THE DISASTER TO THE SILVER MOON.
The stout students at the oars of the Marian drove the barge ahead,
helped somewhat by the wind, so that the great billows seemed to have no
effect upon her. In a few minutes she was in the midst of the heaviest
of the waves. Sometimes she trembled and shook, but she did not yield
sensibly to the power which was opposed to her.
"I think that is Tom Bissell's boat," said Paul Bristol, who was
watching the craft in trouble very attentively. "When I went to see my
sister in Westport, about a month ago, she was sewing a full moon into a
blue flag."
"A full moon?" queried Dick.
"It was a round piece of white stuff, and it looked like a full moon."
"She has a burgee with a white circle on a blue ground," added Dick.
"Then that must be Tom Bissell's boat?"
"She is a sloop as big as the Goldwing," continued Paul.
"Who is Tom Bissell?" asked the coxswain.
"He runs a store in Westport, and his wife keeps a millinery shop in the
same building. My sister worked for them," replied Paul.
"Does he know how to handle a sailboat?"
"He thinks he does, and most people believe he does."
"Perhaps he does, and has met with some accident to his sail or
rigging," added Dick. "I believe there are some ladies in the boat."
"I shouldn't wonder, for his wife is as fond of sailing as he is; and
sometimes he takes out the girls that work for them," said Paul.
"The sloop is in the trough of the sea, rolling very badly. She is
having a rough time of it," continued Dick, as the Marian came near
enough for him to see the position of the craft.
"I am very sure that is the Silver Moon," added Paul.
"If it is, it looks like a wet moon, as Bates calls it, when he looks to
the silvery orb for the state of the weather," said Dick.
The waves were certainly having it all their own way so far as the
Silver Moon was concerned. The peak of the mainsail had been dropped,
and the main sheet had run out so that the boom stood at right angles
with the keel. Either the halyards were foul, or the rudder had given
out, or she was suffering from both of these mishaps. As the sloop
rolled with a heavy jerk in the violent seas, the ladies screamed as
though they expected each movement would send them to the bottom.
The craft contained six ladies and one man. The latter was baling out
the boat with a bucket, and was working with all his might. He had pluck
enough; but the sloop seemed to be dipping up more water than he could
possibly throw out, though he had doubtless delayed a little the
catastrophe which awaited him.
[Illustration: "The craft contained six ladies and one man."--Page 137.]
Dick looked back at the other barges, and he was confident that they had
not gained even a length upon the Marian since they all started for the
craft in peril. He had not driven his crew, though he had kept them at
work briskly. In the barge fleet, Oscar Chester, as coxswain of the
senior boat, as the Gildrock was ranked, was the acting commodore. When
the barges were within hail of each other, he was in command of the
fleet. If the Winooski and Marian were within hail, the command devolved
upon Thad Glovering.
As long as the other barges were as far off as at present, Dick Short
was in full command. He could use such measures as he thought best, but
the coxswain of either of the other boats could take the management of
the affair into his own hands, if he chose to do so. As the Marian
approached the sloop, Dick quickened the movements of his crew, for he
desired to take some action before he was superseded in the command.
The Silver Moon was headed to the northeast, and lay in the trough of
the sea. She was rolling like a round log in the heavy waves. She had
settled down deep in the water, and behaved like a stick of wood. The
skipper was doing nothing at all to combat with the waves. As there was
no power exerted to force the boat ahead, she had no steerage way, and
the rudder was as useless as the spare tiller.
The Marian went as closely astern of the Silver Moon as she could
without fouling the port oars. The moment they were clear of the hull of
the sloop it was time to execute the difficult manoeuvre of the
occasion. In coming entirely about it was necessary to put the barge in
the trough of the sea for an instant, and this was the dangerous point.
But Dick Short had decided to pass this point of danger as nearly under
the lee of the Silver Moon as he could. The water on the starboard of
the sloop was a trifle smoother for a couple of fathoms. It required a
nice measurement of distances with the eye to handle the boat, and a
prompt obedience of orders on the part of the crew.
"Port side! Stand by to lay on your oars!" called the coxswain, when the
Marian was astern of the sloop. "Oars!" he added, as soon as the last
blade on the port was clear of the hull. "On the starboard, give way
lively!"
The effect of the first stroke of the starboard oars, after the order
was given, was to throw the head of the barge to port. A few more pulls
brought the boat into the trough of the sea; but it remained in that
position only an instant.
"Port oars!" continued Dick. "Hold water! Stern all!"
The port oarsmen backed water as the starboard rowers gathered up their
blades, so that no confusion occurred, and in less than half a minute
the Marian was headed up to the sea, with her stem within a few feet of
the sloop.
"On the port, oars!" At this command, the oarsmen indicated lay upon
their oars again, and seemed as unmoved as though they had been in the
school-room, and not one of them looked behind him.
All the crew had obtained a single glance at the interior of the Silver
Moon the moment before the barge began to swing around; but this was all
they knew about the sloop, except what they had heard the coxswain say.
"Stand by, all, to lay on your oars!" called Dick, as coolly as though
nothing was the matter with the Silver Moon, and her passengers were in
a frolic rather than in mortal peril. "Oars!" And every blade was poised
and feathered on a level above the water.
"Bowman, stand by with the boat-hook!" continued Dick. "One stroke! Give
way!"
This single stroke brought the bow up near enough to the sloop to enable
the bowman to fasten the boat-hook to the gunwale of the helpless craft.
The crew lay upon their oars, ready to obey the next order, but not one
of them manifested the slightest interest in the Silver Moon, so far as
any look or movement was concerned. Paul Bristol was excited and uneasy,
and once he was on the point of standing up to get a better view of the
interior of the sloop. But he remembered the order of the coxswain in
season to restrain himself.
"On board the Silver Moon!" shouted the coxswain, but not louder than
was necessary to make the skipper hear him above the noise of the wind
and the water. "What is the matter?"
"I miss-stayed in going about, and shipped a sea. The boat is half full
of water, and I can't do anything with her," replied Bissell, in tones
which indicated that he was in utter despair. "The girls are frightened
out of their wits, and the water comes in faster than I can get it out."
"Do you want assistance?" asked the coxswain.
"Of course I do!" exclaimed the skipper. "We shall all go to the bottom
in a few minutes, for there is a good deal of ballast in the boat."
"All right! We will stand by you," replied Dick.
"Can't you do something more than that?" demanded Bissell, in shaky
tones.
"I will send two hands on board to assist you," added Dick. "Dory, you
will go on board of the Silver Moon. Take any one you please with you,
and report what you think should be done."
"As Paul Bristol is of the least use in the barge, I will take him,"
replied Dory, as he unshipped his oar.
"He is not the best boatman on board," added the coxswain.
"If he will only obey orders, that is all I want of him," answered
Dory, as he made his way to the bow of the barge.
A standing order to all hands was never to stand up in a boat when it
could possibly be avoided, and Dory crawled on all fours, from thwart to
thwart, between the oarsmen. He was followed by Paul, in the same safe
though undignified manner, for he thought it was not derogatory to
follow the example of the skipper of the Goldwing. The bowman hauled the
boat up so that the two hands could get on board of her.
Just at that moment all the girls screamed, or, as Paul expressed it,
"squealed," and the lee side of the Silver Moon rolled under, taking in
a barrel or two of water.
"We shall all be drowned!" shrieked one of the ladies, as they all
sprang out of their seats and rushed over to the weather side, throwing
the boat out of trim so that she took in another barrel of water over
the port side.
"She won't sink yet, ladies, unless you sink her," said Dory, rather
sharply. "Three of you on each side, and don't move for your lives. You
will certainly swamp the boat if you don't keep still. Don't one of you
move again without orders."
"That's what's the matter," said the skipper. "I can't keep them
still."
"They must keep still," added Dory with emphasis.
Just at that moment came another roll, and Dory told Paul to stand in
the middle of the boat, and allow none of the passengers to move. He
took position near him, and together they kept the ladies quiet, and
very little water was taken aboard.
"I am about used up," said Bissell, who was still baling with all his
might, though he was nearly exhausted. "I have been throwing out the
water for more than an hour."
"You might as well try to bail out Lake Champlain as this boat, while
she lies in her present position. The water comes in faster than you can
throw it out," said Dory. "Here come our other barges. Don't be alarmed,
ladies. Even if the boat sinks, we can save every one of you. Do as you
are told, and you shall be made comfortable in a few minutes."
Oscar Chester put the Gildrock about with consummate skill, though the
barge shipped some water during the manoeuvre. Thad Glovering did quite
as well in the Winooski. In a few moments, the three barges had brought
their bows up to the water-logged sloop. The oars were trailed, and
bunters put over the sides to prevent the boats from grinding against
each other. The Silver Moon smoothed the water for them a little, and
they rode very easily on the swell.
Dick Short reported to the acting commodore what he had done, and Oscar
said he should not interfere. At this time, Dory reported the condition
of the sloop, and advised that two of the six ladies be taken into each
barge. With great difficulty, on account of the uneasy motion of the
boats, the passengers were transferred to the stern-sheets of the
barges. They were all wet through, but the commodore would not allow the
boats to leave the scene of the disaster until the safety of the Silver
Moon was assured.