CHAPTER VIII
The Beginning of Trouble
Bob and Joe found the ocean voyage very interesting, for it wassomething new to them. The waves, sea gulls, flying fish, anoccasional shark, the painted horizon, and the ship itself all heldtheir undivided attention and made them thrill at the fact that theywere living through an experience that only a comparative few had theopportunity of enjoying.
They spent much of their time on deck, enjoying the never-ending charmof the ocean. Thus far the weather had remained peaceable enough, andboth boys expressed a desire for it to continue thus. They had neverwitnessed a hurricane, but had heard from their fathers of howdestructive a tropical ocean storm could really be.
"The ship looks strong enough to come through safely," remarked Joe,as he cast eyes about the deck.
"Yes," his friend replied. "She's built on the stoutest possiblelines."
Section by section the youths explored the _Empire_ and were muchimpressed by everything they saw. They visited the various passengerquarters, the bridge, the enormous kitchens, the hold, and last andmost interesting, the engine rooms, where mammoth turbines turnedharmoniously and kept the ship at a smooth, even gait. The vesselinterested them greatly, and while not built on the enormousproportions of the huge liners that sailed between American andEuropean ports, it was large enough to keep the youths wondering.
"One of the many man-made wonders," said Bob, as he thought of howcomplex the engines were.
One of the things that impressed the boys most was the large supply ofprovisions that were taken along. There were literally tons of food,water, novelties, and other goods stored in great rooms, and every bitwas to be used on this one voyage. Artificial refrigeration keptperishable food fresh and wholesome.
Early the next day Bob and Joe showed their first signs ofseasickness. They had been standing at the rail watching the rollingof the waves and were growing rather tired when Joe turned about, hisface pale and of a yellowish color.
"I think I'll go to my berth," he said, his voice unsteady.
"What's the matter? You----"
"It came at last," smiled Mr. Lewis, who had moved up to the youths."I seldom knew it to fail. Seasickness is almost sure to be felt onthe first voyage one takes. Bob, I'm betting that before two hourswill have passed you'll be as bad off as Joe. Of course," he went onin a tone that he tried to keep serious, "let's hope you'll havebetter luck, but the chances are against you."
Mr. Lewis's prophecy proved correct. In fact it was less than one hourlater that big Bob, after heroically postponing the dreadedseasickness as long as he possibly could, turned and went to his berthto join his stricken comrade.
"Too bad," remarked Mr. Holton, closing the door of the stateroomafter cautiously peeping in. "Perhaps their next voyage--if they takeany more--will be free from unpleasantness."
Throughout the remainder of that day the boys' condition remainedunchanged. If anything, they were worse off than before, and neitherwould look at a bite of food of any kind.
"This is terrible," moaned Joe to his father, the professor, and Mr.Holton, who went in to see how the youths were.
"Cheer up," Mr. Holton said in lively tones. "You can surely stand acouple of more days."
He was right. It was two days later when the boys began to show signsof recovery. Then only very slowly did they resume their naturalcheerfulness.
"Too bad we had to miss so much," mourned Bob. "But I'll admit therewasn't much to see."
"Nothing but water," said Joe and then turned to go into the cabin. Ashe did so he happened to glance down at the stern and pointed for Bobto follow his gaze.
Leaning against the rail were the boys' fathers conversing with anelderly bearded man, with a uniform that distinguished him as theship's captain. He seemed good-natured and humorous, for occasionallyhe would cause the men to laugh so hard that they would have to gripthe rail to maintain their balance.
"Come over, boys," Mr. Holton said, glancing up.
They did so.
"This," he continued, "is Captain Crowell, chief officer of the_Empire_. Captain, this is Joe Lewis, and this, Bob Holton, the youngmen we were telling you about. What do you think of them?"
The old officer spent nearly a minute in looking the boys over. Thenhe turned to the naturalists.
"Spirited-looking chaps," he grinned. "Look as if they'd like todeprive Brazil of every bit of animal life in it. Better not let themhave a rifle. The jaguars will all make for cover."
"Roasting us, are you?" retorted Bob.
"No. What creature, no matter how fierce, wouldn't be afraid of twomates who captured a gang of desperate criminals all by themselves?You don't need to worry about these fellows," he said to theirfathers. "They'll take care of themselves and you, too, perhaps."
Bob and Joe took a liking to the old seaman and intended to discussmany problems with him in the future.
"Maybe he can suggest something to do to while the time away," saidBob the next day, when Captain Crowell was again referred to.
"That reminds me," the other youth blurted out. "There's a swimmingpool in the second deck. Let's go up."
Bob readily agreed, and they were soon floating calmly about.
"We'd better get as much out of this as we can," remarked Joe. "Therewon't be a chance to enjoy this sport in Brazilian waters."
"No," put in Bob. "The alligators and piranhas and other dangerousforms won't give us a chance to even wade."
The youths were not the only ones to invade the swimming pool,however. As they neared the tropics, and the temperature steadily wentup, people from all over the ship enjoyed its cool retreat, the poolbecoming almost crowded. It was great fun. Nothing to do but justsplash about.
Games also held the boys' attention. Shuffleboard, quoits, decktennis, horseshoes, and other activities played an important part inthe daily life, and in times when they desired more quietentertainment, the library, with its scores of books of all types,afforded interesting occupation.
Many leisure hours were spent conversing with Captain Crowell, whoalways had a humorous tale to tell. On one occasion, when they hadbeen at sea nearly a week, Bob and Joe happened upon him standing atthe rail, gazing up at the sky, on his face a worried expression.
"Big storm coming," he said, after the salutation.
"A storm!" cried Joe and then looked upward.
Sure enough, clouds were banking heavily, and the sun was nowhere insight. A stiff breeze had arisen, and with this came the smell ofrain.
An officer came up and handed a slip of paper to the captain. He readit, and then, with a parting word for Bob and Joe, he turned and wenttoward the bridge.
The boys looked at each other. Were things going to turn out for theworse? Surely something serious was wrong, or the captain would neverhave acted in such manner.
"Getting darker," Bob said, as he noted that the clouds were joining.
"Won't be long before it'll rain," prophesied Joe, and he was correct,for it was less than ten minutes later that a heavy drizzle fell,forcing the chums into the cabin.
There they turned and looked out at the sea, which was rapidly gettinghigher. The wind was blowing fiercely, its velocity increasing witheach minute.
"Well, boys, what do you think of it?"
It was Mr. Holton's voice. He and his two companions had moved up tothe glass, as had a number of other people.
"Suppose you answer that question," replied Bob. "You're in a betterposition to know than we are."
"I believe we're in for a bad one," was the opinion voiced byProfessor Bigelow. "But how long it will last is hard to say."
Mr. Lewis nodded. "Tropical hurricanes are very uncertain," he said."Sometimes they last only a few hours, while at other times they keepup for two and three days."
The boat was now rocking violently, and many people had difficulty inkeeping their footing. Bob and Joe took chairs that were fastenedsecurely to the floor. They intended to remain awake all night if thestorm did not subside.
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But exhaustion was stronger than their intentions, and finally theystumbled to their stateroom, ready for a night's rest.
"Storm or no storm, I'm going to turn in," Bob said, and then lost hisfooting and went sprawling to the floor, with Joe on top of him. Theship had suddenly tilted as she struck a mountainous wave.
"Wow!" cried Joe, gripping a water pipe and righting himself. "Betterhold tight from now on or we're likely to get a bad spill."
By almost a miracle the youths undressed. Then they tumbled into theirberths, to go to sleep at once.
About midnight they were awakened by a shrill, long-drawn whistle, andall the sleep knocked out of them, they were on their feet in aninstant wondering what was meant by that unusual sound in the dark ofthe night.