A CLOSE SHAVE.
Bill Raynor received Jack's news with a shrug.
"I'm not surprised, to tell you the truth," he said. "I've met a good
many Germans in the course of my sea-going years, and that's usually
their idea,--rather sink the ship than give it up."
"But the fearful danger, Bill," protested Jack. "At any moment there may
come a crash and----"
"We've got iceberg detectors," said Bill, "and maybe they'll sound the
whistle and locate a big berg by the echo."
"They won't sound any whistle to-night," declared Jack. "That skipper is
determined not to give any cruiser the least inkling of his whereabouts.
I'm going to take a run on the deck, the wireless bell will call me if
something comes. Want to join me?"
"All right. But it's not much of a night for a stroll outside."
"Anything's better than sitting in that cabin waiting for
you-don't-know-what to happen."
"You're getting nervous, Jack."
"Not so much for my own sake as at the thought of all these thousands of
tons of steel being raced through this fog at a twenty-four knot clip
and icebergs ahead. It's sheer madness."
"Well, the captain's word is law at sea, so it's no use protesting. We
must hope for the best."
The upper decks were deserted except for the boys. On the lower deck the
passengers huddled in the darkness behind canvas screens erected to
prevent any chance ray of light from filtering out. It was an uncanny
feeling this, of speeding through an impenetrable pall of blackness with
the thought of the iceberg warning ever and anon recurring to both lads,
though they tried to talk of indifferent subjects.
The hours wore on and the fog did not lighten. Chilled to the bone,
although it was August, Jack and Bill had about decided to turn in when
there came a sudden sharp cry from the lookout forward. Involuntarily,
Bill clutched Jack's arm. The strain had affected them both more than
they cared to admit.
Suddenly, dead ahead of them, as it seemed, there reared, seen white
through the mist, a monstrous spectral form. It towered above the
steamer's masts and appeared to their alarmed imaginations to hang like
an impending cliff above the ship.
From the bridge came quick shouts. Orders were given and harshly echoed.
Somewhere down on the passenger decks, a woman screamed. Then came cries
of consternation. The next moment there was a slight shock and a long,
shuddering grind passed along the vessel's side. The mountainous ice
mass appeared to sheer off, but in reality the ship was swinging clear
of it. By a miracle she had escaped with a mere graze of her side. At
diminished speed, she continued on her course.
"Phew, what a narrow escape!" exclaimed Jack, as the fog shut in about
the monster berg they had sheered.
"I thought we were goners, sure," declared Bill, soberly. "A little of
that sort of thing goes a long way. I---- Hark!"
From the lower decks there now came the confused noise of a frightened
crowd. Now and then, above, could be heard the shrieks of an hysterical
woman. Sharp, authoritative voices belonging, as the boys guessed, to
the officers, who were trying to quiet the panic-stricken throngs,
occasionally sounded above the babel.
"They're coming this way!" cried Jack suddenly, as a rush of feet could
be heard making for the ascents to the boat deck, where the wireless
coop was situated. "Bill, we'll be in the middle of a first-class panic
in a minute."
"Yes, if that crowd gets up here among the boats, there's going to be
the dickens popping," agreed Bill. "What will we do?"
"Run into the wireless room. In the drawer of the desk by the safe there
are two revolvers. One's mine and the other belongs to Poffer. Get them
on the jump."
It did not take Bill long to carry out his errand, but in even the short
time that he had been absent, the forefront of the terrified crowd from
below was almost at the head of the companionway leading from the
promenade to the boat deck. Jack had stationed himself at the head of
it.
"Keep cool, everybody," he was shouting; "there is no danger."
"The _Titanic_!" shrieked somebody. "We've hit an iceberg. We'll sink
like her."
"The boats!" shouted a man. "We'll lower 'em ourselves. We're sinking!"
In the gloom Jack could see the man's face, round and white, with a big
yellow mustache.
[Illustration: "Keep cool, everybody," he was shouting; "there is no
danger."--Page 42]
The fellow shoved two women, wedged in the throng, aside, and addressed
himself to Jack, who stood at the head of the companionway.
"Let me pass, you!" he bellowed, seemingly mad with fear. "I want a
place in the first boat. I----"
Jack felt Bill slip a revolver into his pocket. But he did not remove
the weapon, the time had not yet come for its use.
"Stop that noise," he told the yellow-mustached man bluntly. "Ladies and
gentlemen," he went on, "there's no danger. We merely grazed the berg.
Thank heaven the ship was swung in time to save her."
"Don't believe him," shrieked the terrified man. "Stand to one side
there. The boats!"
He made a rush for Jack and struck heavily at the young wireless
operator. But before his blow landed, Jack had crouched and the next
instant his fist shot out like a piston rod. The fellow staggered back,
but could not fall because of the pressure of humanity behind him.
It is difficult to say what might have happened had there not been
cooler heads in the crowd. Reassured by Jack's cool manner, these began
quieting the more timid ones. Just then, too, Captain Rollok and some of
his officers appeared. All carried drawn revolvers, for a disorganized
rush on the boats would have meant that scores of women would have been
trampled and many lives lost in the confusion.
The captain's firm, stern tones completed the work Jack and Bill had
begun. He assured the passengers that an examination had been made and
that no damage had been done. He also promised thereafter to run at a
more moderate speed. Gradually, the excited crowd calmed down, and some
sought their cabins. The greater part, however, elected to remain on
deck throughout the night.
The next morning the fog had somewhat cleared and the break-neck speed
of the ship was resumed. Jack was just resigning the key to young Poffer
when the doorway was darkened by a bulky figure. It was that of a big,
yellow-mustached man, whom Jack recognized instantly as the man who had
led the panic of the night before, and whom he had been forced to deal
with summarily.
He furiously glared at Jack, and the boy noticed that under his left eye
was a dark bruise, a memento of the previous night.
"What did you mean by striking me last night?" he began angrily. "I
demand your name. I will have you discharged."
"My name is Ready," answered Jack calmly, "and as far as having me
discharged is concerned, I'm afraid that will be impossible. You see I'm
here in what you might call an extra-official capacity."
"Bah! don't be impudent with me, boy. I am Herr Professor."
"Oh, a barber," smiled Jack, amiably.
The yellow-mustached man fairly growled. His light blue eyes snapped
viciously.
"I am Herr----"
"Oh, yes, I see you're here," responded Jack calmly. "You seem to be in
rather a bad temper, too."
"Boy, I will see that you are punished for this. I am a gentleman."
"Really, it would be as hard to tell it on you this morning as it was
last night," responded Jack, in quite unruffled tones.
"Be very careful, young man. I have already told you I am Herr
Professor."
"Oh, don't hang out the barber pole again," begged Jack.
The other shot a glance full of venom at the perfectly cool youth before
him. Then, apparently realizing that there was nothing to be gained from
indulging in tirades, he turned abruptly on his heel and strode to the
door. On the threshold he paused.
"I am going to report your conduct to the captain at once," he said.
"You will find out before long what such gross impertinence to a
passenger means."
"I shouldn't advise you to tell him about your behavior last night,
though," observed Jack.
"Why not?"
"Because from what I've observed of him, he is a rather hot-tempered man
and he might feel inclined to throw you out of his cabin--and it's quite
a drop from there to the promenade deck."
"You will hear more of this," snarled the infuriated man; but at Jack's
parting shot he made off, looking very uncomfortable.
Poffer regarded Jack with a look in which admiration and awe were oddly
blended.
"I dink you haf for yourself made idt troubles," he remarked.
"Trouble! In what way?" demanded Jack. "The fellow is an arrant coward.
He----"
"Ah yah, dot is so, but den he is Herr----"
"Gracious, have you got hair on your brain, too?"
"Yah," was the innocent response. "He is a big Professor at a Cherman
War College. He is a great man in Germany, der Herr Professor Radwig."
"Well, Mr. Earwig, or whatever his name is, may be a great man as you
say, Hans, my boy, but he is also a great coward. As for his threat to
make trouble with the captain, that does not bother me in the least. To
begin with, I'm only a volunteer, as it were, and in the second place,
I'll bet you a cookie or one of those big red apples you're so fond of,
that Mr. Earwig will avoid discussing the events of last night as much
as he can. I've heard the last of him."
But in this Jack was wrong. In days that lay ahead of the boys, they
were to find that Herr Professor Radwig was ordained to play no
unimportant part in their lives.