CHAPTER IX
OFF FOR THE SOUTH
Amid the jangling of engine room bells, the hiss of escaping steam, andthe hoarse cries of the deck hands, the boat moved majestically out intothe broad river, two small but very efficient tugboats pushed and hauledat the heavy steamer, butting their stubby noses desperately against hertowering sides to counteract the effects of the strong tide. Longstrings of heavily loaded barges, towed by other snorting tugs, passedup and down stream, while numerous ferryboats added their bit to theheavy river traffic.
Leaning over the rail, the three friends were absorbed in watching thisbusy scene. To them it seemed impossible that their own boat could getsafely started without colliding with any of the swarming smaller craft.But after much maneuvering and tooting of whistles the big steamerfinally got her nose pointing downstream and headed slowly for the lowerbay.
“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby, drawing a deep breath, “I don’t understand yethow we got out here without bumping something. I always thought it waskind of hard to dodge eleven men on a football field without coming togrief, but this makes it look easy.”
“Well, it always did seem to be easy enough for you, as far as thatgoes,” remarked Fred. “But don’t forget we’ve got lots of chances yet tohit something before we get to New Orleans. The man that steers thisovergrown canoe may go to sleep and land us on some nice hard rocks, orwe may hit a floating wreck, or—”
“Don’t stop,” urged Lee, as Fred hesitated a moment in search of someother ghastly possibility, “you’ll have us really enjoying this trippretty soon. Somebody please tie a life preserver on me.”
“Well, perhaps you’ve never been on anything bigger than Monatook Lake,and it’s only right that we experienced sailors should prepare you forthe worst. Of course, we may be lucky enough to get there all right, butwhatever happens, you can’t say we didn’t warn you.”
“This is a nice time to warn a fellow, isn’t it?” said Lee, with a grin,“but I’m not going to ask the captain to stop the boat now and let mewalk ashore, so you may as well save all those cheerful predictions forsome other time.”
“He won’t scare worth two cents, will he?” laughed Bobby. “But maybewhen he gets his first dose of seasickness he won’t feel so cheerful.”
While the boys were talking, the ship had made steady progress, and now,passing the Statue of Liberty, was well into the lower bay. Here thetugs left it, and the great steamer vibrated from stem to stern as itspowerful engines took up the task appointed them. In quick successionthey passed the Ambrose and Sandy Hook lights, and began to feel theroll and heave of the great blue ocean.
“Isn’t this great?” exclaimed Bobby. “Just fill your lungs with thatair, fellows.”
“The air is fine, all right,” said Fred. “But a little something to fillmy stomach wouldn’t be so awful bad, either.”
“That sounds like Pee Wee,” laughed Bobby. “But since you mention it, Ibegin to feel hungry too. How about you, Lee?”
“You bet,” exclaimed the boy from the South, but his voice lacked thetone of sincerity. Fred looked at him and grinned.
“What’s the matter, Lee?” he inquired. “You don’t mean to tell me you’refeeling seasick, do you?”
“Of course I’m not seasick.”
“No, of course he isn’t seasick,” said Bobby, with a wink at Fred. “Hejust doesn’t feel well, that’s all. People are often that way on saltwater. It must be something about the air, I guess.”
“Yes, that’s probably it,” agreed Fred, in a tone of deep sympathy.“What you need, Lee, is a good bang up supper to set you up. How would anice pork chop or two hit you?”
“I don’t know how they’d hit me, but I do know that something is goingto hit you pretty quick, if you don’t stop talking about eats,” retortedLee. “You two go on down and eat your heads off. I’m going to stay uphere a while. I had a big lunch, anyway.”
“Well, you probably won’t have it much longer,” was Fred’s parting shot,as he and Bobby started on a run for the dining room.
There were a number of empty places around the tables, but Bobby andFred enjoyed the meal hugely, with appetites no whit affected by theuneasy motion of the ship. When they had finished, they went on deckagain, and found Lee coiled up in a steamer chair, and looking far fromhappy.
“Guess I’ll have to admit that I’m seasick,” he said, with a somewhatfeeble grin, “but I’ve got lots of company, anyway. Most everybody I’veseen so far seems to be as bad or worse than I am.”
“Oh, well, it probably won’t last long,” said Bobby. “If you can get adecent rest to-night, you’ll be all right in the morning.”
“I wouldn’t mind so much now if we did hit some of those rocks Fred wastalking about,” went on the boy from the South. “If I could get onto anice solid rock right now, I know I’d feel a whole lot better.”
But when the next morning came, the ocean was very calm, and Lee feltalmost himself again, so that he could aid his two friends in theirattacks on the excellent meals that were provided for them. They read,played deck games, and altogether enjoyed themselves immensely. On thesecond day of the trip, they noticed that the air was becomingperceptibly warmer, and knew that they were getting into southernwaters. Schools of porpoises raced with the ship, and the boys nevertired watching them shooting through the water just under the ship’sbows, and keeping up their speed without any apparent effort. Severaltimes they saw little flying fish, and once Fred was sure that he saw ashark, but when the ship came up with the object that he had seen, itproved to be nothing more ferocious than a half submerged log.
“Some sailor, you are,” said Lee, anxious to get even with Fred for someof the remarks passed on his own seamanship. “I may not be as salty assome people think they are, but still I can tell fishes from trees.”
“Well, I’m glad you know that much, anyway,” said Fred. “You certainlyare coming along fast. Some day, when you get over calling portholeswindows, you’ll be a real sailor.”
“I don’t think I ever want to be a sailor,” retorted Lee. “Good oldsolid ground is good enough for me. Seems to me this old tub is jumpingaround worse all the time.”
“It would be strange if it didn’t,” said Bobby. “The wind is gettingstronger every minute, and it’s working up some pretty big seas.”
Almost as he finished speaking a big wave dashed against the bow, andshowered them with spray.
“I’m going some place where it’s dry!” gasped the boy from the South,and dashed for the companionway. Bobby and Fred lingered a while, butwere soon, forced to seek shelter in the lee of a deckhouse. They couldsee members of the crew going about making every movable object fast,and they guessed that they were in for a storm.