The Rover Boys on Land and Sea Part 7

Suddenly from somewhere out of the air came a humming sound. It grew louder and louder, and the boys felt a strange suction of wind which made them hold tightly to the rail for fear of being pulled overboard by some uncanny force. There followed a loud snap and a crash, and the mast began to come down.

"Look out for the mast!" screamed Captain Jerry, and all jumped just in the nick of time. Down came the stick, to strike the rail and shatter it like a pipe stem, and then lay over the deck and over the waves beyond.

CHAPTER VI

ADRIFT ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN

"The mast has gone by the board!" screamed d.i.c.k, on rising to his feet.

"That stick will turn the yacht over!" gasped Tom.

Poor Sam could not speak, for a wave had struck him full in the mouth, and he had all he could do to keep from being washed overboard.

The girls in the cabin heard the crash above the roaring of the elements, and let up a scream of alarm.

"Are we going down?"

"Shall we come out on deck?"

"Stay where ye are!" shouted back Captain Jerry, clinging to the wheel with a grip of steel. Then he turned to d.i.c.k: "Can ye git an ax and clear away the wreck?"

"I'll try it," replied the eldest Rover, and he moved cautiously to where an ax rested in a holder. Soon he had the article in hand, and was chopping away as fast as he could, while Tom, holding to the bottom of the mast with one hand, held d.i.c.k with the other. Sam, in the meantime, cut away some.. cordage with a hatchet which was handy.

It was truly a perilous moment, and it looked as if the mighty waves would swamp the Old Glory before the wreckage could be cleared away.

The girls stood at a cabin window watching the work and ready to leap out if the yacht should start to go down.

"There it goes!" cried d.i.c.k, at last, and gave another stroke with the ax. There followed a snap and a crack, and overboard slid the broken mast, carrying a ma.s.s of cordage with it.

At once the Old Glory righted herself, sending a small sheet of water flowing from one side of the deck to the other. Some of the water swept into the cabin, and the girls were alarmed more than ever.

"A good job done that it's overboard," said Captain Jerry. "Another plunge or two and we would have gone over, sure pop!"

With the wreckage cleared away the boys breathed more freely. But the peril was still extreme, for it was no easy matter to keep the craft from taking the mighty waves broadside. But the force of the wind drove them on, and Captain Jerry handled the wheel as only a veteran tar could.

"I guess it's a hurricane," was Tom's comment.

"Looks more like a cyclone to me," spluttered Sam. "I'd give a good deal to be out of it."

To keep from, being swamped they had to run out to sea. This was no pleasant prospect to the boys, but it could not be helped.

"We needn't tell the girls," said d.i.c.k. "It will only worry them more, without doing any good."

Two hours went by, and the storm kept on as madly as ever. Night was now coming on, and soon it was impossible to see a hundred feet in any direction. The yacht's lanterns were lit, and one was hoisted on a stick which d.i.c.k nailed to the stump of the mast.

"We've got to, have some sort o' light," said Captain Jerry. "If not, we may run afoul o' some other craft."

The time went by slowly, each hour seeming an age. n.o.body felt like eating, and nothing was said about supper until nearly nine o'clock, when Dora opened the cabin door and called d.i.c.k:

"We thought we would get to sh.o.r.e before eating," she said. "How much longer will we be out, do you think?"

"There is no telling, Dora," he replied evasively.

"No telling? Doesn't Captain Jerry know where we are?"

"Hardly. You see it is so dark, and we can't make any headway with the mast gone."

"How stupid of me! I should have known that. Shall we try to fix up some supper?"

"You might pa.s.s some sandwiches. But, no, we had better come down, one at a time," returned d.i.c.k.

This suggestion was carried out, Captain Jerry being the last to go down, leaving the wheel in the hands of d.i.c.k and Tom.

"Don't ye let it git away from ye," was his caution. "If ye do it will be good-by, 'Liza Jane, an' all of us goin' slam bang to Davy Jones' locker!"

From old Jerry the girls learned that they would probably have to remain on the yacht all night.

"Don't ye git alarmed," he said. "The storm's goin' down, an' we'll come out all right when the sun rises."

The prospect of remaining on the ocean all night was dismaying, and all of the girls wondered what Mrs. Stanhope would say when they did not return.

"I know mother will be very much worried," said Dora soberly.

It was decided by the boys that they should take turns at lying down, each being given two hours in which to rest. Sam was the first to turn in, but it is doubtful if he slept to any extent. Tom followed, and then came d.i.c.k. Captain Jerry declined, stating he could sleep when he had the party safe on sh.o.r.e once more.

By morning the storm had taken another turn. It no longer rained, but the sky was murky, and there was a dense fog, which the wind blew first in one direction, and then another. They were still running to sea, with small prospect of being able to turn back.

"This is certainly more than I bargained for," observed d.i.c.k to Tom, in a low voice. "To me it looks mighty serious."

"Oh, the storm is bound to go down."

"Yes, Tom, but how long do you suppose the provisions and water will last?"

At this question Tom's face fell.

"I hadn't thought of that, d.i.c.k. I don't suppose we have more than enough for to-day, have we?"

"Well, we might make it last two days on a pinch--we brought quite a lot along. But after that--"

"Do you think we'll have to stay out here more than two days?" demanded Sam.

"I don't know what to think, Sam."

"Can't we rig up some sort of a jury-mast?"