CHAPTER VIII
IN THE PILOT-HOUSE
About half an hour after Mr. Dunn had sent Nat into the hold thepurser began to wonder what kept the boy. He knew his task should nothave taken him more than ten minutes, for Nat was prompt with whateverhe had to do.
"I hope he isn't going to do the way one boy did I used to have," saidthe purser to himself, "go down there and sleep. I think I'll take alook. Maybe he can't find those bales, though they were in plainsight."
As he started toward the hatchway, down which Nat had gone, he metCaptain Marshall, who, as was his custom, was taking a stroll aboutthe ship, to see that everything was all right. He never trustedentirely to his officers.
When he saw the purser, Mr. Marshall came to a sudden stop, and beganto sniff the air suspiciously.
"Don't you smell smoke, Mr. Dunn?" he asked.
The purser took several deep breaths.
"I certainly do," he replied, "and it seems to come from this hatch. Isent Nat down there a while ago, to check off some bales."
"I hope he isn't smoking cigarettes down there," said the captainquickly. "If he is, I'll discharge him instantly."
"Nat doesn't smoke," replied Mr. Dunn. "But it's queer why he staysdown there so long. I'm going to take a look."
"I'll go with you," decided the captain.
No sooner had they started to descend the hatchway than they both weremade aware that the smell of smoke came from the hold, and that it wasgrowing stronger.
"Fire! There's a fire in the cargo!" exclaimed Captain Marshall."Sound the alarm, Mr. Dunn, while I go below and make aninvestigation. If it's been caused by that boy----"
He did not finish, but hurried down into the hold, while Mr. Dunnsounded the alarm that called the crew to fire quarters.
Meanwhile, Nat had been lying unconscious under the bale for about tenminutes. The flame from the lantern, which, fortunately, had notexploded, was eating away at the side of the bale which was on top ofhim. Luckily the stuff in the bale was slow burning, and it smoldereda long time before breaking into a flame, in spite of the fact thatthe lantern was right against it. Considerable smoke was caused,however, though most of it was carried forward. Still, enough came upthe hatchway to alarm the captain and purser.
It would have been very dark in the hold, but for the fact that now atiny fire had burst out from the bale. By the gleam of this CaptainMarshall saw what had happened. A bale had toppled from its place andsmashed the lantern. But as yet he had no intimation that Nat wasprostrate under the bale.
Meanwhile the smoke was growing thicker, and it was getting into Nat'snostrils. He was breathing lightly in his unconscious state, but thesmoke made it harder to get his breath, and nature, workingautomatically, did the very best thing under the circumstances. Natsneezed and coughed so violently, in an unconscious effort to get air,that his senses came back.
He could move only slightly, pinned down as he was, but he could smellthe smoke, and he could see the flicker of fire.
"Help! Help!" he cried. "Fire in the hold! Help! Help!"
That was the first knowledge Captain Marshall had of the whereaboutsof the boy. It startled him.
"Where are you, Nat?" he cried.
"Under this bale! I'm held down, and the fire is coming closer tome!"
Captain Marshall did not stop to ask any more questions. He sprangdown beside the bale, and, exerting all his strength, for he was apowerful man, he lifted it sufficiently so that Nat could crawl out.The boy had only been stunned by a blow on the head.
But, during this time, Mr. Dunn had not been idle. With the firstsounding of the fire alarm, every member of the crew sprang to hisappointed station, and, down in the engine-room, the engineers set inoperation the powerful pumps, while other men unreeled the lines ofhose, running them toward the hold, as directed by the purser.
So, in less than a minute from the time of sounding the alarm, therewas a stream of water being directed into the lower part of the shipwhere the fire was.
"Come on out of here!" cried the captain to Nat, as he helped the boyup, and let the bale fall back into place. "This is getting prettywarm. I wonder what's the matter with the water?"
Hardly had he spoken than a stream came spurting into the hold,drenching them both. It also drenched the fire, and, in a few minutes,the last vestige of the blaze was out.
"Good work, men!" complimented Captain Marshall, when he had assuredhimself there was no more danger. "You did well. I'm proud of you."
Nat, who had been taken in charge by the purser, when it was foundthere was no danger of the fire spreading, was examined by thatofficial. Nothing was found the matter with him, beyond a sore spot onhis head where the bale had hit him.
"How in the world did it happen?" asked Mr. Dunn, as the crew beganreeling up the hose, and returning to their various duties. Nat toldhim about hearing the noise, and the bale falling.
"Do you think it fell, or did some one shove it?" asked the purser.
"I don't know. It seemed as if some one pushed it, but who could itbe? What object would any one have in trying to hurt me?"
"I don't know, I'm sure. You must report this to Captain Marshall,"said the purser. "He'll want to know all about it."
There was no need of going to the captain's cabin, however, for hecame to find Nat, as soon as the excitement caused by the fire hadsubsided.
"Now tell me all about it," he said. "Every bit. Were you smoking downthere?"
"No, sir," replied Nat indignantly.
He related all that had taken place, and the captain had every memberof the crew questioned, as to whether or not they had been in the holdat the time. They all denied it.
"Maybe it was because the bale wasn't stowed away level," suggestedMr. Bumstead, with a queer look at Nat, as our hero, together with thepurser and the pilot were in Captain Marshall's cabin, discussing theoccurrence.
"That's possible," admitted Mr. Dunn. "But what made the noise?"
"Rats, probably," replied the mate. "There are some whoppers down inthat hold."
"Would you say they were large enough to topple over that bale?" askedthe pilot suddenly.
"No--no--I don't know as I would," answered the mate. "Of course not.More likely the lurch of the vessel did it."
"Well, it was lucky it was no worse," spoke the captain. "If thatlantern had exploded, and the blazing oil had been scattered about,there would have been a different ending to this. Nat would probablybe dead, and the ship a wreck. After this no lanterns are to becarried into the hold. Have some electric lights rigged up on longwires, so they can be taken in," he added to the mate, who promised tosee that it was done.
"Hum," remarked Mr. Weatherby, as he and Nat walked toward thepilot-house. "You can't make me believe a lurch of the ship loosenedthat bale so it fell. Bumstead doesn't stow his cargo in such acareless fashion. He's too good a sailor."
"What do you think then?" asked Nat.
"I think some one pushed that bale down."
"Do you think the person wanted to hurt me?"
"I can't say as to that. It may have been done by accident, by asailor asleep in the hold. Certainly no rat did it," and the pilotsmiled. But he was more worried than he would admit to Nat.
"I am glad I got out."
"I don't suppose you feel much like taking a lesson in navigation?"
"Oh, I'm always ready for that," was the answer. "I'm all right now.My head has stopped aching."
"Then come into the pilot-house with me, and I will explain a few morethings to you. I think you have a natural talent for this sort oflife, and I like to show to boys, who appreciate it, the differentthings there are to learn. For there are a good many of them, and it'sgoing to take you a long time."
Nat had no false notions about learning to be a pilot. He knew itwould take him several years to be a capable one, but he determined toget a good ground work or the higher branches of it, and so helistened carefully to all that Mr. Weatherby told him.
He learned ho
w to read the compass and how to give the proper signalsto the engineer.
For a number of days he spent several hours out of the twenty-four inthe pilot-house with Mr. Weatherby. He got an understanding of thecharts of the lake, of the various signals used by other ships, toindicate the course they were on, and he learned to know the meaningof the shore signal lights, and the location of the lighthouses thatmarked the dangerous rocks and shoals.
"You're doing very well," Mr. Weatherby said to him one day. "Muchbetter than I expected. Some time I'll let you try your hand atsteering a bit."
"Oh, that will be fine!" exclaimed Nat, but he little knew what wasgoing to result from it.