CHAPTER III
Volunteers called for
It was rather late on the third morning of the voyage when Joe had hisattention attracted to one particular portion of the huge ship in whichhe had taken passage to Canada. Not that this one particular portionhad escaped his notice; for, like the majority of young fellowsnowadays, our hero was certainly quick at observation.
"Them things hum and squeak and flicker most of the day," said SamFennick, withdrawing a somewhat dilapidated brier pipe from his mouthand pointing the bowl at a deck house situated on the upper deck."What's it all about, youngster?"
"Marconigrams coming and going," answered Joe; for the little housealluded to was given up to that recent wonderful invention which allowsof messages being sent across space, without the aid and interventionof the customary wires. "The young officer there used to live in ourneighbourhood. I once thought of becoming an operator myself, and, infact, had many lessons from him."
"You had?" asked Sam, staring at Joe; for every hour that the twoconversed revealed to Sam that Joe was a little better than theordinary. Indeed, it is only reasonable that we should be fair, andadmit that in coming to such a conclusion Sam was strictly right.After all, emigrants are not made up of the most intelligent or of thehighest educated of our population. Too often they are men and womenseeking a new life because of the failure of that which they hadpreviously followed; or they are young people with a fair education,and with little else. In Joe's case, thanks to his own restlessambition, and to the fact that his father had devoted many an hour tohim, the lad was acquainted with much unknown to the average emigrant.And here was something. To Sam a marconigram was neither fish, flesh,nor fowl; he didn't precisely know what it was, whether it had actualshape, nor what was its colour.
"Eh?" he asked. "You know the chap as works up there? And you've hadlessons? What's a marconigram, anyhow?"
Joe explained with enthusiastic lucidity.
"I've sent 'em, too," he said. "There was a station not so far fromus, and that's where I met Franc. It's nice having him aboard the sameship. But he is busy, isn't he? There must be something happening outof the ordinary. Wish I could go up there and join him; but it'sforbidden. He told me that particularly."
It was only natural that our young hero should wish to see something ofa chum associated with former days. But Franc, the young Marconioperator, was never get-at-able when on duty. It was only between thespells of work in his office that he met Joe down on the emigrant deckfor'ard. Now, at the time when Sam and Joe were together, Franc wasundoubtedly busily engaged. Moreover, there was a subdued air ofmystery, if not of anxiety, about the officers who occasionally passedamongst the emigrants.
"What's up?" demanded Sam bluntly of one as he passed. "That thingyonder"--and he again withdrew his pipe and pointed the bowl at theMarconi office--"that thing's busy, I guess. Sending messages as fastas the air'll take 'em. What's up, mister? Revolution back in the OldCountry, eh? What?"
He received merely a curt answer; the officer hurried on, leaving Samnone the wiser.
"All the same, there's a ruction stirring somewhere," he said; "I cansee it with half an eye. The captain's walking up and down his bridgeas if there was lions after him. What's it all mean?"
It became clearer, as the hours passed, that there was somethingseriously wrong in some direction, though where or what the troublemight be none could guess. Joe descended with his friend to dinner,and it was not till he mounted to the deck again that he gained tidingsof what was happening. A huge column of pungent smoke was rising fromthe fore hold of the ship as he gained the deck, while sailors weremoving about with wet cloths tied round their mouths.
"A fire down below," said Sam, with a catch in his voice. "Lor'!"
"Fire!" shrieked one of the passengers, a woman, as her eyes lit on thesmoke. Then the alarm was echoed from a hundred quarters. Men camerushing up into the open. Women screamed, and one huge fellow, aRussian by his appearance, came rushing across the deck and casthimself into one of the boats.
"Silence!" commanded the captain through his megaphone, coming to thefront of the bridge. "Quartermaster, turn that man out of that boat."
"Aye, aye, sir!" came from a burly individual, already advancing on thespot in question. "Now then," he said, when he had reached the boat,"you hop out, quick."
But the Russian was not inclined to do so. Terror had taken firm holdon him, and he sat clutching the thwarts, heedless of the quartermasterand of the fact that the boat sat firmly upon its guides on the deck,and offered as yet no sort of protection. But he remained there foronly a minute, for the quartermaster hopped over the thwarts, seizedthe Russian by his coat and by the seat of his trousers, and threw himout without ceremony.
"Passengers," called the captain, in a voice so steady that he mighthave been inviting them to dinner, "there is nothing as yet to bealarmed at. Please go on with your work or your pleasures as ifnothing were happening. I call upon every man and woman to set a goodexample, remembering that there are children amongst us."
That was enough. Men who had run forward with alarm written on theirfaces went back to their wives and children at once. Others gatheredinto anxious knots and went on with their pipes, while the children,unconscious of their danger, romped about the decks.
"All the same, it's a ticklish business," said Sam, after a while."They've got the hatches off, and I expect they're trying to clear outthe stuff that's afire. That looks bad, for as a rule they'd leave thehatches on and turn steam sprays on to the burning cargo. Perhaps thesprays can't get at the stuff that's afire."
"In any case, the crew won't be able to continue for long at the workunaided," added Joe. "Look! There's one overcome by the smoke;they've carried him off along the deck to the doctor."
In the course of the next hour four men were rendered incapable by thepungent smoke issuing from the hold, while the smoke itself had becomeeven denser. Huge clouds arose through the hatchway and, caught by thebreeze--for all this while the ship was forging ahead at her fastestpace--went billowing out behind her. So dense, in fact, was it, thatthe passengers for'ard could not see the bridge nor any other part ofthe giant vessel.
"Want volunteers?" asked Joe of an officer hurrying along the deck.
"Eh?" came the curt and hurried answer.
"Do you want any help?" repeated Joe. "There are plenty of us whowould be eager and willing. That would free the men who are needed forthe usual work of the vessel."
"Well now, that's a fine idea. See here," said the officer hurriedly,"I'll get along to the skipper and ask him what his wishes are. Ofcourse he may say he's right as things are, but then the 'Old Man' maythink differently. Meanwhile, you get a few likely chaps together. Ifthey're wanted, everything'll be ready."
He went off at a quick pace, striding over the deck, and Joe saw himclambering to the bridge, where he sought the anxious captain.
"Well?" demanded Sam, for the idea of volunteers being called for hadnever occurred to him. "What'll you do?"
"Get a few men together at once," said Joe. "You stop here, and I'llsend 'em over to you. That'll allow them to gather without creating afuss. Anything is likely to increase the uneasiness of the passengers,and we don't want to add to the alarm they already feel."
He left Sam smoking heavily by the rail and went off amongst thepassengers, who, in spite of their efforts to remain calm, wereobviously filled with alarm. For if huge clouds of smoke had beencoming from the open hatch before, it was billowing out now in vastvolumes, smoke, too, which set everyone on the bridge choking, forthere was a slight headwind, and the breeze the ship herself made inher rapid passage through the air helped to carry the smoke backward.As to the first- and second-class passengers, they had been driven totake shelter on the lower deck right aft, and were therefore entirelyinvisible. Joe accosted Jim and Claude, the two young fellows who werehis cabin companions, and, whispering to them, sent them over to Sam.In the course of som
e ten minutes he had selected a couple of dozenyoung fellows, all of whom he had chatted with at various times duringthe past two days. That, indeed, is one of the curious results oftravel aboard a ship. One becomes acquainted with one's fellowpassengers during the first day; their inner history is often known bythe evening of the second; while, long before the trip is ended, oftenenough their innermost thoughts, their ambitions, and their hopes arethe property of one or other of the many friends they have made onboard. In any case, Joe was the sort of lad who makes friends quickly.Free from that stupid side which sometimes afflicts the youth of thisand other countries, he had a welcoming smile for everyone, and wasready to exchange his views with Dick, Tom, or Harry. It was notremarkable, therefore, that he had already become acquainted with anumber of young fellows, bachelors like himself.
"I'll choose them in preference to the married men," he told himself."The latter have pluck and dash enough, I know; but they have wives andchildren, and their services will be required by the families. Hi,Bill!" he called to another of his chums, beckoning him, "volunteersare likely to be wanted to help the sailors. Are you----"
"Right!" declared the man abruptly.
"Then get across to Sam Fennick; he's away over there at the rail.Just go on smoking as if nothing out of the way were happening. Got agood-sized handkerchief in your pocket?"
"No, no; I ain't got that," admitted Bill, after hunting about hisperson.
"Then get off to the cabin steward, or to the purser, if you can findhim, and ask for three dozen towels. We can easily get a bucket ofwater up on deck, and that will give us the right thing to put roundour mouths."
It was perhaps five minutes later when Joe went sauntering back to Sam.Quite a couple of dozen men had already congregated about him, andstood for the most part lolling against the rail and smokingcontentedly; but there was not one who was not watching the smokeissuing from the hatchway critically.
"Seems to me as there's more of it, and it's kinder hotter," said Sam,almost in a whisper, as Joe came to his side. "Well, you've got theboys together, and the right sort too. Now, if I'd been asked, I'dhave been flummoxed from the very beginning, and as like as not I'dhave chosen the wrong sort."
"They're all single men," answered Joe. "Married men will be wanted toset an example of coolness to the passengers and allay their fears.Has that officer come along again? Ah, here's Bill! Well?" hedemanded, as the latter came over to him with a bundle beneath his arm.
"Got 'em easy," panted the latter. "A steward gave 'em to me rightoff. Now?"
He asked the question in excited tones and in a loud voice.
"Keep cool, and don't speak too loud," Joe cautioned him. "We want abucket of fresh water. Who'll get it?"
Jim went off promptly, and when he returned some three minutes later itwas to meet the officer coming towards the group.
"Ah," said the latter, singling Joe out, "you're the young fellow thatspoke about volunteers. Well, now, the skipper says that he'd be gladof 'em, but they must be carefully selected--single men only, you know."
"How'll these do then, mate?" asked Sam, swinging his open palm roundso as to embrace the little band of men Joe had selected. "This hereyoung chap"--and he pointed to our hero--"seems to have the right ideasalways tucked away at the back of that head of his. You'd no soonergone than he was away selecting his men. Every one of 'em single, too,'cos he says as the married 'uns must be calm, and set all the rest anexample. And he's got towels for every man, and a bucket o' water hereto soak 'em in. Spry, ain't it?"
For perhaps a whole minute the officer looked Joe coolly up and down.Indeed, at any other time his open inspection might have beeninterpreted as a rudeness. But there was something more than merecuriosity in his eye. He stretched out a hand sailor fashion andgripped our hero's.
"You're young," he said bluntly, "but you've the right sort of pluck,and a headpiece with which to back it. Bring your men along; I likethe look of 'em. But first to explain. This fire's been going eversince two in the morning. It's somewhere in a lot of cotton goodsright under a heap of other cargo, and try as we have we can't stifleit. Nor can we get at it with our sprays. So we're attempting to movethe other stuff, and then we'll pitch what's alight overboard or swampit with water from the hoses. It's the smoke that's the trouble. Youcome right along."
He led the way to the hatchway, Joe and his men following, while almostat once a crowd of steerage passengers massed themselves along the railwhich cut them off from that part of the deck, and detecting the objectof the little band, and realizing that they were volunteers, sent up ahoarse cheer of encouragement.
"Just you skipper the lot, youngster," said the officer, turning whenclose to the hatchway. "Keep those not at work below well to windward,then they'll be able to breathe easily. You can see that the skipper'sput his helm over, so as to blow the smoke more abeam, for the peopleaft could hardly breathe. Now, you come down with me and I'll show youwhat's wanted; then you can set your men to at it."
Joe damped a towel in the bucket of water and tied it round his mouthand nose. Then he followed the officer over the edge of the hatchway,and gripping the iron ladder which descended vertically, soon foundhimself standing some thirty feet below on a pile of huge boxes.
"Machinery, and heavy stuff too," said the officer, taking him acrossto a part where there was little smoke. "Now, you can see for yourselfwhereabouts the fire is. The smoke tells you. Ah! there's another mandone for!"
Joe's surroundings were indeed sufficient to cause more than the usualinterest, for the scene was filled with movement. Overhead the squareof the open hatchway framed a beautiful if confined area of blue sky,across which a few white clouds were scudding. But it was not alwaysthat one could see this view, for huge columns of smoke issued from thehold in front of him and went swirling up, to cease entirely at momentsand then to gush forth again, for all the world as if someone werestationed in the depths amongst the cargo and were using a giganticbellows. For the rest, a couple of huge reflectors threw the lightfrom a number of electric bulbs into the hold, though without anyseeming effect, for the dense smoke made the darkness almostimpenetrable. Here and there a man rested well to one side, his mouthbound up with a handkerchief, while deeper in, entirely invisible, wereother men. One heard a shout now and again and the clatter of movingboxes. Overhead, too, dangled a rope swinging from a derrick. It wasat the precise moment when Joe's quick eye had gathered these details,that a couple of men came into sight staggering across the boxes andbearing a man between them.
"Dropped like a rabbit, he did," gasped one of them, as they placed theman on his back on one of the boxes. "Went down jest as if he'd beenshot. Above there! Lower away."
A head appeared in the opening of the hatchway, while a second later acloud of smoke shot upward, hiding the head and setting the ownercoughing. But the derrick above swung over promptly, and the ropedescended.
"You two men get to one side and rest," said the officer. "I and thisfriend here will see to the man. Now," he went on swiftly, "lend ahand while I pass the rope round this poor chap. That's the way. Nowsteady him while I go aloft. You'll get your men down as you want 'em."
He had already spoken to an officer on duty down below, and now wentclambering upward. A moment later Joe was guiding the unconscious bodyof the sailor as he was hoisted upward. Then, cramming the towel closeround his nose and mouth, he dived into the clouds of smoke till, aidedby the electric light, he saw an officer.
"Shall I bring some of the men down now, sir?" he asked. "I've twodozen up above, all ready to lend a hand. I thought it would be bestto employ them in two batches."
The officer, a young man of some twenty-five years of age, rose fromthe box he was helping to lift, coughed violently, and then accompaniedJoe back to the part directly under the hatchway.
"My word," he gasped, when at length a violent attack of coughing hadsubsided and allowed him to speak, "we'll be glad to have you. That'shot w
ork in there. You've two dozen, you say? Then bring along halfof them; they'll be mighty useful."
Joe went swarming upward at once and, arriving on the deck, promptlytold off twelve of the men. He was down again with them within a fewseconds, at once leading them forward to where the work was in progress.
"That you?" asked the officer, peering at him through the smoke andcoughing. "Then get to at these boxes. We're pulling them aside, andtill we've got a heap more away we shan't be able to reach the spotwhere there's fire. When we do, things won't be so easy. There'll bea burst of smoke and flames, I should imagine."
"Then we'd better have the other half of this gang ready with sacks andblankets damped with water," cried Joe. "A hose wouldn't stop thefire, and the water would do a heap of damage. Eh?"
"You're the boy!" gasped the officer. "That's an idea; will you see toit?"
Joe nodded promptly, and then set his gang to work to help the sailorsalready employed in moving the cargo. Dashing away as soon as he sawthat they understood what was required of them, he swarmed up to thetop of the hatchway and called loudly to one of the gang above.
"Find one of the officers if you can, or, better still," he said, "goalong to the purser. Ask for twenty or thirty old blankets. Take amate or two with you and bring the lot along here; then swamp them withwater. When you've got them ready have them slung down into the hold.You've followed?"
The young fellow nodded eagerly. "Got it pat," he declared, swinginground. "I'll be back inside ten minutes."
Joe slid down below without further waiting, and, joining his men,attacked the cargo with energy. Half an hour later, perhaps, after abulky parcel wrapped in matting had been dragged from its place, asudden burst of smoke drove the workers backward. It was followed by ahot blast of air and then by tongues of flame.
"Looks bad," declared the officer, rising to his feet from the box onwhich he had been seated; for he was taking a well-earned rest."There's stuff below there that's well alight. Look at that! There'ssmoke and flames for you."
"And we'll need to drown the fire at once," cried Joe. "I'll bring theother gang down and set them to fight it."
Once more he clambered over the boxes from the dark depths of the holdand, gaining the open space beneath the hatchway, shouted loudly. Atonce a head appeared, and another call brought the second half of hisgang tumbling downward.
"Each of you take one of the damped blankets," said Joe, standingbeside them. "See that the towels are well over your mouths and noses,and then follow me. We've got to the seat of the fire, and have to doour best to damp it out. Now, follow one after the other."
Seizing a blanket himself, he led the way till within twenty feet ofthe spot where the last bale had been torn out of its position. Theworkers whom he had left had been driven backward to that point, andwere crouching down with their heads as low as possible, coughing andchoking as dense masses of smoke swept about them. Joe saw red tonguesof flame, and at once, without hesitation, advanced on the spot,holding the blanket before him. But if he imagined he had an easytask, he was quickly to learn that he was mistaken. The choking cloudsof pungent smoke which swelled past him and hid him from the men wasthe least part of the difficulty. It was the heat which threatened todefeat his efforts. For a hot blast surrounded him. He felt of asudden as if he had plunged into a furnace, while his nostrils burnedas if he were inhaling flames. Then the blanket, in spite of itssoaking, steamed heavily and began to shrivel.
"Forward!" Joe commanded himself. "This is not the time to give back.Push on and get your blanket down right on the spot where the cargo isalight."
Pulling himself together, as it were, and summoning all his energies,Joe dashed forward over the uneven flooring, the heat wave about himincreasing in intensity. A gust of hot air, an intensely burningbreath gripped him, while lurid flames swept past him on either hand.Even the wetted blanket showed signs of giving way before such anordeal, for one corner curled upward and then burst into flame. ButJoe was a stubborn fellow. He was not the one to be beaten when sonear the goal, and half stifled and roasted he pushed on, cast hisblanket over a spot which appeared to be white with heat, and trod itdown manfully. He retreated then as fast as he could, followed by adense smoke which made breathing impossible.
"Next!" he shouted, when he could speak. "Don't stop. We must pilethe blankets on as thick as possible."
It says much for the courage of those steerage passengers that not oneof the volunteers hesitated. Helped by the members of the crew, towhose aid they had come, they rushed forward pell-mell, casting thewetted blankets over Joe's; then, having trodden them down, theyretreated before the dense smoke which drove them out. They sat ingroups and anyhow, gasping beneath the open hatchway, some of them evenhaving to beat the fire from their clothes.
"We've fixed that fire, I think," gasped the officer at last, for thesmoke seemed to be less intense. "If so, it's the luckiest thing I'veever encountered."
"Wait," cautioned Joe. "That smoke's more pungent. That looks as ifthe fire were still burning."
Five minutes later it was clear that he was right; for flames suddenlyshot out at the gang of workers, scorching their hair and driving thembackward. Nor was it possible to advance again with wetted blankets.For an hour the gallant workers struggled to subdue the blaze bythrowing water from a couple of hoses into the hold. But that efforttoo proved useless. It was clear that the fire had got beyond control,and that the safety of the passengers depended on the ship reaching aport very soon, or coming in with another vessel. Then, and then only,did the news circulate that Franc, the young Marconi operator and Joe'sfriend, had been placed out of action.
"It's just broken up our chances," groaned the officer who had beenworking beside our hero. "That fellow has been calling for four orfive hours so as to get in touch with another vessel. But there wasnone within reach fitted with the Marconi apparatus. Now he's fallendown the gangway, and lies in the doctor's quarters with one leg brokenand himself unconscious. It's a regular bad business."