The Rover Boys in Southern Waters: or, The Deserted Steam Yacht

"The best of it is, the yacht seems to be fairly well stocked with food and water," was Dick's comment, after a pause. "We'll not starve to death, even if it takes a week to reach port."

"Why, we ought to reach port in a couple of days!" cried Sam. "Some of these steam yachts can run very fast."

"So they can – with a competent engineer. But who is going to be the engineer? and who the pilot?"

"Oh, we can pilot her," declared Tom, loftily. "It's as easy as licking cream, as the cat said."

"Maype you vos run us on der rocks," put in Hans.

"I don't think there are many rocks out here – but we'll have to consult the chart," said Dick. "Oh, I think we can pilot her to some port. But I must confess I don't know much about running an engine."

"We'll make her go somehow," answered Tom. "Even if I have to shove the piston rod myself," and at this remark both of his brothers had to laugh.

The more they thought of it the more wonderful did the situation appear to be. It was so wonderful that for the balance of that day they allowed the craft to drift as before. Tom and Sam started up a fair-sized fire under the boiler, after making certain that the latter was more than half-full of water. They knew enough about an engine to locate the safety valve and saw that this was in working order.

"Now, if we get up steam we won't be blown sky-high anyway," said Sam.

While Sam and Tom were experimenting in the engine room, Dick and Hans tried to make themselves familiar with the wheel and the things on deck, and the oldest Rover studied the chart found in the cabin, and the compass.

"I think we are about here," said Dick, when all came together in the cabin, and he traced a circle on the chart with a lead pencil. "Now if that is so, then we'll have to steer directly southeast to reach Tampa Bay."

"Hurrah for Captain Dick!" cried Tom. "Dick, you get your diploma as soon as we land."

"Well, isn't that right?"

"It certainly is according to the map," answered Sam.

"So all you and Tom have got to do is to furnish the power – and not blow us up – and then you get your diplomas too."

"Vot do I got?" asked Hans.

"Oh, you get a big Limburger cheese," cried Tom.

"Vell, dot's putty goot too," answered the youth of Teutonic extraction.

"We'll arrange it this way," said Dick. "Tom can be engineer, Sam fireman, myself pilot, and Hans can be admiral and crew combined."

"Vot does dot crew to?" asked Hans, eagerly.

"Oh, the crew swabs the deck and keelhauls the anchor," answered Tom.

"In between times you thread the yardarm, too."

"Vell, den I vill haf mine hands full, ain't it!"

"You eat so much you ought to do some work," said Sam. "If you don't work you'll get as fat as a barrel."

With the coming of night our young friends looked to the lanterns of the steam yacht and refilled those which were empty at an oil barrel stored in the bow of the craft. Then they lit up, and also lit up the cabin.

"I think we may as well cook ourselves a real dinner for this evening," said Dick. "No makeshift affair either."

All were willing, and an hour and a half later they sat down to the table and ate as good a meal as the stores of the steam yacht afforded. Evidently the craft belonged to some person of good taste, for the eatables were of the very best.

"There, that puts new life into a fellow!" declared Dick, after the repast was over. "If I only knew what had become of the Mascotteand the other fellows – knew that our friends were safe – I'd feel quite happy."

"Oh, don't speak of the Mascotte!" answered Sam, with a shiver. "I can't bear to think that Fred and Songbird have been drowned!"

"Let us hope for the best," said Tom, with a sigh. And for the moment all traces of fun disappeared from his countenance.

Thinking it might be a good plan to cast anchor over night, they attempted to do so. But although they let out all the rope and chain, no bottom could be found.

"The water is certainly deep here," said Dick, after the anchor had been brought up again. "I don't think there is any danger of striking rocks."

"Not unless the steam yacht sinks a mile or two," said Tom, with a grin.

It was decided that one person should remain on watch during the night, to report any vessel that might pass and to watch the fire under the boiler. Dick said he would stay up, and Tom told his brother to call him at two in the morning.

"And call me at four," said Sam. "I want to do my share."

The night proved to be as misty as that previously passed, and although first Dick and then Sam and Tom kept their eyes on the alert, nothing was seen or heard of any other vessel. Once Dick fancied he heard the faraway toot of a foghorn, but the sound, whatever it was, was not repeated.

By morning it was raining. At first only a few drops came down, but then it began to pour, so that all were glad to remain under shelter. Hans and Sam prepared breakfast, while Tom looked after the engine and the fire and Dick kept watch on deck.

"It is going to be a corker," was Dick's comment, when he came in for something to eat. "The rain is so thick now you can't see a dozen yards in any direction."

"Let us hope that the rain will clear away the mist," said Sam. "Then perhaps we'll have some sunshine for a change."

"It's all right, if only it doesn't start to blow," answered Tom. "But you must remember that they have some pretty fierce storms down here."

The rain continued to come down as hard as ever and kept up until near noon. In the meantime, however, Sam and Tom got up enough steam to run the yacht at a low rate of speed.

"We can try her that way first," said Tom. "Then, if it's O. K., we'll give her a hundred pounds or so."

"Now, Tom, be careful of that engine!" pleaded Dick. "It won't do to monkey too much."

"Oh, I'll be careful, Dick. I don't want to be blown up any more than you do."

"Remember the old saying, 'The more haste the less speed,'" warned the big brother.

It was with a peculiar thrill that Dick took his place in the wheelhouse and rang the bell for the engine to start. Tom, below, was equally excited as he turned on the power. There was a peculiar hissing and bubbling, but the propeller did not turn.

"What's the matter?" called down Dick, through the speaking tube.

"Didn't you hear my signal?"

He listened for a reply, but instead of Tom's voice he heard the fierce hissing of steam. Then, of a sudden, came a yell from Tom.

"Shut off that steam, Sam! Quick! or I'll be scalded to death!"

CHAPTER XVIII

IN PERIL OF STEAM

As quickly as he could, Dick rushed from the wheelhouse and toward the companionway leading to the engine room.

"Vot's der madder?" bawled Hans, who was at the rail, waiting for the steam yacht to start.

"Tom's in trouble," ejaculated the eldest Rover, and went down the stairs four steps at a time, with the German youth behind him.

The engine room was full of steam, so that for the moment Dick could see little. A pipe running along one side of the engine had burst, and Tom was hemmed in a corner. To get out he would have to pass through the furious outpouring of steam, which might scald him to death.

Not far away was Sam, frantically trying to turn the steam off. But the youngest Rover's knowledge of engines and marine machinery was limited and, while he fussed around, the steam in the narrow engine room kept growing thicker and thicker.

"Get down on the floor, Tom!" yelled Dick, as he took in the situation.

"Maybe you can crawl out."

Tom did as urged, and like a snake he attempted to crawl from his position of peril. But when he was only halfway he got stuck.

"I – I can't make it!" he panted, trying to worm along. "I – I'm too big."

"Can you go back – I see a door behind you," said Dick.

Tom went back, and as he did this Dick ran out of the engine room and to one of the coal bunkers. Here was the door the eldest Rover had seen. It was closed and barred and somewhat rusty, and he had to exert all his strength to make it budge.

"Quick! quick!" came faintly from Tom. "I can't stand this much longer!"

"This way out, Tom!" called Dick, as the door at last flew open. In the cloud of steam that rushed into the coal bunker Dick saw his brother faintly, and caught him by the arm and pulled him forward. In a moment more both were safe.

"Sam, are you all right?" yelled Dick, rushing again to the engineroom door proper.

"Whe – where's Tom?"

"Safe."

"Oh! then I'll come out," and Sam staggered into the fresh air.

"Mine cracious! vos der ship going to plow up!" gasped Hans, who had stood looking on with his hair standing on end.

"I don't think so," answered Dick. "The steam will soon blow itself away. You didn't have very much pressure; did you, Tom?"

"No, but it was too much when the pipe burst. Gosh! I was afraid I was going to be boiled alive!" and he shuddered.

"It's about gone now," came from Sam, who was watching at the doorway. "It isn't hissing nearly as much as it did." He was right, and presently the hissing ceased entirely. Then Sam, Dick, and Hans opened all the portholes and doors, to let out the steam, and soon the scare was over. But Tom felt "shaky in the legs," as he termed it, for some hours afterwards.

"I suppose I should have tested all those pipes and valves as soon as I had just a little steam," said the fun-loving Rover. "There is where I wasn't a good engineer. Well, one thing is certain, nothing gave way but the single pipe."

"And that could happen on any steamer," answered Dick. "Any engine is liable to a breakdown of this kind. The question is, Are we machinists enough to repair the break? If we are not, then we'll have to let the steam power go and hoist some sails."

"Oh, that would be slow work!" cried Sam. "Let us try to fix the pipe. I saw some extra pieces in the tool room. Maybe one of them will fit."

With the engine room cleared of steam they inspected the split pipe. It was a piece exactly two feet long, and they looked over the pieces in the tool room and found one just half an inch shorter.

"I think that will do," said Dick. "We won't be able to couple it on quite so tightly as the other was but we can pack it well, and I guess it will last till we reach some port."

The tool room was supplied with the necessary wrenches and all of the boys spent two hours in fitting in the new piece of pipe. Then they inspected the other pipes and the engine, but everything appeared to be in first-class shape.

The fire had been allowed to die down while the repairs were going on, and was not started up again until the work had been completed.

"Say, don't I look like a nigger?" demanded Tom, as he put down some tools. "If I don't, I feel black from head to foot."

"You are certainly pretty grimy," answered Sam, with a laugh. "But I am that myself."

"We'll all have to go in for a good wash," said Dick.

"Vy ton't you chump oferpoard?" demanded Hans, who was pretty dirty himself.

"Say! just the thing!" ejaculated Tom. "A swim wouldn't go bad on such a hot day as this? Let us go in by all means!"

Sam was delighted at the suggestion, for the calm waters of the gulf looked very inviting. Dick did not care so much for a swim, but said he would go in if the others did.

"Dare vos a whole lot of pathing suits in von of der lockers," said Hans. "I vill git dem."

He soon appeared with the suits, and in less than ten minutes all of the boys were ready for a plunge. The waters of the gulf appeared to be unusually calm and nothing disturbed the surface.

"Here goes!" cried Tom, and poised on the rail he made a splendid dive and disappeared like a flash. Sam and Dick immediately followed. Hans remained on the rail, grinning.

"Why don't you come in, Hans?" yelled Sam, as he came up and commenced to swim about.

"I dink you vos chumps alretty," answered the German boy, calmly.

"Chumps?" returned Dick.

"Dot's it!"

"Why?"

"You chump oferpoard und you ton't know how you vos going to git pack, ain't it!" And now Hans laughed outright.

"Well, I never!" cried Tom. "We forgot to throw even a rope down!"

"We certainly would have had a time getting on deck," was Dick's comment. "Hans, throw an end of the rope ladder down."

"Dot vos vot I dink mineselluf," answered the German youth, and did as requested. Then he, too, took a dive, coming up and blowing like a porpoise.

It was certainly good sport and the four boys enjoyed it thoroughly. With the aid of the rope ladder it was easy to climb on the deck of the steam yacht, and they did a good deal of diving and running around. They also had a race, Tom offering a pint of ice cream to the first one around the ship. Dick won this race, with all of the others in a bunch at his heels. He was just reaching the end when Tom caught him by the ankle and held him fast.

"Hi, you! let go!" yelled Dick, and then turning, he promptly sent his brother downward, so that Tom had to let go.

"Wish I had a plate of ice cream," murmured Sam, when they were all resting on the rail of the steam yacht. "Wouldn't it be fine?"

"Oxactly," came from Hans. "Ven I gits me to a hotel again I vos order a plate a foot high, mit vanilla, strawperry, chocolate, orange ice, lemon – "

"Don't, Hans!" cried Tom, reproachfully. "You hurt my feelings so!" And with a comical grin he placed one hand over his stomach. "Just think of strawberry ice cream!"

"Or strawberries with cream! My, but it makes a fellow's mouth water!" came from Sam.

The boys remained in and out of the water the best part of two hours. It was so inviting all hated to think of dressing again. They had a game of tag and kept poor Hans "it" for a long while, until, in fact, the German youth was out of breath and had to give it up.

"I ton't run me no more, py golly!" panted Hans. "Of you vonts to been caught you caught yourselfs alretty!" And at this remark all of the others roared.

"I shouldn't mind our situation a bit if only we were certain the others were safe," remarked Dick, when they were dressing. "But when I think of Fred, Songbird, and Harold Bird – " He did not finish, but shook his head sorrowfully.

"It makes a fellow sick, doesn't it?" returned Sam. "Oh, I do hope they are safe!"

"I'll tell you one thing," came from Tom, walking up at this moment.

"This swim has made me as hungry as a bear."

"Tom, did you ever know the time you weren't hungry?" demanded his elder brother.

"Sure," answered the fun-loving Rover, with a broad grin.

"When?" demanded both of the others.

"Directly after a good, square meal!" answered Tom, and then dodged hurriedly, to escape the shoe Dick hurled at him.

CHAPTER XIX

THE STORM ON THE GULF

"Boys, we are going to have a corker of a storm if ever there was one."

"I believe you, Dick. My, how the black clouds are rolling up!"

"And just when we were doing so nicely too."

The three Rover boys had come to the deck in a bunch, directly after the bath and a hearty meal.

It was Dick who had noticed the black clouds rolling up so suddenly and had called the attention of the others.

"How kvick der veader can change," sighed Hans. "Ven ve vos in schwimming I dink it vos lofely for a veek, ain't it!"

The boys had a good fire under the boiler and had tested the engine, to find it now in good working order. From one of the new joints the steam bubbled the least bit, but not sufficiently to do any harm or cause alarm. Dick had tried the wheel, to find it in the best of order. It thrilled him to take hold of the spokes and make the steam yacht answer to his will.

"I don't wonder some men wish to be pilots," he had said. "It's great to have a big steamer do just as you want her to." Then he had run the vessel around in the form of the figure 8, just to "get the knack of it," as he said.

"Shall we start for land in such a storm as this?" asked Sam. "It might drive us up on the rocks somewhere."

"We're a good way from land, Sam. Let us see what the storm will do first."

The black clouds increased rapidly, until the whole sky was overcast. Then a strong wind sprang up and the gulf was covered with whitecaps as far as the eye could reach.

"It's coming!" cried Sam, as the big raindrops began to fall. "We may as well get out of the wet."

"I think I'll run before the storm," said Dick. "We must either do that or face it. The yacht is beginning to roil."

"Yah, I feel dot!" sighed Hans, who had begun to turn pale.

"Hans, are you getting seasick?" demanded Sam.

"I ton't know, put I clink me my stomach vos going inside owid alretty!"

"You're certainly seasick," said Dick, with a grin. "Better lie down for a while."

"Oh, my!" groaned the German youth, and rushed, first to the rail of the steam yacht and then to the cabin. He was indeed sick, and that was the last the others saw of him while the storm lasted.

Soon came a whistling wind and then the rain fell in torrents. The sea was lashed into a white foam and the waves became higher and higher, crashing against the stern of the Mermaid, as she ran before them. At one moment the steam yacht would be on the top of the waves, the next she would sink down and down in the trough of the sea.

"You don't think we'll be wrecked, do you?" asked Sam, as he left his duty as fireman and came to the wheelhouse, where Dick stood, with all the windows down, trying to peer forth through the fury of the elements.

"Not at all, Sam, – but this is something fierce and no mistake."

"Poor Hans is down and out. I heard him rolling on his berth and groaning with distress."

"Well, leave him alone. He'll be sick as long as the storm lasts, most likely, and you'll only make matters worse by looking at him."

With the coming of night the storm appeared to increase. It was pitch-black on every side and Dick did not dare to run the Mermaidat more than quarter speed – just enough to keep her from swinging around broadside to the storm. All the lanterns were lit and hung up, Sam doing this with an oilsilk coat around him – a garment found in one of the staterooms. Yet he came in pretty wet.

"It's a screamer," he announced to Tom, as he dried himself by the boiler. "Never knew they could have such storms down here."

"They have storms all over the world," answered Tom. "What is Dick doing?"

"Running before the wind."

"He just told me to slow down more yet."

"Well, he can't see a thing ahead and he doesn't want to run into anything."

"And Hans?"

"Down, the sickest ever."

"Too bad! I know what it is to be sick. Better leave him alone."

"That's what Dick said."

As but little steam was needed Sam had no call to urge on his fire beneath the boiler, and he and Tom sat down near the speaking tube, to talk occasionally to Dick.

Thus two hours went by. Nobody had the least desire to go to sleep, even though the long swim had made each boy rather tired. The fury of the elements made them nervous.

"This puts me in mind of the time we were on the Pacific," called down Dick through the speaking tube. He referred to the adventures they had had as related in "The Rover Boys on Land and Sea."

"Well, we don't want to be cast away on a lonely island as we were then," said Sam.

"There are no islands around here," answered Tom. "I looked on the chart to make sure."

"In that case we can't hit anything. I am thinking – "

"Back her!" yelled Dick, through the speaking tube, and then jingled the bell.

Tom leaped for the engine and reversed it. There was a pause, and they felt the steam yacht swing half around. Then, after a wait, Dick ordered the speed ahead.

"What was wrong?" asked Tom, at the tube.

"Light right ahead," was the answer. "We cleared it by fifty feet.

But I was scared, I can tell you that."

"What kind of a light?"

"A steamer – tramp, I reckon. She's way behind now."

Sam ran on deck to get a view of the stranger, but the fury of the storm shut out the sight.

"I suppose you didn't see much of her, Dick," he said, going into the wheelhouse.

"I saw enough," was the grim response. "I thought we were going to have a smashup sure, and I reckon the other pilot thought the same."

"Did you see anybody on board?"

"Not a soul. She came up like a ghost, with only two lights showing, and by the time I had backed and turned she was gone. But it nearly gave me nervous collapse," added the amateur pilot.

The wind was now so heavy that it sent the rain against the pilot house in solid sheets. Dick could not see ahead at all and he requested Sam to go to the bow, to keep the best lookout possible.

"If you see anything wrong yell to me," he said. "And be careful that you don't tumble overboard." And then he spoke to Tom through the tube and asked the amateur engineer to play fireman also for the time being.

Wrapped in the raincoat, and with a cap pulled far down over his head, Sam took up his station near the bow, clinging to the rail for protection. He knew their safety depended in good part on keeping a sharp lookout and he eyed the darkness ahead closely. So far there had been little lightning and scarcely any thunder, but now the rumbling increased until there came a crash and a flare that made all on the Mermaid jump.

"Did that hit us?" yelled Tom up the tube.

"No, but it was pretty close," answered Dick, "Where is Sam now?"

"At the forward rail. I can see nothing from the wheelhouse."

"If it gets much worse you had better come below and let the boat run itself, Dick."

"I can't do that, Tom – I must stick to my post."

Another half-hour went by, and there was no let up in the fury of the storm. Poor Sam was almost exhausted and, tying the wheel fast for the time being, Dick went to him.

"Better come in," he said. "If you'll take the wheel I'll stay out here. Just keep her straight before the storm."

"All right," panted poor Sam, and made his way back to the wheelhouse step by step, and holding on to whatever was handy, to keep from being swept overboard.

Sam had interested himself in steering from the start and knew how to handle a wheel moderately well. He looked at the compass and saw that they were running almost due east, varying a little to the southward. He untied the wheel and kept to the course with but little trouble.

"Dick has gone on the lookout," he explained to Tom. And then he added: "You've got the best job to-night."

"I'd come up, if you could run the engine," was Tom's reply.

"No, you had better attend to that, Tom."

"Doesn't the storm seem to be letting up?"

"Not a particle. If anything it is growing worse."

"It must be a hurricane."

"It is – or next door to it," answered the youngest of the Rovers.

The thunder and lightning appeared to draw closer, until the steam yacht was literally surrounded by the electrical display. The flashes of lightning were so blinding that, for the moment afterward, neither Sam nor Dick could see anything. Sam tried to keep the windows of the pilot house fairly clean, but the effort was a dismal failure.

Presently came one awful flash and crash that caused Sam to sink back in a heap on one of the pilot-house cushions. He felt that the steam yacht must have been struck and every nerve in his body tingled and quivered. Only after a strong effort was he able to pull himself together and clutch the wheel once more.

"Dick must have felt that," he murmured. "I wish – "

Another flash of lightning, but less vivid, interrupted his meditations.

He looked out of the front window towards where Dick had been standing.

Then he gave a cry of alarm.

His big brother had disappeared!

CHAPTER XX

A NIGHT OF ANXIETY

Had the lightning struck Dick and knocked him overboard?

Such was the terrifying question which Sam asked himself as he stared out of the pilothouse window into the darkness before him. Another flash of lightning lit up the scene and he made certain that his big brother was nowhere in sight.

"Tom! Tom!" he yelled down the tube, frantically.

"What now, Sam?"

"Dick is gone – struck by lightning, I guess. Come up!"

At this alarming information Tom left the engine room at a bound and came on deck almost as soon as it can be told. He met Sam running toward the bow.