CHAPTER II
THE IRON BOYS AS CARGO
THROUGH some fortunate twist of his body, Jarvis righted himself whilegoing through the big hopper into which the ore was shooting. He landedfeet first at the bottom of the hopper.
In the meantime Steve Rush, with a few seconds' start of his companion,had gone on down through the hopper. He hit the long wooden ore chutesthat led down into the ship; he struck the chute with a heavy bump andthen went on at a speed that took his breath away. Steve was in asitting posture. Jarvis followed him at the same rate of speed, lyingflat on his back.
There was ore on all sides of them; in fact, they were riding on theswift-moving ore; all about them was darkness, and even had there beenlights it is doubtful if the Iron Boys would have seen them, because ofthe speed at which they were traveling.
Steve's mind was working with its usual rapidity. Had he known exactlywhat awaited them below he might have been able to plan with morecertainty. He did reason, however, that they would probably have to passthrough a small opening when they reached the bottom of the chute. Inthis he was wrong, though right across the chute where it entered theship was a heavy iron brace dividing the chute in half, which was placedthere to give the ship more rigidity.
"Lie flat!" shouted Rush, with quick instinct, himself dropping on hisback. He did not know whether Bob were following him or not. Jarvis was,but he was in no need of the admonition to lie flat. He was as flat asit was possible for him to be and he could not have straightened up hadit been to save his life.
Jarvis was close enough, however, to hear the warning cry. He opened hismouth to answer, getting it full of red ore as a result. The ore gotdown in his throat, sending him into a paroxysm of choking, sneezing andgrowling that was lost in the noise about him.
Suddenly Steve felt himself shooting through space. He realized, in thatinstant, that he had left the chute. A few seconds more and he struckheavily on his feet, bounded into the air, then plunged forward headfirst.
The lad landed on his stomach, slipped down a conical pile of ore to thebottom, his head striking the side of the ship, doubling him up andleaving him stunned and unconscious.
Jarvis, who was not far behind him, went through very much the sameexperience, save that he turned a somersault when he left the chute,landing flat on his back on the pile of ore. His feet drove against theside of the ship with the force of a battering-ram, backed by the fullweight of the lad's body. The effect was nearly the same as it had beenin the case of Rush. Bob was stunned. He, too, lay still, after curlingup against the vessel's side.
"Hey, what's that?" a voice had shouted as the boys disappeared throughthe hatches.
"What's what?"
"I thought I saw something besides ore go through the chute in numberseven hatch."
"You're seeing things!"
"Maybe I am."
"Close number seven hatch!" shouted the second mate, and the two deckhands, after the chute had been hoisted a little above the deck, slidthe heavy hatch cover into place. All the ore that was needed had gonein through that hatch. The ship was nearly loaded. All that was nowrequired was a few car-loads at the ends to trim the ship properly,after which she would be ready to sail.
Within the next ten minutes the rest of the ore had been shipped. Withloud crashings, interspersed with hoarse shouts, harshly-utteredcommands and an occasional toot of warning from the ship's whistle, thehatch-covers were put in place and the ship made ready for her journeydown the Great Lakes.
There followed a moment of inactivity; then came a blast of the whistlefully a minute in duration. It was the signal that the ship was about toback out of her slip, warning all other craft to keep clear.
The propeller began to churn the waters of the harbor and the orecarrier, with its cargo of ten thousand tons of iron ore, backed slowlyout into the stream.
Bob Jarvis rolled over until he was practically standing on his head andshoulders. He toppled over on his back with a jolt that woke him up. Thelad gave a kick and some one grunted.
"Hey, there, take your foot out of my stomach, whoever you are. Is thatyou, Bob?"
"I--I don't know. Hello, Steve, that you?"
"I guess it's both of us. Ugh! My mouth is so full of ore that I canhard--hardly talk."
"I've got a dark red taste in my own mouth. I've swallowed enough ore tomake a steel rail. Do you know where we are?"
"We have fallen into the hold of a ship, and we are lucky that we arenot dead."
"Maybe we are and don't know it," jeered Jarvis, pulling himself up. Hetried to get to his feet, but the ore slipped from under him, leavinghim at the bottom against the side of the vessel again.
"Quit it!" shouted Steve. "Are you trying to bury me?"
The latter was on his feet too, brushing the dirt from mouth, eyes, noseand ears. Bob had sent a quantity of it sliding down the chute.
"I can't help it. What's the matter with you? What do you think aboutthis business?"
"I don't think, I know. We are in a nice fix."
"Think so?"
"I told you I didn't think," retorted Steve in a tone of slightirritation.
"Glad you admit it."
"We have been dumped into the hold of an ore vessel. I don't knowwhether or not there is any way to get out, and it is sure that thehatches will not be opened again until the vessel reaches herdestination."
"How long will that be?"
"That depends upon where they are going. If they are bound for any ofthe Lake Erie ports I should imagine it would take a week or more."
Bob groaned.
"I'm going to yell."
"Yell, if you can. I've too much ore in my mouth to make much of anoise."
Jarvis raised his voice in a shout. It did not seem to attract anyattention. The lad shouted again and again. By this time the ship wastrembling from stem to stern under the jar of the propeller that wasbeating the water at many hundred revolutions a minute.
"Nobody on this ship, I guess," muttered Bob. "Come, suggest something.You've always got something to say," urged Jarvis.
"I was about to say that you might as well save your breath. No one canhear us through the thick decks; in fact, I presume every one has turnedin except those on watch forward, and the engine room crews at the rearend of the ship."
"Then I am going to lie down and go to sleep," declared Jarvis.
"Don't do anything of the sort. The ore is likely to slide down and buryyou. The less disturbance we make here the better it will be for us."
"Why didn't you think of that before we fell in? I suppose we are prettydeep down in the ship, aren't we?"
"About as close to the bottom as we can get without drowning. We willkeep as quiet as possible until we can plan some way of helpingourselves out of this predicament."
Bob grunted unintelligibly. For some time after this the Iron Boysleaned against the side of the ship, Steve trying to plan some way outof the difficulty, Bob growling inwardly over the hard luck that hadbefallen them.
All at once the ship gave a quick, sudden lurch. Jarvis lost hisbalance, falling over on his face. The ore came down in a deluge,covering him from head to feet before he had sufficient time to scrambleout of the way. Steve, bracing himself against the side of the ship,stooped over and helped his companion to his feet.
"The old tub's going to tip over," gasped Jarvis. "What's the matterwith her?"
"Nothing is wrong. We have gotten out of the ship canal and into theopen water of Lake Superior. There must be considerable sea. Don't youhear the waves smashing against the sides of the ship?"
"It isn't what I hear, but what I feel," answered Bob faintly. "I feelqueer. My head's spinning like a top. Is yours?"
"No; I can't say that it is. Are you getting seasick?"
"How do I know? I have never been seasick. How does it feel to be thatway?"
"I have heard that when people are seasick they don't care very muchwhether they live or die."
"Then--then--I wish I could die right
here, if it would make me forgetthat awful goneness under my belt. Ugh!"
Bob settled down against the side of the ship, moaning.
"Don't be a baby. Get up and be a man."
"I--I don't want to be a man. I--I'd rather be a wooden image, then Iwouldn't care what happened. In case the ship went down I could floatand----"
Bob's words were lost in an anguished moan. Steve felt far fromcomfortable, but he set his teeth and made a resolve not to give up.
"The sea is coming up, Bob," announced Rush after a long period ofsilence.
"The--the sea----? It's my opinion that something else will be coming upsoon if things don't stop moving around the way--the way they are doingnow."
Steve laughed.
"Remember, Bob, that we are not likely to get anything in our stomachsfor some days. Be careful."
Bob groaned.
"If I ever get anything solid under my feet I'll take it out of you forthat! That's a mean trick to play on a fellow when he's in the shape I'min at this minute. How long do you suppose the noise outside will keepup?"
"I don't know. Probably all the way down Superior."
"And how far is that?"
"Let me see. I think Mr. Carrhart said the trip to the--the Soo tookthirty-six hours."
"Help!" muttered Jarvis faintly.
"Now, I want you to brace up. Come on, get up. If you don't I'll trounceyou and make you forget your troubles."
"Yes, you can talk, but if you felt as badly as I do, you wouldn't spoutthat way. You; couldn't without--without----"
"Perhaps I _do_ feel badly, but I may have the will power to fight itout."
Steve reached down and pulled Jarvis up beside him. The latterprotested, but it did him no good, for he was apparently unable to offerany resistance. Rush threw an arm about his companion and began talkingabout other subjects in order to divert Bob's mind from his sufferings,for his was a real case of seasickness.
In the meantime the sea seemed to be rising, though as a matter of factthere was little sea on. The short, sharp waves of the lake were movingthe big, flat-bottomed steamer almost as roughly as they would havemoved a little row boat, for the ore carriers are proverbial rollers.
After a time Jarvis began to feel easier, and the lads, lulled by themotion of the ship, grew sleepy. Steve did not dare allow himself to goto sleep. He knew, full well, that such a thing would be dangerous. Alurch of the vessel might cover their heads with dirt and smother themto death before they were able to extricate themselves. Then again, theymight be buried too deeply to dig their way out at all.
"Lean up against me, Bob. No need of our both standing here sufferingfor sleep. If you get too heavy I'll let you drop; then I guess you willwake up."
Bob leaned heavily on his companion. He would have done so in a momentmore at any rate, for his eyelids seemed to weigh a ton. The lad wasasleep almost instantly. After a time Steve's eyelids also drooped. Hecould hold them up no longer. Then he went to sleep, braced against thewall of the hull, his companion sleeping soundly in his arms.
There could be but one result of this. They had been asleep but a fewmoments before, in a lurch of the ship, Rush toppled over with Jarvis ontop of him, a ton or more of ore banked up about them.
"Get up! Get up!" shouted Steve, as soon as he was able to get his mouthfree of the red ore.
Jarvis muttered, and Steve was obliged to push his companion off bysheer force. The lad pinched and pounded himself, to awaken his dulledsenses thoroughly, then he began to punch Jarvis about with his clenchedfists.
"Leggo! Quit that, or I'll----"
Bob tried to strike Steve, but instead, he measured his length on theore pile.
"I'm trying to get you awake, and if you don't want to be roughlyhandled you'd better pull yourself together," warned Steve.
"I'll get even with you for this one," growled Jarvis. "What's the usein trying to keep awake?"
"I've answered that question already. Besides, I am going to try to findsome way out of this hold."
"You'll have a nice time doing it," growled Jarvis.
"I expect to have. But I know there must be some way. You keep close tome."
"What are you going to do?"
"Feel my way along the side of the ship to see if I can get hold of aladder or something that we can climb up."
"I couldn't climb a step ladder without falling off, the way I feelnow," objected Jarvis.