastily threw on a few articles of clothing, they could hear shouts and cries on deck and the rush and scurry of feet overhead and along the passageway outside. Dominating everything, however, was a sullen roar of water as it poured into the hold of the vessel.“I guess the ship’s been badly hit,” said Joe, as they made for the door. “See how she’s heeling over.”“Yes, we’d better try to locate the others and get on deck as quickly as possible,” replied Bob.In spite of the shock and the danger, they were both cool and ready to meet any emergency that might present itself.Luckily, they met Herb and Jimmy and Mr. Strong in the passageway, and with very few words they hurried up on deck.Everywhere there was tremendous excitement and confusion. The heavy fog still hung thickly over everything, and through it they could see pale, terrified faces, with here and there an officer going swiftly about his business with jaw grimly set.All this the boys saw at the first glance. In the confusion it seemed impossible to learn what had happened or how imminent was the danger. Bob, as usual, came forward with the first practical suggestion.“Let’s go up to the wireless room,” he proposed. “They’ll know what’s happened, and we can get the information first hand.”“Good idea,” said Mr. Strong, briefly, and without further discussion they made for the radio room. Progress was slow, as people were rushing aimlessly about in every direction, and they had many collisions before they finally reached the radio headquarters.The boys’ acquaintance with the operator now stood them in good stead, for otherwise they would not have been allowed to enter the cabin at all. But the operator only nodded briefly and went on with his business. His calm and collected actions were in striking contrast to the terror and confusion reigning without. For a while he was too busy with his instruments to answer questions, and the boys had more sense than to ask any. At length, however, Pearsall, the wireless man, took the headset from his ears and turned to them.“Well, what’s the verdict?” asked Bob. “Are we bound straight for Davy Jones’ locker, or have we got a chance of keeping afloat?”“We don’t really know yet just how serious the damage is,” replied Pearsall. “We rammed a lumber schooner, and tore away a good part of our bow. The forward compartment of the hold is flooded, but the bulkhead seems to be holding, and if it does, I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger, provided a storm doesn’t come up before we can get to the nearest port. We’ve sent out distress calls, just the same, and will probably get an answer soon. I rather imagine we’ll pull through all right, but a good deal depends on that water-tight bulkhead. If that holds, all right, if not—well, all wrong, I guess,” and he shrugged his shoulders.“How about the ship that we collided with?” asked Mr. Strong. “That must be damaged worse than we are.”“She’s pretty well stove in,” answered the wireless man. “But the ship is loaded with lumber, so she can’t very well sink. We’ll probably stand by until daylight, anyway, and then it will be possible to see just how much damage has been done to both vessels.”“When the crash came, the first thought that entered my head was that we must have hit an iceberg,” said Herb. “I’ve heard so much lately about icebergs and the iceberg patrol that I naturally thought that was what had happened now.”“That might have been, easily enough,” said Pearsall. “Up in this part of the world no ship is safe from that menace, even in mid-summer. In fact, the danger, in a sense, is greater then, because nobody is really expecting such a thing, and there aren’t as many precautions taken as in the springtime. Just after the winter ice has broken up is a ticklish time to navigate in northern waters, I can tell you.“The chances are,” he continued, after a moment, “that we can make port without any outside assistance.”“Yes, but there is also a chance that we can’t,” Mr. Strong pointed out. “And that’s a chance we can’t afford to take. Safety first is a good motto anywhere, but it’s especially good at sea.”The fact was, that Pearsall had been so long at sea and was so used to the dangers of a seafaring life that he perhaps underrated the peril of the situation in which they were now placed. The Radio Boys stayed with him a short while longer, and then returned to the deck.The passengers had calmed down somewhat, under the reassuring reports of the officers, though very few had returned to their staterooms, but remained huddled in little groups about the deck, trying vainly to pierce the enshrouding blanket of fog that curled and eddied about the ship. Many anxious glances were directed toward the lifeboats, which had been provisioned and were ready to be lowered if necessary. Two or three sailors, with an officer in charge, stood ready at the falls, and no precaution had been neglected should worst come to worst and the ship have to be abandoned.“I don’t want to be a calamity howler,” said Joe to Bob, in a low voice, that could not be overheard by the other passengers. “But it seems to me that the ship is more down by the bow than it was when we first came on deck after the crash. Maybe my imagination is only playing tricks on me, though. How does it seem to you?”“I don’t think your imagination has anything to do with it,” replied Bob, grimly. “The shipisfurther down at the bow. There’s no doubt of it. If that wireless operator were down on deck here, he might not feel quite so confident.”“It can’t be so long until daybreak now,” said Joe. “If a boat arrives by then, we’ll all be taken off, anyway.”“Even if one doesn’t get here in time,” returned Jimmy, “we can take to the small boats. The water is calm enough, and we’ll have all the sensations of shipwrecked mariners, except that we can be pretty sure we’ll be picked up soon.”“I wish we knew just how matters stood,” said Herb. “I vote that we do some scouting around and try to find out just what’s what. If we could get down below decks I’ll bet we’d find out pretty soon.”“That’s not a bad idea, Herb,” observed Bob. “Let’s go, fellows, and see what we can dig up.”He led the way to the entrance to the succession of iron ladders that led down into the engine room. He knew that they would not be allowed to go down if they were seen by any of the ship’s officers, but he thought they might get by unobserved in the general confusion.There was an officer on guard at the door, but his back was turned toward the boys as he stood lighting a pipe, shielding the flame of the match from the wind. They slipped noiselessly through the door, and were soon descending the steep iron ladders that led down into the engine room. Soon they came to the last platform above the engine room deck, and, peering through the grating, could plainly see what was going on below them.The floor of the engine room was under water, which swirled and splashed about the bases of the main engines. At one side of the room, three big reciprocating water pumps were working at top speed, and the boys knew that they were pumping water out of the hold to the limit of their capacity. But the water was coming in faster than the big pumps could force it out. Even as the boys watched, a sluggish roll of the vessel sent the water swirling around the electric generator that supplied the ship’s lights. The whirling flywheel sent a spray of water flying in all directions, and as some of it landed on the armature and brushes, the lights flickered and dimmed, almost going out.As the water receded on the return roll, the lights went up again, but the boys realized that this could not last long. The water was steadily gaining, and before long the generator would be put out of commission, and the ship would be in darkness. They knew, too, that the water would eventually reach the fires under the boilers, quenching them and causing the steam to die down. Then the pumps would stop, and the water would gain rapidly, until the vessel finally became waterlogged and sank.“We’d better get up on deck while we’ve got light to see by,” whispered Bob. “I guess we’ve found out what we came down to find out and what we wanted to know, all right.”“Yes, come on,” muttered Joe, a somber look in his eyes.They climbed up on deck and rejoined Mr. Strong, to whom they related what they had discovered. When they had finished he said nothing, but looked with eager, straining eyes to the north.“Oh, for the lights of a vessel!” he muttered finally.
Bob sprang to the floor. He was joined immediately by Joe, who shared the stateroom with him. As they hastily threw on a few articles of clothing, they could hear shouts and cries on deck and the rush and scurry of feet overhead and along the passageway outside. Dominating everything, however, was a sullen roar of water as it poured into the hold of the vessel.
“I guess the ship’s been badly hit,” said Joe, as they made for the door. “See how she’s heeling over.”
“Yes, we’d better try to locate the others and get on deck as quickly as possible,” replied Bob.
In spite of the shock and the danger, they were both cool and ready to meet any emergency that might present itself.
Luckily, they met Herb and Jimmy and Mr. Strong in the passageway, and with very few words they hurried up on deck.
Everywhere there was tremendous excitement and confusion. The heavy fog still hung thickly over everything, and through it they could see pale, terrified faces, with here and there an officer going swiftly about his business with jaw grimly set.
All this the boys saw at the first glance. In the confusion it seemed impossible to learn what had happened or how imminent was the danger. Bob, as usual, came forward with the first practical suggestion.
“Let’s go up to the wireless room,” he proposed. “They’ll know what’s happened, and we can get the information first hand.”
“Good idea,” said Mr. Strong, briefly, and without further discussion they made for the radio room. Progress was slow, as people were rushing aimlessly about in every direction, and they had many collisions before they finally reached the radio headquarters.
The boys’ acquaintance with the operator now stood them in good stead, for otherwise they would not have been allowed to enter the cabin at all. But the operator only nodded briefly and went on with his business. His calm and collected actions were in striking contrast to the terror and confusion reigning without. For a while he was too busy with his instruments to answer questions, and the boys had more sense than to ask any. At length, however, Pearsall, the wireless man, took the headset from his ears and turned to them.
“Well, what’s the verdict?” asked Bob. “Are we bound straight for Davy Jones’ locker, or have we got a chance of keeping afloat?”
“We don’t really know yet just how serious the damage is,” replied Pearsall. “We rammed a lumber schooner, and tore away a good part of our bow. The forward compartment of the hold is flooded, but the bulkhead seems to be holding, and if it does, I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger, provided a storm doesn’t come up before we can get to the nearest port. We’ve sent out distress calls, just the same, and will probably get an answer soon. I rather imagine we’ll pull through all right, but a good deal depends on that water-tight bulkhead. If that holds, all right, if not—well, all wrong, I guess,” and he shrugged his shoulders.
“How about the ship that we collided with?” asked Mr. Strong. “That must be damaged worse than we are.”
“She’s pretty well stove in,” answered the wireless man. “But the ship is loaded with lumber, so she can’t very well sink. We’ll probably stand by until daylight, anyway, and then it will be possible to see just how much damage has been done to both vessels.”
“When the crash came, the first thought that entered my head was that we must have hit an iceberg,” said Herb. “I’ve heard so much lately about icebergs and the iceberg patrol that I naturally thought that was what had happened now.”
“That might have been, easily enough,” said Pearsall. “Up in this part of the world no ship is safe from that menace, even in mid-summer. In fact, the danger, in a sense, is greater then, because nobody is really expecting such a thing, and there aren’t as many precautions taken as in the springtime. Just after the winter ice has broken up is a ticklish time to navigate in northern waters, I can tell you.
“The chances are,” he continued, after a moment, “that we can make port without any outside assistance.”
“Yes, but there is also a chance that we can’t,” Mr. Strong pointed out. “And that’s a chance we can’t afford to take. Safety first is a good motto anywhere, but it’s especially good at sea.”
The fact was, that Pearsall had been so long at sea and was so used to the dangers of a seafaring life that he perhaps underrated the peril of the situation in which they were now placed. The Radio Boys stayed with him a short while longer, and then returned to the deck.
The passengers had calmed down somewhat, under the reassuring reports of the officers, though very few had returned to their staterooms, but remained huddled in little groups about the deck, trying vainly to pierce the enshrouding blanket of fog that curled and eddied about the ship. Many anxious glances were directed toward the lifeboats, which had been provisioned and were ready to be lowered if necessary. Two or three sailors, with an officer in charge, stood ready at the falls, and no precaution had been neglected should worst come to worst and the ship have to be abandoned.
“I don’t want to be a calamity howler,” said Joe to Bob, in a low voice, that could not be overheard by the other passengers. “But it seems to me that the ship is more down by the bow than it was when we first came on deck after the crash. Maybe my imagination is only playing tricks on me, though. How does it seem to you?”
“I don’t think your imagination has anything to do with it,” replied Bob, grimly. “The shipisfurther down at the bow. There’s no doubt of it. If that wireless operator were down on deck here, he might not feel quite so confident.”
“It can’t be so long until daybreak now,” said Joe. “If a boat arrives by then, we’ll all be taken off, anyway.”
“Even if one doesn’t get here in time,” returned Jimmy, “we can take to the small boats. The water is calm enough, and we’ll have all the sensations of shipwrecked mariners, except that we can be pretty sure we’ll be picked up soon.”
“I wish we knew just how matters stood,” said Herb. “I vote that we do some scouting around and try to find out just what’s what. If we could get down below decks I’ll bet we’d find out pretty soon.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Herb,” observed Bob. “Let’s go, fellows, and see what we can dig up.”
He led the way to the entrance to the succession of iron ladders that led down into the engine room. He knew that they would not be allowed to go down if they were seen by any of the ship’s officers, but he thought they might get by unobserved in the general confusion.
There was an officer on guard at the door, but his back was turned toward the boys as he stood lighting a pipe, shielding the flame of the match from the wind. They slipped noiselessly through the door, and were soon descending the steep iron ladders that led down into the engine room. Soon they came to the last platform above the engine room deck, and, peering through the grating, could plainly see what was going on below them.
The floor of the engine room was under water, which swirled and splashed about the bases of the main engines. At one side of the room, three big reciprocating water pumps were working at top speed, and the boys knew that they were pumping water out of the hold to the limit of their capacity. But the water was coming in faster than the big pumps could force it out. Even as the boys watched, a sluggish roll of the vessel sent the water swirling around the electric generator that supplied the ship’s lights. The whirling flywheel sent a spray of water flying in all directions, and as some of it landed on the armature and brushes, the lights flickered and dimmed, almost going out.
As the water receded on the return roll, the lights went up again, but the boys realized that this could not last long. The water was steadily gaining, and before long the generator would be put out of commission, and the ship would be in darkness. They knew, too, that the water would eventually reach the fires under the boilers, quenching them and causing the steam to die down. Then the pumps would stop, and the water would gain rapidly, until the vessel finally became waterlogged and sank.
“We’d better get up on deck while we’ve got light to see by,” whispered Bob. “I guess we’ve found out what we came down to find out and what we wanted to know, all right.”
“Yes, come on,” muttered Joe, a somber look in his eyes.
They climbed up on deck and rejoined Mr. Strong, to whom they related what they had discovered. When they had finished he said nothing, but looked with eager, straining eyes to the north.
“Oh, for the lights of a vessel!” he muttered finally.