GRINDING AWAY
Events aboard the _Mary Ellen_ did not transpire at all slowly. In a
comparatively short space of time she had been converted from an old
hulk into a good sailing vessel, she had put to sea with a party of
moving picture workers, including a sailor accused of mutiny, who had
broken jail. She had been stopped by the English ship, and now the old
schooner was starting to scud before the blast of a hurricane. For the
time being the accusation against Jack Jepson was forgotten.
"Lively now, everyone!" cried Captain Brisco. "When a storm breaks down
here, it isn't any child's play. Double reefs in all sails, and two men
at the wheel. Lash everything fast, pass life-lines, and passengers keep
below."
"Oh, but I want to see the storm!" exclaimed Alice.
"Oh, how can you!" remonstrated Ruth. "It is going to be--awful!"
And indeed, if the evidence of sky and sea, and the moaning of the wind,
were any indication, a great storm was in prospect.
The billows that had been rolling with oily smoothness now began to show
little feathery crests of foam, and they were following one another with
greater quickness, as if impatient to be at their shattering work.
The wind seemed most ominous of all. It was as though it came from afar
off, down behind the horizon line that showed black, with a fringe of
angry yellow in the west. A low, mumbling, roaring, moaning wind it was,
that whistled mournfully through the rigging of the schooner, and howled
down the companionways.
"Oh dear!" sighed Ruth, as she slipped her arm into that of her sister,
and started for their cabin. "Come on, Alice. I'm afraid!"
"Nonsense! What of? Nothing has happened--yet."
"No, but there is going to be a terrible storm!"
"And I just love a blow. I've never seen one at sea, and, as this may be
the only chance I'll get, I'm not going to miss it. Stay up with me,
Ruth. Don't be like those sillies, and go below," and she motioned to
Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon who were scurrying for cover, as the wind
and the sea increased.
"Well, I'll stay up a little while," agreed Ruth. "But I--I'm afraid all
the same."
"Nonsense!" cried Alice gaily. "We have a good ship under us. It went
through a mutiny, and I guess it can weather a storm."
"That's just the point--can it?" asked Ruth in a low voice.
"What do you mean?" Alice asked in a curiously strained voice.
"I mean that this is an old vessel, 'made over,' as we would say of a
dress, Alice, it can't be as good and strong as a new one would be, and
in a storm----"
"Oh, don't be nervous!" broke in Alice. "Here, I'll ask Mr. Blake," and
she stopped the first mate who was hurrying to and fro directing the men
at their work of making everything snug below and aloft.
"Isn't she safe, Mr. Blake?" Alice appealed.
"Who?" the first mate wanted to know.
"This ship."
"I--I think so," he said. "Yes, surely," he added quickly. "We will ride
out the storm, never fear. It hasn't gotten here yet, and we may only
get the outer edge of it. But you must excuse me now," and he hastened
along the deck.
"There!" cried Alice. "What did I tell you?" she asked triumphantly.
"Well, I'll stay here with you a little while," Ruth agreed. "Then I'm
going below and----"
"Bundle up all your possessions and sit on a life preserver," broke in
Alice with a laugh. "Oh, Ruth, you are--hopeless!"
"Yes, but look at that!" and the older sister pointed to the west. There
had been a rapid change. There was more yellow in the clouds now and
less blackness, though there was enough of that ominous color too.
"Doesn't it scare you, Alice?"
"Not so much, no. Of course I've never been in a bad storm down here,
and I don't know what they do to one. But I think we'll weather it, as
the sailors say. But I wonder what Mr. Pertell is doing?"
She motioned to the manager who was seen amidships, talking to Russ, the
chief camera operator. They were near the big motorboat _Ajax_, which
still rested in the cradle on deck.
Mr. DeVere was also in conversation with the manager and his chief
helper.
"Let's go over and see what it is," suggested Alice. "Maybe they are
frightened too."
"I wouldn't blame them," murmured Ruth, with a nervous glance over her
shoulder at the oncoming storm.
The two girls joined their father and the others. Pop Snooks, the
property man, who could make almost anything from a brick wall to a
king's palace, on short notice, was called into the consultation.
"I'm sure they're going to do something!" Alice exclaimed, as she
noticed Mr. Pertell beckon Captain Brisco to him. And when the girls
reached the group they learned what was afoot.
"Why yes, you'd have time for some pictures before the storm gets here,"
Captain Brisco was saying. "It's evidently going to be slow in
breaking."
"And it wouldn't be too rough for the motorboat?" asked Mr. Pertell.
"Oh, no. She's built dory fashion, and bigger waves than these wouldn't
swamp her. It's a question though, if your man is game."
"Oh, don't worry about me!" exclaimed Russ Dalwood. "I'll make pictures
as long as the light will hold good. How is the boat? Is she all ready
to start?"
"All ready to put into the water," the captain assured him. "She has
been that way since we reached this locality. What do you say?" he asked
the manager. "Shall we lower away?"
"I think so," was the answer from Mr. Pertell. "I want to get some views
of the schooner sailing off before the storm. It will be a sort of
introduction to the shipwreck that is to come later."
"All right!" exclaimed Russ. "That suits me. I'll get the camera and
films ready. I'll need a helper."
"Oh, of course," agreed the manager. "You can't manage the boat and the
engine and work the camera too. Grinding away at the film will keep you
busy, especially as the water's a bit rough."
"A _bit_ rough!" exclaimed Russ with a smile. "I like the way you say
it. But the rougher it is the better effect we'll get on the film. I'll
be ready when you are, Captain Brisco."
"All right, I'll have the boat over at once," and the commander gave the
necessary orders for lowering the _Ajax_ over the side. This had been
provided for when she was cradled, so there was little delay at this
task.
"Are we to do any 'stunts,' while Russ is taking pictures?" asked Alice
of the manager.
"No, you are just to stand around on deck, and look a bit anxious. You
are supposed to be an old-time passenger packet you know, on a long
voyage, and you are running away from the storm. We don't want many feet
of this film--just enough to indicate what is to come. The real
shipwreck--that is the imitation of it--will come later, when this
storm blows over. Get on the side where the motorboat will be," the
manager directed, "and line up along the rail."
While Russ was "loading" his camera, Ruth and Alice watched the sailors
getting the _Ajax_ ready. The engine had been tested, and seemed to work
well. Jack Jepson came along with a small keg of water, and a bundle
done up in a piece of sail cloth.
"What's that for?" asked Alice.
"Provisions and water," answered the old sailor.
"But they're only going to be away a few minutes," the girl objected.
"They won't want anything to eat or drink."
"It's a rule of th' sea," said old Jack, "never to put a boat over the
side without provisioning and watering her. You never can tell what will
happen on th' ocean. I've seen boats put out just for a little row
around, and a fog would come up, and they'd be away nearly a week. And
when they didn't have any water or food aboard--well, Miss, them's not
nice things to talk about to ladies," he said simply. And Alice
understood.
The storm seemed to be holding off, at least for a time. Far away the
dark mass of the British steamer could be seen. The _Ajax_ was soon
ready, and lowered to the heaving water.
"Mr. Sneed, you get in and help Russ," ordered Mr. Pertell. "You know
something about motor-boats, don't you?"
"A little, yes. But I--er--I don't like to get in one when a storm is
coming up."
"Nonsense!" the manager ejaculated. "There's no danger! You are going
only a short distance away from the schooner, to get some views of her
as she rides the waves. It will make a good film, the coming storm, and
the waters rising and falling. Get aboard, Mr. Sneed, and do whatever
Russ wants you to. He'll be busy with the camera so you will have to
steer, and run the engine. The last won't bother you though, for it has
a self-starter on and a gear clutch. You'll be in no danger."
Mr. Sneed did not seem anxious to go. However, orders were orders, and
members of the company, even Mr. Wellington Bunn, thought twice before
refusing Mr. Pertell. So, when Russ came up with his cameras, bringing
two in case of emergency, Mr. Sneed was already in the boat, which was
rising and falling at the foot of the accommodation ladder over the side
of the schooner.
"All aboard!" sang out Russ gaily, as he prepared to descend, his
cameras having been lowered to Mr. Sneed by a rope. "Look pleasant,
girls, you're going to have your pictures took," and he laughed.
There was an ominous hush in the air now. The moaning of the wind seemed
to have died down, at least for the time being, but the waves were
higher, the swells were long, and did not break much.
It was lighter, also, though the light was of a sickly yellowish cast.
However, it would serve for a few pictures.
"Let her go, Pepper!" called Russ to his actor-helper and the motor
whirred, as the _Ajax_ started away from the side of the schooner. Russ,
setting his camera up on the platform made for it in the bow, began
grinding at the crank, taking many views of the pitching, tossing
schooner as it rose and fell on the bosom of the heaving ocean.
"I don't like this!" exclaimed Mr. Sneed, when a dash of spray wet him,
as he sat at the wheel. "I wish I hadn't come. I'm sure something will
happen!"
"Something sure _will_, if you don't keep her headed up into the seas,"
declared Russ. "We'll be swamped, that's what will happen. Steady now.
I'm getting some good ones," and he worked away at the camera, while the
schooner sailed farther and farther away. Russ wanted to give the idea
of distance on the film.