Joe Gathers Credit
"All passengers come aft," shouted the captain as Joe and his gang,
together with the sailors, clambered out of the reek of heat and smoke
and ascended from the hold. "All passengers must collect their
belongings at once and come aft of the bridge. Be quick, please; we
can allow only ten minutes."
Blackened and singed by the heat, with their clothing scorched and
actually burned in some places, Joe and his helpers came up through the
hatchway and almost fell upon the deck, for they were exhausted after
their long fight in a stifling atmosphere. Then the hatches were
thrown on and wedged down.
"We've got to leave things like that," said the officer to whom Joe had
first of all suggested that volunteers should be called for. "We shall
turn on the steam sprayers and hope that they, together with the want
of air, will kill the fire. You've done well, young fellow. The
captain's been asking for your name. But just you hop along right away
and gather your traps, else you'll lose everything."
In a little while it began to look as if our hero might lose even more
than his belongings, or rather that the loss of his kit would be of
little moment to him; for the fire in the hold, which perhaps had been
little more than smouldering before, now blazed out with redoubled
fury. Indeed, it was not long after the steerage passengers had gone
scampering aft, dragging their children and their belongings with them,
that the deck right for'ard became almost too hot to walk on, while the
sides of the ship were red-hot.
"The deck'll fall in soon if this goes on," said the same officer,
accosting Joe as he came aft. "I've known a steamer afire keep moving
till she reached port, and then she was red-hot from end to end. But
we've a steel bulkhead just on a level with the bridge, and I guess
that's keeping the blaze forward. So it'll be the fo'c'sle that'll be
burned out, and that deck'll fall in before long. Then the blaze'll
become worse. You fellows were grand; you did your best for us. Now
you come along to the captain."
They found that anxious officer striding up and down the bridge, as if
there were nothing to disturb him. But there were perhaps a thousand
eyes upon this chief officer of the vessel, and, knowing that, he set
an example of wonderful sangfroid.
"I thank you greatly," he said, as the officer brought Joe on to the
bridge. "Mr. Henry has told me how you raised volunteers, and likely
volunteers too, and Mr. Balance has reported how well all behaved. I
thank you, sir, in the name of the ship's owners and her crew and
passengers. It's a nasty business."
"Thank you, sir," answered Joe, blushing at the receipt of such praise.
"I was wondering whether I could be of further service."
"Eh? Why, yes; but how?" asked the captain.
"I was thinking of your Marconi operator, sir."
"Eh? Ah, poor chap! That's the most unfortunate thing that could have
happened. But--I don't quite follow," said the captain, looking
closely at Joe.
"Only I knew him well, sir, and often worked with him. I've frequently
sent a Marconi message. There's no great difficulty if you are fond of
mechanical things and have learned the code. I worked hard at it, as I
thought once of going into the Marconi service."
"The deuce you did!" came the sharp answer, while the skipper of this
huge ship, with so much responsibility on his shoulders, turned a deep
red colour beneath his tan and whistled shrilly. "You can--but you
don't mean to tell me that you could handle his apparatus, that you
could call up and talk with a ship if she happened to be within reach
of us?"
"Let me see the things and I'll soon tell you," said Joe quietly,
feeling nevertheless somewhat nervous lest his recent lack of
experience should have resulted in forgetfulness. For it must be
remembered that although a code such as is used by Marconi and other
telegraphic operators becomes second nature, and is as easy to them as
is writing to the average individual, yet such codes with want of
practice soon become forgotten. Joe might have forgotten; want of
practice might have stiffened his wrist. His "transmitting" powers
might be now so cramped and slow, that an operator "receiving" aboard
some other ship would not pick up his message; also, the converse might
well be the case. His ear, unaccustomed now for some little while to
the familiar sounds so particular to a telegraph instrument, might fail
to pick out the meaning of dot and dash coming across the waves of
ether so rapidly.
"Let me have a look into the office and also a talk with Franc. He'll
tell me what is the company's usual call. I'm not so cocksure of being
able to send and receive for you, sir; but I can try, and I think I'll
succeed."
"That's fifty times better than being dead sure and failing miserably,"
cried the captain. "I'd sooner by a lot have a fellow tell me he'd
try, than go off full of assurance and conceit. Of course you can see
the operator. But he's hurt badly; they tell me he was stunned. Take
him along, Mr. Henry."
It was a fortunate thing for the passengers aboard the vessel that Joe
found his friend able to speak and understand. Indeed, the unfortunate
Franc was fuming and fretting on account of the injury that had come to
him; not because of the damage he had suffered, or of the pain, which
was considerable, but because of his helplessness and the ship's dire
need help. He raised his head as Joe entered, then called out gladly.
"Why, I'd forgotten you entirely, Joe!" he almost shouted. "I might
have remembered that you knew the code and had worked the
'transmitter'. Get right along to the office and call up help. We
want a ship to come over and take off the passengers, and then stand by
while we run on into port. Here, I'll give you the company's call."
A few minutes with his friend told Joe sufficient to send him along to
the Marconi office full of assurance, and within a quarter of an hour
the apparatus, silent since Franc came by his damage, was flicking and
clicking again, causing a thousand and more anxious pairs of eyes to be
cast upward at the raking masts and at the web of wires suspended
between them.
"There's an answer," he told Mr. Henry, when he had sent the call
across the water on a dozen and more occasions. "Wait till I can say
who it is. What am I to tell them about our position?"
The officer at once wrote down the ship's approximate position on a
piece of paper, while Joe tapped on the key and listened to the
receiver.
"Tell 'em we've fire in number one hold, and are almost roasted," he
said. "Ask 'em to come along and take off our passengers, unless she
happens to be steering the same course, when, if she'll run on beside
us, there may not be need to transfer the passengers. Ah, she's
calling you."
Rapidly did Joe get accustomed to the apparatus. No doubt he could
neither send nor receive a message at the same rate as his injured
friend; but if the messages were slow and laboured, and not always too
correct, they were accurate enough for his purpose. Indeed, it was not
long before he was able to send a long dispatch to the captain.
"S.S. _Kansas City_ answered us," he wrote. "She's steering
west-north-west, and on a line to intercept us. Doing fifteen knots
and a little better. She's a hundred miles away, and will look out for
us. She sends that she's bound for Halifax."
"That'll suit well," said Mr. Henry, coming back from the bridge and
the captain. "She ought to fall into company with us about midnight or
early in the morning, and, of course, if there's need, we can slow down
or stop altogether, while she turns north and runs direct up to us.
But we can see this thing through till morning. By then the
fo'c'sle'll be little better than an ash heap. It'll be a case of
clearing the passengers and then fighting the flames, or the ship'll go
to the bottom. See over here; it's worth looking at, if only to
remember."
He took Joe out of the office to the rail of the vessel and then drew
his attention to the steel plates for'ard. If they had been of a dull
red heat before, they were now of a bright redness, while flames were
actually issuing from some of the lower portholes. As for the deck, it
was a smouldering mass of blackness, to which a thin cloud of smoke
clung tenaciously.
"You'd want thick boots on to walk across it," said Mr. Henry, "and
then you'd never know when it might fall in and take you into a
furnace. I tell you, a fire aboard ship is almost as bad as one in the
forests of Canada. Ever heard tell of them?"
"Never," replied Joe, shaking his head.
"Then they're bad, real bad, and you've to move quick if you want to
live through one. Now aboard a ship you can batten things down, just
as we've done; or you can rouse up some of the cargo, get a hold of the
stuff that's alight, and heave it into the water. That's what we tried
and failed to do. Now there's nothing more but to wait till we join
company with the _Kansas City_. Reckon there's a crowd of people will
be glad to say goodbye to this vessel."
A saunter between decks proved that rapidly to our hero. Not that
there was any great alarm or any marked sign of uneasiness. People
congregated in little bunches; men stood lounging and smoking together,
talking in eager, low voices. Here and there a woman was weeping; but
there were few who showed less courage than the men, and, indeed, not a
few displayed noble devotion.
"How's things going?" asked Sam, accosting our hero and whispering his
question. "They tell me you've been up with the captain and have been
working the Marconi office. You'll come in for something, me lad.
Guess the skipper of this ship did a lucky thing when he booked you as
a passenger. But what's happening?"
Joe told him in a few words. "We've got into contact with another
ship," he said.
"Which means that you have," answered Sam, catching him up abruptly.
"Give things their right names, lad. But there, I've seen it with you
afore. It's jest like Joe Bradley to leave himself out of the
question. So you've got talking with another vessel?"
"The _Kansas City_," Joe explained. "She's steering a course south of
us and almost parallel. She's coming north a little of her course, and
should reach us early in the morning. If need be, and we cut off
steam, she could come due north and get alongside before midnight even."
"Then that's a bit of news that'll help people," said Sam, satisfaction
in his voice. "I'll go and tell folks about here. Truth is, there's a
few got the jumps bad, but we've give 'em a lesson. Jim and Claude and
me, when we all came aft, saw that one or more of them foreigners was
likely to prove troublesome. We found some of 'em packing their kit in
the boats and pushing agin the women; but I fetched one of 'em a smack
that'll make him sit up fer a fortnight, while when a bunch of
'em--low-down rascals, as I should name 'em--got out o' hand and went
howling along towards the officers' quarters with the idea, it seems,
of putting their dirty hands on the skipper and forcing him to quit the
ship and put 'em aboard the boats, why, me and some of the boys you got
together went for the beggars. There was a proper turn-up between us,
and there's a few nursing their heads at this moment; but it jest
settled matters. You see, the best of the foreigners came in and
joined with our party, and what with that and the hiding we gave these
fellows, why, things has quieted down wonderful. Only, of course,
there's anxiety; a chap can't be altogether easy when he's sailing on a
red-hot furnace, with miles of sea about him."
There was, in fact, wonderful order and coolness displayed on the ship,
and nowhere more than amongst the emigrant passengers. Indeed, all
vied in endeavouring to keep up the courage of the women and to leave
the officers and crew of the vessel to carry out their work unimpeded.
As for Joe, he spent the next few hours in the Marconi office, keeping
in constant touch with the _Kansas City_, and every hour he was able to
report that she was nearer.
"You'd better send along and ask her to make slick up here," said Mr.
Henry, as darkness closed about them. "Some of the plates for'ard have
burned through, and the air rushing in is making the fire blaze up
terribly. The skipper is going to shut off and lie to. It's the only
way of saving the vessel."
He handed Joe a written message, which the latter transmitted through
his instrument, reporting in turn that the other ship had now changed
her course and was coming direct toward them. Meanwhile the burning
vessel was brought to a standstill, the throb of her engines ceasing
save for an occasional thrill, as one or other of the screws was
rotated so as to keep the stern always before the wind. The bugles
rang out for tea almost at the accustomed hour, and, to the amazement
of many, the emigrants found food and drink ready for them, but not in
the same quarters. They were now huddled together, without cabins and
without bunks to lie in, except in the case of the women and children,
who, thanks to the unselfishness of the first- and second-class
passengers, were accommodated in the cabins previously occupied by
single gentlemen.
It was near midnight when at length a loud booming in the distance, and
the turning of a brilliant light upon them, intimated to the people
aboard the burning ship that the _Kansas City_ was within reach of
them. A deep cheer broke from a thousand lips, while many people burst
into tears. Then Joe and his little band were again requisitioned.
"The captain's compliments," said Mr. Henry, "and he wishes that you
will organize the men again, so that there may be no confusion when
embarking the women. Get double the number this time if you can, and
place them in batches near every boat. The stewards will help, and
between you it ought to follow that there will be no confusion. But
there's never any saying when you have to deal with foreigners."
"Then Sam's my man this time," thought Joe, going in search of that
worthy. "If between us, as Mr. Henry says, we can't keep order, why,
what's the use of us at all? Ah, there he is! Sam!" he called loudly.
"Going to tranship us?" asked the latter.
"Yes; women and children first. They've asked me to organize double
the number of helpers. Let's call out the old lot. We can select the
others very quickly; a few Russians and Scandinavians amongst them
would help greatly. Ah! There's Jim, and Claude with him. Boys!" he
called, waving to them.
It may be imagined that the work of selection was not accomplished in a
minute; for with the coming of the relief ship there was huge confusion
amongst the emigrants, as also amongst the first- and second-class
passengers. The courage of many, bravely shown through a number of
trying hours, broke down suddenly. Men, and women too, who had set a
fine example to their fellows, were seen to lose their heads and their
coolness. Passengers dashed to and fro, bumping into any who crossed
their path, while one or two became absolutely violent in their efforts
to push nearer to the spot where the gangway would be lowered.
However, Joe and his friends were soon collected together, and then,
with Sam's help, a body of forty or more was rapidly selected.
"You tell 'em off; you've the orders and hang of what's wanted," said
Sam, lighting his pipe for perhaps the twentieth time.
"Then break up into parties of five," said Joe. "Now get along to the
boats, five to each. Don't let a soul enter unless you have the
captain's orders. Sam, you and I will help the stewards; I see that
they are already ranging the women and children into lines. Some of
the poor things look half-distracted."
The ordeal was indeed a severe one for many on board, and rendered not
a few of the women completely helpless. However, what with the help
that the stewards gave, aided by the stewardesses and Sam and Joe, the
long lines were soon quieted. Then, beneath the flare of huge electric
lamps, the work of transferring women and children to the _Kansas City_
was conducted, the latter ship lowering her boats for that purpose,
while those aboard the burning vessel were reserved for a future
occasion.
"Men now," shouted the officer standing at the top of the gangway; and
at the order the men aboard filed slowly downward and were taken off,
till none but the crew, the stewards, and Joe and his gang remained.
"Now," called Mr. Henry, seeing our hero and his party, "your turn."
Joe walked directly up to him, with Sam at his side, while the captain
descended from the bridge at that moment and joined them.
"We volunteer to stay," he said. "We've talked it over. It seems that
now that the passengers are gone, particularly the women and children,
you will tackle the fire again. You will want help for that. We're
game to stay. We'd like to stand by till this job is finished."
"And, by George, so you shall!" cried the captain, bringing a hand down
on our hero's shoulder and almost flooring him. "By James, sir, so you
shall stand by us! A pluckier lot I never hope to run across, and I've
never seen men better handled. You, sir, Mr. Joe Bradley, I understand
is your name, and this other gentleman whom you call Sam, have behaved
with conspicuous gallantry. I can tell you, gentlemen, it means much
to the officers and crew of a vessel such as this is if, when a pinch
comes, when danger faces them, there are men at hand to quieten the
foolish, to reduce the would-be rioters to subjection, and to fight the
danger side by side with the crew. It means a very great deal. Often
it means the difference between security and disaster. Stay,
gentlemen--we are about to fight those flames again, and you can help
us wonderfully."
By now the _Kansas City_ had sheered off a little, lying to some three
or four hundred yards from the blazing vessel, which presented a truly
awful appearance, for in the darkness her red-hot plates shone
conspicuously. Lurid flames belched from her lowest ports forward,
while at one part, where the plates had burned through, there was a
wide ragged gap through which a veritable furnace was visible.
"We've got to flood the fo'c'sle," said Mr. Henry, as he stood beside
Sam and our hero. "The carpenter, 'Chips', as we call him, is
hammering up a staging at this moment, and when that's popped into a
boat a man will be able to reach that opening where the plates have
gone. We couldn't do it by lowering a seaman over the side, for the
simple reason that the deck away for'ard is far too hot to allow anyone
to walk on it. So we shall try from the sea. At the same time, we
shall pull off the hatches and pour water in amongst the stores till
they're flooded. You come along to the hatchway. It's not likely that
we'll be able to go down. But later on, if we're fortunate, we might
be able to do so, and so get closer to the fire."
Working without confusion, and indeed in no apparent haste, the crew
soon pulled the hatches off the hatchway. Meanwhile a pinnace had been
lowered, and into her the carpenter had built a species of platform
raised some ten feet above the thwarts. Peeping over the side, Joe saw
that there was a crew already aboard her, while men were paying out a
ship's hose over the rail, where there was no heat and therefore no
danger of the hose burning. In a little while two lusty fellows were
perched on the top of the staging, and, operating the nozzle of the
hose together, were directing a stream of water in through the ragged
gap which existed for'ard, and which we have already mentioned. By
then, too, Joe and his friends had contrived to get three hoses going
through the hatchway, though their efforts seemed to be little rewarded.
"We're not reaching the actual seat of the fire, and the place is so
huge that even a flood of water fails to swamp the flames," said Joe,
as Mr. Henry came along to see how they were progressing. "There's one
thing helping us, and that is the absence of smoke. I suppose the
stuff which sent out that pungent smoke has got burned, and there is no
more of it."
"Shouldn't wonder," came the answer. "As to reaching the fire, you
must just keep at it. This hatchway is too hot yet to allow a man to
clamber down the ladder."
It was decidedly hot, for when Joe put his hand on the iron ridge which
surrounded the open hatch he withdrew it with a sharp cry. Indeed, the
metal was almost red-hot, while a fiery heat as from a furnace
ascended, cooled a little perhaps by the sprays of water sousing in
from the hoses.
"I believe a fellow could reach the fire if only he could get below
there and bear the heat," said Joe, perhaps half an hour later. "Look
here, Sam, I'm going to make an effort. I'll tie a noose in the rope
from the derrick, sit in it, and then get lowered. The men can play a
hose on me while I'm descending, and even when I'm down below. Let's
see if I can bear it."
A shout from Sam brought Mr. Henry, and an order from the latter soon
secured a long length of steel cable with strong electric lamps at the
end of it. At his suggestion this was made fast to the wire rope, in
which a wooden seat was fastened. Then Joe stepped into the noose,
gripped the rope and the hose, and called on the engineman to lower
slowly.
"You don't need to trouble about the electric lights," called out Mr.
Henry. "They're well insulated and perfectly watertight. The only
thing that will damage the cable is the heat. Raise your arm if it's
too great for you. We'll haul you up in a jiffy."
Out swung the rope, and Joe with it. For a while he was dangled well
above the open hatchway, with a sheer fall of forty feet beneath him,
and a glowing furnace somewhere in the hold for'ard. Whisps of smoke
curled up about him, while the heat was almost stifling, but not so
severe as it had been when he and his helpers had attacked the flames
at closer quarters.
[Illustration: JOE ATTACKS THE FIRE AT CLOSE QUARTERS]
"Lower away," he shouted, and then nodded to Sam to turn his hose on
him. "Keep the water going, and start my hose," he called to those at
the edge of the hatchway. "Now, slowly does it."
Very gently the engineman slacked out the rope running over the top of
the derrick, causing Joe to slowly disappear within the open mouth of
the hatchway. Meanwhile those in charge of the hoses paid the one out
which Joe carried, and Sam, as if he were bent on doing his young
friend an injury, sent a stream of water squirting against our hero
till the latter was drenched, and till the force of the impact of the
stream caused him to sway and twist at the end of the sling.
"Steady!" he shouted. "Less water; you'll drown me!" and, obedient to
the order, Sam shouted to the men and saw that the stream was reduced.
He sent a cascade downward now, for Joe had descended still lower,
causing the water to fall on his shoulders and then go tumbling and
hissing to the floor beneath. And, thanks to this deluge, and to the
water spouting from the hose he carried, Joe was able to prepare the
way before him. He could hear the fluid actually hissing, and see it
rising in thick clouds of steam as it fell on iron and woodwork. It
bubbled as it tumbled in a heavy cascade on huge masses of
tightly-packed machinery directly beneath him, and then it began to
settle into quiet pools.
"Steady!" he shouted again. "Hold on till things get a little cooler."
But ten minutes later he called to them to lower away, and in a little
while had stepped from the sling and was actually advancing into the
hold. A sailor joined him, and then Sam, both filled with enthusiasm.
There were five hoses going within the hour, while another was all the
while directing a powerful stream through the gap forward. Smoke gave
way in time to steam, while the clouds of the latter, which had risen
from every heated surface, and particularly from the vessel's plates,
became far less in quantity. When three hours had passed, the
atmosphere in the hold was almost pleasant, and certainly not too hot
for safe working, while the fire appeared to have been conquered
entirely. Then the ship's head was turned towards the west, and once
again her turbines sent the decks throbbing. They came to Sam and Joe
in the bunks which they occupied and told them of it; for the intense
heat which they had faced, the stifling smoke, and the strenuous fight
they had made had had their natural effect. Both had been hoisted from
the hold in an insensible condition.
"Eh?" asked Sam. "She's right? Fire under? Then call me late in the
morning. I've never yet travelled first class aboard a ship, and this
bunk's just lovely. Hallo! That Joe? Eh? He's unconscious? Well, I
am sorry; guess there's many a one will say he helped a heap to save
this vessel."
They slept profoundly side by side, and the sun was high in the heavens
before either opened his eyes. When Joe looked round, it was with a
groan of recognition and remembrance. His hands were blistered all
over and in bandages. His face was smeared with some greasy
preparation, while there no longer trace of eyelashes, eyebrows, or
hair. He was bald--a terrible object--with lips and tongue hugely
swollen.
"My word," exclaimed Sam, staring at him, "what a sight!"
Joe giggled. After all, however tired, however sore with a struggle,
he could look on the queer side of things. "My eye!" he gurgled, for
speech was almost impossible. "Just you take a look at yourself; it'll
make you feel downright faint, I do assure you." Then he went off into
a laugh, which ended in a cry of pain and tribulation, for cracked and
swollen lips make laughing painful. As for Sam, he rose in his bunk,
leaned outwards, and stared into the mirror. It was with a groan of
resignation that he threw himself backward, for, like Joe, he was
wonderfully disfigured.
"The wife wouldn't know me," he said. "What a sight! No wonder you
giggled."
But time does wonders for sore hearts and sore heads. Five days later,
when the ship put into Quebec, both were moderately presentable, though
Joe still had his hands in bandages. But think of the reward! A
thousand and more disembarked passengers from the steamship _Kansas
City_ awaited their arrival and cheered them to the very echo as they
landed. It was Joe's welcome to Canada, the land wherein he trusted to
make his fortune.