THE RESCUE AT SEA
"Look out there!"
"Don't let those rockets hit you!"
"Say, this is like a Fourth of July!"
Such were some of the cries that came from the boys on the forward deck
of the steamer when they saw the bunch of rockets flying swiftly toward
them. They had barely time to leap to one side when, with a loud
hissing, two of the rockets fell on the deck not far away. The others
just grazed the rail and swept overboard.
"We've got to put them out!" yelled Phil, and started to rush forward,
intending to stamp on the rockets, when Dave hauled him back.
"Look out, Phil! They may be on the point of explo----"
Bang! Bang! Dave did not have time to finish what he was saying when the
rockets went off in rapid succession, hurling the bits of fire in all
directions. Phil was burnt a little on one cheek, and Dave and Roger
each had a hand scorched, but that was all. Then, realizing that the
worst was over, all the boys rushed forward and stamped out what was
left of the flames.
"Anybody hurt up there?" It was a cry from Captain Bradley, who came
forward on a run, followed by Mr. Lawrence.
"No. We're all right," gasped Phil. "But we might not be if it hadn't
been for Dave;" and he gave our hero a grateful look.
The explosion on the steam yacht had caused a wilder panic than ever,
and in a twinkling a number of those on board leaped into the water.
"Man the boats!" was the order from Captain Bradley.
The _Eaglet_ had already heaved to, and two rowboats manned by the
sailors and commanded by the first mate and a boatswain were soon
lowered to the water. While this was being done, the boys, led by Phil
and Dave, rushed to a third rowboat.
"Now be careful, boys," warned Mr. Lawrence. "Perhaps I had better go
with you."
"Just as you say, Dad," answered Phil. "We can take care of ourselves
though."
"All right then, I won't go, for you may want the room for those you
pick up," answered the shipowner; and a moment later the rowboat was in
the water and following the other small craft to the side of the burning
vessel.
Seeing those from the _Eaglet_ coming to the rescue, several others
leaped overboard, so that those in the rowboats had all they could do to
move without hitting any one.
"Save me! Save me! Don't let me drown!" yelled an elderly man, and
caught hold of one of the oars.
"All right, we'll save you. Take it easy," returned the first mate of
the _Eaglet_; and soon those in the mate's rowboat had the man on board.
In the meantime, the boat in command of the boatswain pulled in a woman
and a little boy.
Dave and his chums had their craft headed to where they had made out the
forms of a woman and a girl struggling in the water. They soon reached
the first of the pair, and after considerable difficulty managed to drag
her on board.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" gasped the woman, as she sank down on the
stern seat. "Now save Della! save Della!" she cried, and then suddenly
collapsed.
Dave had his eyes on the girl, and was on the point of reaching for her
when she suddenly threw up her arms and disappeared.
"She's gone under!" gasped Roger.
"Will she come up again?" asked Shadow, anxiously.
"There she is! Over there!" yelled Phil, and pointed to a spot several
yards away.
A hand and an arm had shown themselves, but that was all. In less than
two seconds they disappeared again.
Dave had done some rapid thinking. Before leaving the steamer the boys
had thrown off their coats. Now standing up, Dave cast his cap to the
bottom of the boat, and made a quick dive overboard.
"He's gone after her!"
"Good for Dave! It's the only thing to do if that girl is to be saved."
"Row on and keep your eyes wide open," directed Phil. "I don't think
they'll get very far away."
Dave had calculated the distance as closely as possible, and once under
water he pushed ahead with all speed in the direction where he had seen
the hand and arm. While at Oak Hall he had learned the trick of swimming
under water with his eyes open, and this now stood him in good stead.
"There she is," he thought, as he caught sight of something white
passing just to the left of him. He made a quick turn, and a few seconds
later had the girl by the hand. Then Dave caught her under the arms, and
treading water, brought both her and himself to the surface.
"There they are!" he heard Phil cry, and the next moment the rowboat
came up close.
"Oh, oh! sa--sa--save m--me!" spluttered the girl; and breaking
loose, she swung around and caught Dave tightly by the neck.
[Illustration: DAVE CAUGHT HER UNDER THE ARMS, AND, TREADING WATER,
BROUGHT BOTH HER AND HIMSELF TO THE SURFACE.--_Page 24._]
It was the strangle-hold of a drowning person, and our hero might have
fared badly had not assistance been at hand. But as it was, Roger and
Phil reached out, and while Shadow and Ben balanced the rowboat, this
pair hauled the girl on board. Then they aided Dave in getting in.
"Oh, oh! Is sh--she d--dead?" gasped the girl, as she looked at the
woman who had collapsed on the stern seat.
"No, she has only fainted," answered Roger. "She'll soon be over it."
"How brave you are to come to our rescue!" went on the girl, turning to
Dave. "I--I thought I was going to drown!" and she shuddered.
"It was a pretty close call," answered Phil. "My friend here jumped
overboard just in the nick of time."
There was just then little time to say more, for others were in the
water crying for assistance. In the meantime, there was another cry from
the deck of the steam yacht.
"Don't jump overboard! It isn't necessary. The fire is out!"
"Hello! Did you hear that?" queried Dave. "Somebody said the fire is
out."
By this time the two other rowboats had picked up eight of those who
had leaped overboard. The boys succeeded in getting on board two others,
a short, fat man who was puffing like a porpoise, and a young man.
"That settles it," snorted the fat man, as he sank down on one of the
seats. "No more ocean pictures for me! All the dramas I act in after
this will be on dry land."
"And I sha'n't go to sea again for Mr. Appleby," answered the girl who
had been rescued. She was rapidly recovering, and so was the woman on
the stern seat.
"Got everybody?" yelled a man from the deck of the steam yacht. And by
his cap and uniform the boys knew he must be the captain of the vessel.
"I think so," answered the first mate of the _Eaglet_.
"It was foolish of them to jump overboard," grumbled the captain of the
steam yacht. "I told all of them there was no danger."
"No danger!" snorted the mate of the _Eaglet_. "How do you make that
out, with all that fire?"
"It wasn't fire--that is, not much of it," was the answer. "It was
mostly smoke. We have a moving picture company on board, and they had a
lot of fireworks, some of 'em tied up in old sail cloth. The fireworks
started to go off--why I don't know--and they set fire to the cloth, and
when we wet that down it made an awful smoke. But all the stuff was in
a zinc-lined compartment, so there wasn't much real danger. The worst
was when those rockets went off and shot up right out of the hatchway."
"And are you sure the fire is entirely out?" asked the mate of Mr.
Lawrence's vessel.
"Just about. We'll have the men make a search, so that there won't be
any further danger."
After a little more conversation the three rowboats were brought close
to the steam yacht, from the side of which a ladder had been lowered.
"O dear! Are we to go back to that boat?" queried the girl Dave had
saved from drowning.
She was a miss of perhaps eighteen years, tall and slender, with brown
hair and big brown eyes. She appealed to our hero as she spoke.
"I don't see what else there is to do," he answered, "unless you want to
be taken to our steamer."
"What place is your steamer bound for?"
"We hope to make Portland some time this afternoon."
"Oh indeed! Then I think I would rather go aboard that steamer than back
on the yacht," answered the young lady. "What do you think, Aunt Bess?"
she went on, appealing to the woman in the rowboat, who by this time had
recovered from her plunge into the sea.
"I think I would like to get ashore as soon as possible, Della,"
returned the aunt. "I just hate the water, anyway, and I don't think
I'll take another sea trip in a hurry."
"Oh, say, Miss Ford, you might as well go back on the steam yacht. I
guess the danger is all over," put in the fourth person who had been
picked up--a young man about Dave's age. "Didn't you hear the captain
say that the fire was out?"
"Yes, I know," answered Della Ford. "But I'm so afraid, Mr. Porton," and
the girl looked rather helplessly at those around her.
"Where is that steam yacht bound for?" questioned Phil.
"We were going somewhere outside of Cape Cod," answered the stout man
who had been rescued. "But I guess Mr. Appleby will have to give the
trip up for the present. He's the manager of our company, you know," he
added, by way of explanation.
"What sort of a company is that--a theatrical company?" asked Shadow.
"Oh, no. This is a moving-picture company--one belonging to the Appleby
Film Corporation."
"Oh, then you are all moving-picture actors!" cried Ben, with interest.
"Yes," answered the young man. "But we didn't come out to get into any
such scene as this," he added, with a short laugh.
By this time a number of those in the rowboats had been assisted to the
deck of the steam yacht, and those above were calling down to those in
the rowboat manned by Dave and his chums.
"Say, young men, I'm very much obliged to you for what you did for me,"
cried the stout man, heartily, as he prepared to ascend the ladder. "I
guess I was foolish to jump overboard when there was no great danger."
"It's too bad Case didn't get a picture of that scene," said the young
man named Porton. "It would have been a dandy to work into one of the
sea dramas."
"I guess that's right," returned Dave, with a grim smile.
"Much obliged to all of you," went on Ward Porton. "If there are any
charges, send the bill to Mr. Thomas Appleby, the manager. He ought to
reward you handsomely for saving a part of his company." And with these
words he followed the stout man to the deck of the steam yacht.
"Aren't you folks coming up?" came a call from the manager of the
moving-picture company, as he leaned over the rail.
"Oh, Mr. Appleby, I don't want to stay out here!" cried Della Ford, "and
neither does my Aunt Bess! The young men here say their boat is going
to Portland. Maybe we had better go there and take the train to Boston."
"Oh, there is no use in doing that, Miss Ford," answered the manager.
"The fire is out, and it is perfectly safe on board now. You had better
come up here. I will help you," and he reached down with his hand.
"I don't suppose it will be just the right thing to do, to desert the
company," said Mrs. Ford, the girl's aunt. "We still have to act in
several scenes on the ship, you must remember."
"Very well, Aunty, just as you say," returned the girl. "But oh! I must
thank this young man for what he did for me!" she went on. And at the
danger of causing the rowboat to tip, she bent over and caught Dave's
hand in both of her own. "Won't you please tell me your name?"
"It's Dave Porter," was the answer. "Come, let me help you up the
ladder."
"My name is Della Ford, and I belong in Boston. You are a very brave
young man, and I shall never forget you. Some time when you are in
Boston you must come to see me."
"Thank you, Miss Ford, perhaps I will," answered Dave. And after a word
or two more, he assisted the young lady up the ladder. Then the boys
helped Mrs. Ford, who was still so weak that she could hardly stand.
The first mate of the _Eaglet_ was on the deck of the steam yacht,
talking to the captain. In the meantime several sailors were at work
putting out the last sparks of the fire. Quite a quantity of fireworks
had gone off, and the burnt portions were thrown overboard. The
moving-picture manager explained that the fireworks had been brought
along to be used in one of the film dramas.
"Might as well get back to the steamer," suggested Roger, after several
minutes had passed, during which time the boys had been calling to those
on the deck of the steam yacht. "We can't do anything more here."
"All right," returned Phil, and gave orders to pull away.
"Good-bye, Mr. Porter!" called out Della Ford, waving her hand. "Thank
you ever so much for what you did. And don't forget to call and see me
when you come to Boston."
"Good-bye," returned Dave; and a moment later the rowboat shot out of
hearing and was headed toward the _Eaglet_.