CHAPTER XXVIII
THE SEARCH
Standing on the sloping deck of the _Altaire_, sloping from a slightlist the vessel had assumed because of a shift of the cargo, JerryHopkins and his fellow refugees stood for a moment looking at thestrange and wonderful sight of the school of whales attacking the ship.Or, if not attacking, at least trying to ascertain by bumps of theirhuge heads the character of the strange creature in their midst. And asJerry’s shout to use the bow gun rang out, there came another tremor ofthe vessel, caused by what seemed the hardest blow yet delivered.
“We’ve got to scare ’em off or kill some of ’em!” cried Jerry. “Theymay not intend any harm, but if they open some of our plates we’ll godown, sure!”
“What do you mean by the bow gun?” asked Bob.
“There’s a small gun up forward, put there to ward off submarineattacks, but it doesn’t seem to have done much good,” explained Jerryquickly. “It’s mounted on a swivel, and we can depress it and aim it inalmost any direction. There are some shells too. I saw them when I waslooking about before you came on board. If we give the whales a shot ortwo I’m sure they’ll go away.”
“We’ve got to do something!” muttered Bob. “Feel that!”
Again came a tremor of the ship--not one but several, as though anumber of the whales had attacked at once, acting in concert againstwhat they may have reasoned was a common enemy.
“Yes, let’s do something!” cried Judd. “I never saw anything like thisin all my life, and I know something about whales. I never saw so manyat once, and though I’ve known of them sinking small whaling vessels Inever knew ’em to attack a big steamer. We’ve got to do something!”
“Then come on to the bow gun!” cried Jerry, and he raised his lanternfrom where he had lowered it over the side. The rays were stillreflected from the wet and glistening backs of the whales as they swamabout, now and then one butting his head against the steel sides of the_Altaire_.
Professor Snodgrass looked on in fascinated silence. And when Jerryremoved the lantern, thus cutting off a further view of the immensecreatures, the little scientist remarked with something like a sigh:
“I wish Dr. Hallet could see them.”
“Why, is he particularly interested in whales?” asked Bob.
“No, not whales particularly. But it would do him good to see these. Itmight be the very thing he needs!”
At the time Bob did not pay much attention to this remark. Butafterward he thought it rather strange. If Dr. Hallet was notparticularly interested in whales, why should Professor Snodgrassdesire the other scientist to view them? And why would they do him“good”, if he had no special object in seeing them?
“I declare,” mused Bob, “the further you go into this thing the moremysterious it gets. I wonder what the real explanation of the feelingbetween Professor Snodgrass and Dr. Hallet is. I’ll wager we haven’tyet begun to get to the bottom of it!”
However, these thoughts came later. Just then the vital need of themoment was to deal with the whales, and this Jerry proposed to do bymeans of the bow gun.
Hurrying forward, carrying the lantern, while above them glowed thesignal fires of distress, Bob, Jerry, and Judd came to the bow gun.It was of three-inch calibre, and capable of being aimed in anydirection, and also pointed, at a sharp angle, almost directly into thewater at either side of the bow of the ship. It could be trained aft,too, and as it was mounted high there was considerable radius of actionallowed.
“Where’s the ammunition?” cried Bob, just as another whale took ahead-on bang at the ship.
“In the box near the gun,” answered Jerry, putting down his lantern.The night was calm, and a moon gave some illumination now, havingemerged from behind a cloud bank, so the three could see fairly wellwhat they were doing. Professor Snodgrass, however, was not of theleast service. When Jerry set the lantern down on the deck the littlescientist took a position near it, and there he began making notes,whether about the whales or some minute insect, no one inquired.
The familiarity of Bob and Jerry with weapons of war stood them ingood stead now. With the help of Judd they loaded the three-inch gunand aimed it into the midst of the school of whales, which were thencongregated on the port side of the bow.
“Shall I fire?” asked Jerry, as he stood in readiness.
“Let her go!” called Bob.
There was a sharp report and the shell was sent into the midst ofthe whales. That it did execution was disclosed when the lantern waslowered over the side by means of a rope and the white, foaming waterwas seen to be red for a considerable area.
“They’ve sounded!” cried the sailor, giving information in this termthat the whales had sunk below the surface. “I guess we’ve scared ’emoff!”
But it was for a moment only. A little later there were bumpings andthumps on the other side of the craft, and the gun was again fired intothe midst of the huge bodies. Once more the lantern showed red water,and then a commotion in the sea some distance away told the voyagersthat the school of whales was departing. Several must have been killedand others wounded, the others being frightened off.
The bow gun was effective, for though a watch was kept the rest of thenight there was no further trouble. The _Altaire_ drifted slowly on,and when morning dawned the refugees came up on deck and looked aboutthe horizon for a sight of some rescuing craft.
“We have the whole place to ourselves,” remarked Jerry, grimly jokingas he viewed the waste of waters.
“Yes, it isn’t a bit crowded,” agreed Bob. “Well, let’s have breakfast.”
In one sense the plight of the castaways was not at all bad. They hadshelter, plenty of food, the weather was ideal, now that the fog hadgone, and they were again clothed in their own garments which haddried out. Nor was there any great immediate danger. The period oflong-continued storms had not yet come, their derelict, disabled as shewas, was in fairly staunch condition, and unless some accident happenedshe might float for a long time.
“But we’ve got to get sail on her,” decided Jerry after a breakfastwhich was cooked by Bob and of which every one had an ample portion.
With the aid and advice of Judd something resembling a sail was hoistedand then the hand steering gear was connected up, after a fashion.
“Now we’re on our way!” cried Jerry, when the derelict began to movewith considerable speed compared to her former progress. The wind waswest, and was blowing them back toward France. But this was the bestthey could hope for. They could only sail directly before such breezesas might favor them. Navigation was out of the question.
So they settled down for a stay, of how long they knew not, on thederelict. Jerry had not had time to explore the craft much before thearrival of his friends, and this lack was now made up for, once thesail was set. It was found that the _Altaire_ had sailed from NewYork with a general cargo consigned to various English firms. Andit was evident that she had been intercepted and partly looted by aGerman submarine. What had become of her crew and her passengers,if she carried any (and there were accommodations for a few) wasproblematical. But the _Altaire_ made a good sea home for the refugees.
While Bob, Jerry, Professor Snodgrass, and Judd were thus making thebest of it on the derelict and eagerly watching for some vessel thatmight rescue them, Ned Slade and his fellow voyagers on the _Sherman_were buoyed up with new hope as the word went cheeringly through thecraft that the wireless was again working.
The snapping sparks of it had interrupted the talk between Ned and Dr.Hallet, and it was some time before they had a chance to renew theconversation.
For as soon as it became known that signals could again be sent out,giving the position of the disabled troopship and asking that aid berushed, that was the only topic of moment among all on board.
“How soon will some ship come to our aid?”
Again and again the call was sent out into space, and in less than anhour there was a cheer from the vicinity of the wireless room.
“What’s that
?” asked Ned of some of his soldier chums.
“They’ve received our calls!” cried a young lieutenant. “Three ofUncle Sam’s warships are racing toward us at top speed. Now we’re allright!”
And the good news was true. Working night and day, often at greatpersonal risk, the engine room force had managed to rig up a boiler,get steam to an engine, and so whirl the dynamo that furnished thecurrent for the powerful wireless spark. The operators had done therest.
Forth into the air had gone the mystic signals, and this time they hadbeen heard and understood by many receivers both on shore and at sea.It did not take long to flash the news to the proper quarters, and fromBrest, the very port from which the _Sherman_ had departed, aid wasrushed to her. The position was accurately given--as accurately as canbe on a boundless sea--and the rest had to be left to fate.
In record-breaking time the rescuing convoy was sighted, and thenjoyous scenes took place on board the _Sherman_.
Soon after the first enthusiasm had worn off, though, the questionarose as to what was the next thing to do. The war-weary soldierswanted to get back home--to Uncle Sam’s country.
But this problem was easily solved. The war vessels had orders to takeon board all the passengers and proceed with them to the United States.The _Sherman_ would be towed back to Brest for repairs, and on boardher a crew would have to remain to look after the ship. Every one else,however, was transferred to one or another of the three war vesselsthat arrived about the same time. The baggage, too, was transferred,much to the satisfaction of the returning soldiers.
“Is there anything that can be done to see if Jerry and Bob are alive?”asked Ned of his captain, when they, together with their comrades andfellow officers, were on board the warship.
“Do you think it possible they may be alive?” the captain asked.
“Yes,” declared Ned, “improbable as it seems, I feel that Bob andJerry, as well as Professor Snodgrass, are alive. Perhaps that missingsailor is, too. They may have been cast into the sea when the derelictcrashed into us, and they may have managed to keep afloat either onsome of the wreckage of the _Sherman_ that was torn off, or on a bit ofthe derelict. She was smashed, too, I believe. Can’t we make a searchfor Jerry and the others?”
“I’ll see,” said the captain. And he used his influence to such goodadvantage that it was soon after announced to Ned and others thatbefore proceeding to America a search would be made by all threewarships for the missing soldiers, the professor, and the sailor.
“We’s going to try to locate the derelict, too,” Ned’s captain toldhim. “Such craft are a terrible menace to other ships, and theyare sunk wherever found. I am sorry to say no one but you seems tohave much faith that we shall find your friends, but as a matter ofprecaution, if nothing else, a search will be made for the derelict. Asshe can only drift, and as Jerry and the others could only drift, incase they managed to keep afloat on some wreckage, it is possible wemay find them in the vicinity of whatever vessel it was that crashedinto us in the fog.”
And so the search began; a wearying and anxious search over the broadsea.