CHAPTER VI.
A COWARD'S BLOW.
Thanks to the boys' defense of the stairway, and the cool-headedcommander's prompt action in quelling the onrush of the stokers, theboys found that there was plenty of room in the two boats that stillremained to be lowered. Haste, however, was a matter of necessity, asthe flames by this time had devoured the bulkheads and were sweepingforward, driven by the high wind.
The captain of the _Rhode Island_ had recovered his wits, and theloading of the boats went on rapidly. In its company were enrolled thecowardly stokers, at whom the boys could not gaze without a feeling ofdisgust.
"Are not you boys going in that boat?" said a voice at their elbow, asthe davits were swung out and the remainder of the crew prepared tolower it.
"No, sir; as navy men," said Ned, proudly dwelling on the "men," "weprefer to wait till the last boat to leave the ship."
"That's right," agreed the commander approvingly.
He hastened off and assumed the control of the few maneuvres to becarried out before the _Rhode Island_ was ready to be abandoned. Thecaptain of the _Rhode Island_ had recognized Captain Dunham, and wasanxiously trying to aid him; but the naval commander treated the otherwith some contempt, doubtless inspired by the latter's abject failureto quell the panic in its inception or handle it when it broke.
The boys now had time to gaze about them.
The glare of the burning ship lit up the surrounding water with a weirdradiance, in which they could see the loaded boats, already lowered,tossing helplessly, the crowds on each being so great that the sailorscould not use their oars.
"Say, Ned, suppose the boiler busts!" suddenly exclaimed the cheerfulHerc, as the last boat was swung out.
"No use thinking of such possibilities," rejoined Ned decisively.
"Well, I can't help it," protested Herc indignantly. "I remember whenthat thresher blew up to grandpa's. I guess this would be somethinglike that, eh, Ned?"
"Only more so," was the dry reply.
Suddenly the notification that all was ready for the lowering of thelast boat rang out.
As this one was to be the final lifeboat to leave the ship, it was putoverside before any one boarded it. The officers of the _Rhode Island_,the six members of the crew remaining, the boys and Commander Dunhamgetting into it by sliding down the falls.
At last they were all on board, and the order was given to shove off.No time was lost in doing this, as the _Rhode Island_ was by this timea mass of flames in her forepart, and it seemed impossible that shecould float much longer.
"Do you anticipate being picked up shortly, captain?" asked the boys'friend of the commander of the _Rhode Island_.
"Why, I don't expect that we'll have to drift about very long," was thereply. "You see, the Sound is well traveled, and some ship must haveseen the flare of the fire."
It was bitterly cold in the storm-swept waters of the Sound, but theboys checked any tendency they might have felt to complain by thinkingof the plight of the women and children in the other boats.
It is doubtful as the newspapers at the time pointed out, that therewould have been no fatalities attendant on the wreck of the _RhodeIsland_, if but a little less than half an hour after they had castadrift from the ill-fated steamer, the _Kentucky_, of the Joy Line, hadnot hove in sight. By this time the _Rhode Island_ had burned to thewater's edge, and sank with a noisy roar.
The _Kentucky_ bore down with all speed on the drifting boatloadsof half-frozen men and women, and within an hour every one of thepassengers had been picked up and given warm food and drink andattention.
As the _Kentucky_, having performed her rescue work, pursued her wayto New York, the boys mingled with the excited crowd of the saved thatthronged her lighted saloon.
While they walked about, overhearing interesting scraps of conversationrelating to the rescues of several of the passengers, they werestartled by a sudden cry in a woman's voice:
"There he is! There he is, the coward!"
There was a rush to the part of the saloon from whence the cry hadproceeded. Every one was naturally anxious to ascertain what couldhave caused it. The boys were among the curious persons who joined thethrong.
They saw a slight, pale-faced woman pointing indignantly to a tallyouth who was slinking away through the crowd, trying evidently toconceal himself from the woman's scorn.
"What is the matter, madam?" somebody asked the excited woman.
"Why, I was in the first rush for the stairway," explained the woman,"before those brave young men there----" It was the boys' turn totry to slink away. "Before those brave young men there kept back thecowardly fellows who were trying to trample past us. That man yonder,who has just slunk away, dealt me this blow in the face," she pointedto a livid weal on her cheek, "and knocked me down."
A roar of indignation went up as she related the craven conduct ofthe youth the boys had observed slink off. Some of the more excitablepassengers shouted that they wanted to organize a party to find him anddeal him out summary punishment. Cooler counsel prevailed, however,and the rest of the night was passed in as comfortable a manner as waspossible on the overcrowded ship.
When the _Kentucky_ arrived at her dock on the East River, below theBrooklyn Bridge, she was met by big crowds, among whom were manyreporters, the wireless stations along the Sound having been notifiedby the _Kentucky_ of the disaster that had overtaken the _Rhode Island_.
The boys, laughingly turning aside the assiduous young men of thepress, were making their way ashore, when Herc suddenly caught hold ofNed's arm.
"Look there!" he exclaimed.
Ned looked, and saw Hank Harkins standing in the midst of a throng ofreporters, to whom he was evidently giving a "big story."
"I took the woman in my arms," the boys heard him say, as they paused,"and made my way to the upper deck with her."
"You saved her?" asked a young reporter, holding a long pencil poisedabove a very large new notebook.
"Yes, I saved her, and then----" Hank was continuing, when his jawsuddenly dropped, and he shook as if he was about to have a fit.
Then, without another word to the amazed reporters, he shoulderedhis way through their ranks and dashed off down the gangplank in thedirection of the land.
"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Herc. "I'll remember Hank's look when he met oureyes as long as I live. He looked like a dying duck in a thunderstorm!"
"I guess we headed off his thrilling narrative, all right," commentedNed, echoing Herc's merriment.
"And for a good reason, too," went on Herc. "I recognized Hank as heslunk away from that woman last night. He was the coward who struck herand disgraced his uniform."
"I'm glad his overcoat covered it," rejoined Ned.
At this juncture one of the reporters, who had noticed that both thelads wore Uncle Sam's uniforms, hurried up to them.
"Can you tell us what was the matter with that fellow?" he demanded."He was just in the middle of giving us a good story, when he suddenlyhurried off as if he had been shot. Is he a reliable chap, do you know?"
"Well, I wouldn't believe _all_ he told you," grinned Herc, as theDreadnought Boys hurried ashore, to cross New York and join their ship.