A COLLISION AT SEA
On the second day on shipboard Professor Strong produced a map of the
Leeward Islands, and told the boys something more concerning the island
they were to visit.
“As you will see by the map,” he said, “Martinique is irregular in
shape. Roughly speaking it is forty miles long by from ten to fifteen
miles wide. The area is less than four hundred square miles, and a good
portion of this is rocky and unfit for cultivation.”
“I see Mont Pelee, in the north,” said Mark, studying the map.
“The principal cities are Fort de France, the capital, located on
the bay of the same name, and St. Pierre and Lamentin. These three
cities are, as you see, located on the western coast of the island. On
the eastern coast is François, a town which has quite a respectable
shipping. The total population of the island is about two hundred
thousand, mostly negroes, half-castes, and French.”
“What do they raise there?” came from Sam.
“Sugar mostly, although there is also some tobacco and also a few
cattle. On an island so narrow, the streams, of course, cannot be of
much importance. The place was discovered by Columbus in 1502 and was
first settled by the French, and it is a French colony to-day. I have
been at both Fort de France and St. Pierre and found them progressive
in their way. Each contains from twenty-five to thirty thousand
inhabitants and boasts of a number of fine parks and public buildings.
Just outside of St. Pierre is a suburb in which the wealthy French
population have some beautiful residences. The drive to this district
is delightful.”
“And how far is Mont Pelee from the city?” asked Sam.
“The volcano is five miles north of St. Pierre. The country is very
hilly, but there are several routes by which the crater of the volcano
can be reached with ease. There are a few small rivers to cross but
these are all bridged. Just north of St. Pierre is a large sugar
refinery. The city itself lies right along the waterfront, with high
hills directly behind it.”
After this the talk became general and the professor told them of his
former visits to Martinique, and also to the islands of Guadeloupe,
Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenada, others of the group. He
told them there might be little or no hunting in store for them, but a
good deal of mountain climbing, and volcano exploring if they desired
it. And they said they did, all but Hockley, who, as usual hung back
for something else, he could not tell what.
For two days the weather remained fine and the time passed swiftly
enough, but on the morning of the third day the sky clouded up and by
noon it was raining in torrents. Then the wind came up and the little
steamer had all she could do to keep to her course.
The first effect of the storm was to drive everybody to the cabin.
Windows and doors were bolted and ports secured, and the passengers
kept their feet with difficulty as they moved around. Eating at the
table was almost impossible, and the professor had a dish of peas upset
in his lap, while Hockley nearly choked himself with a cup of coffee
which went up his nose and into his eyes. Mark was also unfortunate.
He was trying to eat a bit of steak but it slipped from his plate to
his knee and then the whole length of the dining room floor. A waiter
stepped on it and went headlong, bringing down an armful of dishes with
a mighty crash.
“Say! but this is a storm and no mistake!” gasped Mark, after the
laughing had subsided. “And such a nice piece of beefsteak, too.”
“We’re lucky if we don’t all go to the bottom!” sighed Hockley. And
then he made a rush from the room to his stateroom. He had been taken
seasick and was perfectly miserable from that time until the storm
cleared away.
Toward evening the rain let up a bit, and as it was very close and
stuffy in the cabin, the boys begged Professor Strong to let them go on
deck. He finally consented, but warned them to take good care and not
fall overboard.
“This is a treacherous sea,” he said. “The waves sometimes run very
high when least expected. Hold on tight, no matter where you happen to
be standing.”
“All right, we’ll be careful,” said Sam.
They went on deck and secured a position close by the wheelhouse, where
a number of life-lines had been stretched. Captain Danvier was present
and also warned them to be on guard.
“Ze waves run verra high,” he said. “You must hold on hard, _oui_,
verra hard.”
An hour went by, and the storm seemed on the point of subsiding
altogether. Feeling they could now walk around a little, the boys moved
from one end of the steamer to the other with caution. The deck was
still slippery and it was now dark.
Important events sometimes happen with alarming swiftness and such
proved to be the case in the present instance. It had looked as if
the storm was about at an end, but without warning there came another
blow, which sent the spray flying in all directions. The lookouts
were drenched and for the moment could see nothing. Then as the spray
cleared away for an instant, one of them gave a mad yell in French:
“A ship! A ship dead ahead!”
The cry had hardly pierced the air when there came a tremendous shock
which shook the _Vendee_ from stem to stern and caused the steamer to
list well over to port. Sam and Darry, who had started back for the
cabin, to change their wet jackets, were pitched headlong and bumped
into each other close to a post.
“Oh!” groaned Sam.
“Are you hurt, Beans?” questioned Darry, catching his chum by the
shoulder.
“A little. What was that struck us?”
“I don’t know.”
Another cry now came out of the darkness. But it was in French and they
could not understand it. Then some sailors rushed past them with a
large square of canvas and some ropes.
“We have been struck and they are going to cover the hole with
sailcloth,” explained another passenger, who could speak both French
and English. “What we struck nobody knows excepting that it was some
kind of vessel.”
With difficulty the two boys gained their feet and ran for the cabin.
At the doorway both halted and each gazed at the other in consternation.
“Mark and Frank!” burst out Darry. “Where are they?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” responded Sam, in equal dismay. He raised his
voice: “Frank! Mark! Are you safe?” he called out.
No answer came back, and now Professor Strong rushed up, fully as
alarmed as anybody.
“Are you all right?” he questioned. “Where are Mark and Frank?”
“We don’t know, sir,” answered Sam.
“They were on deck with you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Pray heaven they haven’t gone overboard,” gasped Amos Strong, and
greatly agitated, he ran out into the darkness of the deck. Then they
heard him call back: “Remain in the cabin until I return.”
A dozen cries now resounded on every side, and bells were jangling
almost as wildly. The _Vendee_ had been struck on the starboard side,
just aft of the bow, and the captain was ordering some of the cargo to
be shifted to the stern, that the bow might come up as far as possible
out of the water. In the meantime the ship’s carpenter had got out the
sailcloth and he and his men were lowering it over the hole, to keep
out the rush of water. Below, the pump had been connected with the
engine and this was already battling bravely to free the hold of the
briny element that threatened to send the gallant steamer to the bottom.
In the midst of the excitement Hockley appeared. He saw that this was
no “fake” sinking, and his face was pale with terror as he clung first
to Sam and then to Darry.
“It’s awful!” he wailed. “What shall we do? Where are the life
preservers? Where is the professor? Why don’t he order out a boat to
save us? How far do you suppose we are from land? Oh, I know I can’t
swim in such a sea!” And he shook like a leaf.
“We are not going down yet, Jake,” answered Sam. “The professor is
looking for Mark and Frank. I’m afraid they’ve been washed overboard.”
“There is a signal of distress!” interrupted Darry, pointing out
through the darkness. A rocket had flared through the air, and now
another followed. Then a strong Bengal light lit up the scene.
“I’m going out to look for Frank and Mark,” said Darry, recklessly, and
left the cabin. Sam came close behind him. Hockley did not wish to go,
but to remain alone seemed even worse and he also followed, but more
slowly.
The _Vendee_ had been backed and was now coming up alongside of the
ship with which it had been in collision. The strong Bengal light
showed her to be a three masted schooner, piled high with lumber. A
good part of the lumber on the forward deck had been unshipped by the
collision and was floating in the angry sea.
“Do you see anything of Mark and Frank?” asked Sam, hoarsely, as he
and Darry slipped up beside the professor.
“Not a sign,” was the sad answer. “If they were washed overboard I fear
they were drowned.”
“Oh, don’t say that!” gasped Darry. “Drowned! It’s horrible!”
“Can’t they put out a small boat?” asked Sam.
“No small boat would live in such a sea as this, and besides with so
much loose lumber floating around it would be doubly dangerous to try
going out.”
“But what are we going to do?” demanded Hockley. “I--I don’t want to
drown just yet.”
“I don’t imagine this steamer is going down, Jacob. We received a heavy
blow, it is true, but she is built in a number of compartments. My
whole anxiety, is for Mark and Frank. If they went overboard they must
be lost.”
“Well, it was their business to take care of themselves,” grumbled the
tall youth, unfeelingly.
“And it is your business to look out for yourself,” retorted Darry.
“But don’t let us quarrel; this thing is far too serious,” he added.
The Bengal light had now burnt itself out and no more were lit for the
reason that the storm was again coming up and the crew of each vessel
had to bestow their entire attention to the question of saving the
craft from going down. This was comparatively an easy matter on board
of the _Vendee_ and soon under officers were sent around to assure
the passengers that there was no immediate cause for alarm, that the
hole had been patched up temporarily, and that it would be thoroughly
repaired as soon as the wind abated.
Captain Danvier was extremely sorry to hear that two of the boys were
missing and at once did what he could toward finding them. But in such
a storm, which was again increasing, his first duty was to his ship,
and he said, as had Professor Strong, that to risk a small boat in such
a sea would be foolhardy.
“We must wait until daylight,” he said, in French. “I can do nothing
now.”
Slowly the night wore away. Nobody slept, and at the first streak of
dawn all went on deck. The storm had passed, but the sky was still
dark. The captain had thought best to lay to, thinking the lumber
schooner might need assistance. The other craft was not far away and
soon they came within hailing distance of each other. The lumber boat
flew the Dutch flag and proved to be bound from Saba to Curaçao.
“I have lost a large quantity of lumber!” roared the Dutch skipper,
wrathfully. “I shall hold you responsible in law for it!”
“Have you seen anything of two boys?” questioned Captain Danvier. “We
have lost them.”
“No, I have seen no boys. Have you seen a man? We lost one of our
sailors in that smash.”
“No, we have seen nobody,” answered the French captain.
“It was your fault we had that smash,” the Dutch skipper continued.
“Remember, I shall hold you for it in law, the first chance I get!”
“Do as you please about that,” returned Captain Danvier, coolly. “You
are as much to blame as myself. But if you see anything of those boys
treat them well and you’ll lose nothing by it.”
“I’ll treat them well enough,” growled the Dutch skipper.
As the Dutchman could speak neither French nor English the conversation
had to be carried on in his native tongue and it was hard for Captain
Danvier to make himself understood. Only a few words more passed, and
then the two vessels separated, and the lumber schooner proceeded on
her way, with every sail set.
“It ees certainly verra sad,” said the French captain, to the professor
and the boys. “I vill do what I can for ze boys--but what is zare to
do, tell me zat?”
“I wish you would remain in this vicinity for a day or so,” answered
Professor Strong. “They may be floating around, and if so I hope to
pick them up.”
The captain agreed readily, and not one day but two were spent in the
vicinity. In the meantime the hole in the bow was repaired, so that
danger from that source became a thing of the past.
The loss of Mark and Frank made Sam, Darry and Professor Strong feel
much downcast and even Hockley went around looking very sober.
“I never dreamed that such a dreadful thing would happen,” said Darry,
and there were tears in his eyes. “I declare, if they don’t turn up I’m
going right back home.”
“And I am with you,” answered Sam. “To go sight-seeing without them
would make me sick.”
“And think of their fathers being at St. Pierre ready to welcome
them,” went on Darry. “That makes it ten times worse.”
And Sam agreed that it did. The loss of their chums cast a gloom over
them impossible to dispel.