THE RESCUE
Standing at the head of the companionway, the three Fairview boys were
in line. Then, in some strange manner, Sammy rather got behind his two
chums. Frank noticed this at once.
"What's the matter?" he asked, turning to Sammy. "Are you afraid to go
down?"
"No--no--of course not!" exclaimed Sammy, quickly. "But the stairs are
so narrow----"
"Pooh, they're wide enough for us three," said Frank. "Here, I'll go
first if you like--I'm not afraid."
"Neither am I!" retorted Sammy, as he stepped up between his chums once
more.
"Let's all go down together," suggested Bob. "I don't believe that
there's anything down there, but----"
Suddenly a deep, hollow groan sounded from somewhere in the lower region
of the ship.
"Hark!" cried Sammy.
"Oh, we all heard it!" gasped Bob. "No need to hark! I'm going up on
deck."
He turned to go back up the few steps he had come down, and Sammy went
with him. Only Frank stood there.
"Say, what's the matter with you two fellows?" he asked.
"But did you hear it?" asked Sammy.
"Sure I heard it," said Frank. "It was----"
But he did not need to describe it, for the sound came again, a deep,
hollow groan that seemed to vibrate all through the schooner.
"There--there's someone down there!" panted Bob.
"Well, what of it?" asked Frank, coolly. He did not seem nearly as
frightened as were his chums.
"Then I'm not going down," went on Bob. "Maybe it's somebody hurt."
"That's all the more reason why we ought to go down--he may need help,
if it's one of the sailors who couldn't get away when the others went,"
insisted Frank. "Come on down."
Frank's sensible talk made Bob and Sammy less afraid, and they again
took their positions by their chum's side, ready to descend the
companionway stairs.
Every once in a while the groan would sound again, but the boys were not
so easily frightened now.
As they went down they looked about, but they saw no signs of disorder
or confusion which they would have noticed had the captain and crew of
the schooner left in a hurry, or after some struggle. Everything was in
order, and it looked as if the sailors had just gone ashore in the
regular way, leaving the vessel to the wind and sea. Before going down
the boys had noticed that there were one or two small boats on the
davits, showing that if the crew had left the schooner at sea, they had
not taken all the rowing craft with them.
"It's a queer puzzle," said Frank, as he and his chums looked about.
"It sure is," agreed Bob. "I wonder----"
"Hark!" cried Sammy.
Again came that queer, groaning sound, and it was so close at hand that
the boys jumped.
"The noise came from there," said Bob, pointing to the captain's
stateroom.
"Maybe--maybe he's tied up in there--hurt," suggested Sammy.
"Maybe--and maybe not!" exclaimed Frank with vigor. "I'm going to have a
look!"
His chums glanced at him admiringly. After just a moment of hesitation,
Frank tried the knob of the stateroom door. The portal swung open
easily, and the boys eagerly looked inside. They were rather
disappointed, it must be confessed, when they did not see the body of
the captain stretched out in his berth, bound with ropes. The stateroom
was empty.
"Well, what--what made that groaning noise?" asked Sammy.
The groaning sound came again, and then all three of the boys saw what
it was. A chest of drawers made fast to the side of the stateroom, had
torn loose, probably when the schooner pitched and tossed in the storm,
and this chest, swaying back and forth as the vessel rolled, scraped
against the floor, making a groaning, creaking noise that sounded a good
deal like a man in pain. Now that the boys were close to it, the sound
did not seem quite so weird, but at a little distance almost anyone
would have said it was a groan.
"And that's all it was!" exclaimed Sammy.
"Yes," said Frank, "that's usually the way things do turn out."
For a moment the boys stood peering about the small cabin Then Bob said:
"Let's look around a bit more. Maybe we can find somebody, or something,
that will tell how the vessel came to be drifting this way."
They opened the other stateroom doors, but inside all was in order. The
bunks were made up, and there was no confusion.
"Now for the place where the crew live!" cried Sammy.
"The fo'cas'le!" exclaimed Frank. "I should think you'd know that by
this time, Sammy."
But they found nothing in the quarters where the crew ate and slept to
explain the mystery. Things were not as nice there as in the cabin, but
there was no disorder that would show a hasty flight from the ship. The
boys went to the galley, which is the kitchen of a ship, but as they
found a big coal range there, and did not want to kindle a fire in that,
they decided to get their meals in their own small boat, on the oil
stove.
They had now made an inspection of the _Mary Ellen_, and they knew no
more about her than at first. It was all a strange mystery of the sea.
"We're going along some," said Frank, as he looked over the side.
A little breeze had sprung up, and, now that the sails of the schooner
were set to catch the wind, she went ahead through the waves, pulling
the motor boat after her.
"Hadn't we better steer?" asked Bob.
"No, we can tie the wheel fast, while we eat," said Frank. "She'll steer
herself then, and we won't have to bother."
"Which way shall we steer?" asked Bob.
"Straight ahead, I say," remarked Frank, who seemed to have taken
command. "We don't know where we are, and we don't know which way land
is, so one direction is as good as another. It will be easier to steer
straight ahead, and we may sight land that way, as well as if we set the
rudder to right or left."
To this his chums agreed, and soon the wheel was tied fast, or "lashed"
to use the proper sea term. Then the boys pulled on the rope attached to
the motor boat, and brought the _Skip_ alongside. They could easily get
on her raised cabin deck from the schooner rail, for the larger vessel
was not very high in the water.
"Say, hold on," said Frank, when they were about to go aboard. "What's
the matter with us bringing our grub up from there, and staying here?
It's safer here if it comes on to blow again, and we'll be more
comfortable. We can use the captain's cabin, and have more room to move
about."
"But it will be a lot of work to cook on that big coal stove," objected
Sammy.
"We won't have to. We can hoist the _Skip's_ oil stove up here. It isn't
very big. There's probably oil aboard here, too. I say let's stay here."
"I do, too!" cried Bob; and so it was arranged. They went aboard the
_Skip_ to get food, for they did not feel that they should take the
stores of the schooner.
Then the oil stove was hauled to the deck of the _Mary Ellen_ by means
of a rope. Fortunately the sea was very smooth while this was being
done, so the boys had little trouble.
Then, rather tired from their work, and very hungry, they cooked a late
breakfast, enjoying it very much.
"This is something like!" cried Frank, as he looked about the cozy
cabin. "This is real traveling."
"We're not doing much traveling--we're letting the ship sail herself,"
remarked Sammy.
"Well, it's all we can do," said Bob. "And maybe we'll be worse off when
it comes to a blow. But if only mom knew where we were, and that we were
safe, I shouldn't mind. I'm afraid she'll worry, and get sick."
"I hope not," said Frank. "But we stand a better chance now of being
picked up. Say, I never thought of it!" he cried. "We must run up a
signal of distress. If some other ship sees us now they'll never know
we're in trouble. We must run up a signal of distress."
"How do you do it?" asked Bob.
"The United States flag, upside down, will do," said Sammy, promptly. He
had read of that in his books.
"Yes, that will do," agreed Frank. "Come on, let's hunt for a flag."
It did not take them long to find one in the locker where several signal
flags were kept, and soon they discovered the right rope by which it
could be hoisted to the masthead. It was sent up, with the stars down,
and then the boys could only wait and hope.
They made sure that the _Skip_ was well fastened to the stern of the
schooner, and the rest of the day they spent going about the ship. They
found a telescope, and with this they searched the horizon for a sight
of other vessels.
They saw several, even without the aid of the glass, but they could not
signal to them, any more than they had already done, and the vessels
were either too far away, or else paid no attention to the reversed flag
on the mast. There was no wind to flutter it, and, naturally, it could
not very well be seen from any other ship. The boys would have to trust
to chance.
The day passed, night came, and the boys prepared to spend another
period of darkness away from the cottage at Lighthouse Cove. True, they
were better off than the night before, and there was no storm, but they
very much wished to be safe with their folks again.
Slowly drifting before a gentle breeze, the _Mary Ellen_ made her way
over the water. The boys found lanterns and lighted them, for they knew
the danger of being run down in the night if they displayed no signals.
They sat up rather late, and watched for the lights of some passing
craft, but saw none.
"I know what we can do in the morning if we're not picked up," said
Frank.
"What?" asked Sammy.
"Make a smudge of smoke on board here. Smoke can be seen a long way, and
maybe it will bring us help."
"We'll try it," decided Bob.
They went to bed, but they did not sleep as well as the night before.
Morning came, and with it a dense fog.
"That's too bad!" exclaimed Frank. "No one will see us now, and we may
be in danger of a collision."
"Can't we do anything?" asked Sammy.
"Yes, we can blow a horn every once in a while, if we can find one, and
ring the ship's bell. That's what they always do in a fog."
"Then let's do it!" suggested Sammy.
So while the fog hung about them--a damp, white blanket--the boys tooted
the horn, and clanged the bell. This was to warn other vessels not to
run into them.
But, though they listened sharply, they heard no sounds that would
indicate another vessel to be near them. They seemed all alone on the
ocean, and they were more discouraged than before.
True they were not cold, for the day was warm, and they had plenty to
eat. They were in a good, stout vessel, too, and in no great danger,
unless another storm should come up.
But oh! how they wanted to be back on shore again!
Night came, and still the fog hung down. There was hardly a breath of
air, and the _Mary Ellen_ rolled on the oily swell of the sea. The night
passed slowly, but with the morning came hope.
Soon after sunrise the wind sprang up, and blew away the fog. Then the
breeze increased, and the sails filled out. The schooner went along at a
fast rate of speed.
"And see!" cried Frank, "our flag shows well now. I'm sure it will be
noticed by someone, and we'll soon be rescued."
But the morning passed, and no rescuing ship came to them. The boys,
with hearts that were much discouraged, prepared their dinner. They had
seen several vessels, but though they waved pieces of sails to attract
attention, the other craft did not change their course. They even
shouted and blew the big fog horn, but they knew they were too far off
to be heard.
"Oh, well, we'll get picked up sometime," said Frank, as cheerfully as
he could, "and we've got enough to eat for over a week."
The boys were at dinner in the cabin and the schooner was going along
under the pressure from a wind that was getting more and more strong.
"Pass the beans," asked Sammy, for they had plenty of the canned
variety.
"Hark!" exclaimed Frank, pausing midway in reaching the dish over to his
chum. "Did you hear anything?"
"I didn't," said Sammy.
"There it goes!" cried Frank. "Listen!"
As they listened intently they all heard a dull boom, coming from
somewhere in the distance.
"A cannon!" cried Bob.
"Someone is firing at us!" exclaimed Sammy.
"More likely it's a signal gun!" burst out Frank. "Some ship has seen
our distress signal. Come on up deck!"
He rushed from the table, followed by the others. Then, to their
surprise and delight, they saw a steamer headed directly for them, and
from her bow there shot a puff of white smoke. It was a signal gun she
was firing, to let the boys know she was coming to their rescue.