CHAPTER VIII
THE MOTOR BOAT
"There she comes!"
"And see! It's all she can do to stem the current!"
Joe and Blake were watching the approach of a small steam tug, that wascoming up the stream. Powerful as she looked, it was all she could do tomake headway, so forceful was the swollen river.
"We can't all get aboard her," declared Mr. Piper, who, with the boys,Mr. Ringold, and some others, was standing in the rain, near theabutments of the vanished bridge. "If we try to she'll sink."
"Say, please don't talk that way!" begged the manager. "We are going tohave troubles enough, without that."
"Oh, all right. But I just want to be careful," spoke C. C.
"The boat will make several trips--there will be no danger," said thetrain conductor. "The railroad will look after its passengers."
This was reassuring, but still the danger was great. Now that the movingpicture boys were actually at the scene of the flood they realized,better than any printed account, or any pictures, could convey to them,how great was the desolation. It seemed as though a little higher risein the river would flood the whole country.
"I think I will abandon my idea of trying to make any dramaticpictures," said Mr. Ringold, thoughtfully, as he and the boys watchedthe approach of the tug. "We will devote our energies to finding themissing members of my company, and in making scenes of the flood. Itwould be out of the question to try and make dramas. I can see thatnow."
Blake and Joe had begun to think so themselves, and they were glad tohave the manager admit this.
"We're going to have all we can do, just getting pictures under theseconditions," declared Blake. "We'll have to be swimming, or in a boat,all the while, I guess."
Mr. Ringold went back to the stalled train to tell the few actors andactresses, whom he had brought from New York with him, that no dramaswould be taken. He offered to send them back, or to look after them inHannibal, until he returned, but the players decided to go back. Theycould do nothing in the flooded district.
"And I suppose you'll go back with the others, C. C.," remarked themanager.
Everyone was unprepared for the gloomy comedian's answer.
"No, I'll stick with you and the boys," he said, quietly. "I may be ableto help you in the rescue work. I'd give a good deal to be able to findthem; especially little Birdie Lee."
"Shake!" cried Mr. Ringold, clasping Mr. Piper's hand. "I guess there'snothing the matter with your liver, after all!"
There was a freight shed near where the train was stalled, and underthis those passengers who were not going back, stood, while waiting forthe tug to make a landing.
It rained steadily, sometimes coming down in a veritable deluge, andagain only drizzling. It was a wet, miserable time for all, but Blakeand Joe did not murmur. Their only regret was that the weatherconditions were such as to prevent them from using their cameras.
"But it may clear up to-morrow," spoke Blake.
"I hope so," joined in Mr. Piper.
"His liver is still good," murmured Joe. "Otherwise he'd have said thatit would never clear. He isn't so bad--at times."
"No, not at times," admitted Blake, with a grin.
The abutment on which one end of the bridge had rested, served as a pierfor the boat, which was, after some difficulty, made fast to it.
"All aboard," called the captain. "We'll take as many as we can, andcome back for the rest. It isn't a very long trip, nor is it an easyone. All aboard."
To the delight of Mr. Ringold, he, the boys and Mr. Piper were among thefirst selected to go. The train conductor had intimated to the boatcaptain that the manager was anxious to start on a search for missingmembers of his company who had been in Hannibal.
"We'll do all we can for you," the captain promised. "It's a terribletime, and it's going to be worse. I don't say that to alarm you, but sothat you may know what you have to face."
"Thank you," spoke the manager. "I realize that it isn't going to beeasy."
The stream, up which the boat had come was not, ordinarily, navigable bysuch large boats, but the rising waters had turned it from hardly morethan a brook into a raging river, pouring into the Mississippi itself.
"Some power to this current," remarked Joe, as he and Blake, havingstowed aboard their baggage and cameras, stood at the rail, looking overthe side.
"Wait until you get on the Mississippi," remarked a deck hand. "Thenyou'll see some water."
And the boys did. As they emerged around a bend in the high banks, theyhad a good view of the Father of Waters as it swept on. It was almostterrifying, and the tug, though extra steam was put on, was barely ableto make headway.
"It's getting worse every minute!" the captain murmured. "I don't knowwhat we'll do if this keeps on!"
It was not far, from where the train was stalled, to Hannibal, but thetug was over an hour in making it. The lower part of the town near theriver bottom, was under water, but the residential section had, so far,escaped, being built back on high ground.
"Now I'll go back after the others," said the captain, when he had madea landing, not without some difficulty, at a temporary dock.
"And we'll see if we can get into a hotel," suggested Mr. Ringold,"though I guess most of them will be over-crowded."
This was found to be the case. Many persons had been driven from theirhomes, and forced to go to the hotels, and, as several of thesehostelries had been rendered uninhabitable, those that escaped the floodwere taxed to the limit of their capacity.
"It's a good thing my other actors decided not to come along," remarkedthe manager, as he and the boys, with Mr. Piper, found that all theaccommodations they could get were two small rooms, fitted up with cots."But we won't be here any longer than we can help. I'm going to chartera boat, and start on the search for the missing ones."
"And if this rain ever lets up we'll get some pictures," declared Blake.
At the hotel were many whose homes had either been washed away, orrendered uninhabitable, and they were being cared for by the reliefcommittee, that had been hastily formed. Most of these persons werepoor, having their homes in the lower section of the city, and manypathetic stories were told. There had been some lives lost, and a numberhad been injured by being thrown into the water, and struck by floatingdebris.
"Now the first thing to do," said Mr. Ringold, after the party had eatena hasty meal, "is to find out where our friends were last seen. Then wecan start on the hunt. And the next thing is to get a boat. I'll chartera big motor craft, if I can find one, and we'll live aboard her, takingpictures, and conducting the search."
The missing company of moving picture actors and actresses had beenstopping at a hotel in Hannibal. But this hotel had been abandoned, andit was not until late that afternoon that a former clerk could belocated.
"The moving picture players?" he repeated in answer to questions fromMr. Ringold. "Oh, yes, I remember them very well. We all liked them."
"But what happened to them?" asked the manager, anxiously.
"They all went out together, one day about a week ago," the clerkreplied. "The river wasn't as high then as it is now, but it was badenough. They went off in a small motor boat, and said they were going toone of the lower river islands, to take some scenes. That is the last Iheard of them."
"Then they didn't come back?" asked Joe.
"No, the river rose suddenly that afternoon, and we had our own troubleshere. I heard nothing more of the players."
"Then they might have been swept on down stream?" suggested Blake.
"I'm very sorry to say that's my opinion," spoke the clerk. "Still, theymay have been picked up, and saved. It's hard to get any communicationsthrough, as so many wires are down. That's all the information I cangive you."
"Thanks; now we'll start on the search," spoke Mr. Ringold. "Perhaps youcan tell me where I can hire a motor launch."
This the clerk was able to do. A man had a larg
e craft he was willing tocharter, though he wanted a heavy price for it.
"But boats are scarce," he declared, "and they're badly needed in therescue work."
"That's what we want this one for," said Mr. Ringold. "Now we'll get herinto commission."
The _Clytie_, which was the name of the craft, was roomy enough toaccomodate the two boys, Mr. Piper and the manager. Blake and Joe hadlearned to run a gasoline launch, and Mr. Ringold himself was an expertmotorist, so there would be no need of a helper.
"But you want to look out for treacherous currents," the owner of thecraft warned them. "The river is worse than it's been in years. Andremember, you've got to pay the bill if the boat is damaged."
Putting the boat into commission was not so quickly accomplished as Mr.Ringold had hoped. There were many things to be done, and, at the lastmoment some repairs had to be made.
The rain stopped unexpectedly the day after the arrival of our friendsin Hannibal, and Blake and Joe, hiring a rowboat, went out to get somemoving pictures. They secured some fine views, but coming back theynearly had an accident. For their boat was caught in a cross-current,and would have been upset but for the prompt work of Blake, who swung itaround and out of danger in time.
"Well, I guess we're ready, boys," announced the manager, two days afterhe had hired the motor boat. "We'll start out this morning. We've gotplenty of food, and other supplies, in case we find the missing ones."
"And we've got plenty of films for pictures!" cried Joe, as he and Blaketook their places. The rain still held off, and there were hopes that itwould clear long enough for the flood to subside. But this was doubtful.
The Mississippi was still a raging torrent, but the _Clytie_ was astanch craft, and with care would be able to navigate the turbulentstream.
"All aboard!" cried Joe. And thus they started on the trip.