The Argosy, Vol. 76, No. 3 — page 131: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE THING THAT WAS CARSAR’S. The steamer rolled heavily’ in the seaway, and in a few minutes Oakes, finding that she sank no lower in the water, went forward and carefully lowered a bucket overside, fastening the end of the line to a broken stan- chion. ‘“‘T want to see how fast she is go- ing down if she 1s going down at all, which I don’t believe. If she goes any lower the bucket will float on a loose line. You two stay here till I come back. I want to see what has caused all this.” Marjorie shivered and_ obeyed, holding nervously by Hemingway’s arm while Oakes went forward and crawled carefully down the iron lad- der bolted to the hatch combings. On the deck below he found noth- ing. On the deck below that nothing, and below that he dared not go, for there were no lights, and he could hear boxes and barrels crashing and banging about in the water below him; and he could not afford to im- peril any of their few remaining chances. He climbed back again to the deck. “What is it?’ asked Marjorie as they came forward to meet him. “T don’t know. The only explana- tion that I can offer is that one or more of the bulkheads must have held when they least expected it, and it alone is holding us up. Of course, if that is it the least rough weather will force the bulkhead and we—” “Are we safe, then?” . “‘ About as safe as a cat in a basket would be if it were flung out there. I’m going forward to look for a sound boat. You stay here, my dear. Come on, Hemingway.” The boats had been nested forward of the engine- room hatch, but they had all been either injured in the storm or else by careless handling by: the crazy crew. They did find, however, a great gray life-raft, made of steel, that was too heavy for them to move with their hands, so they did the best that 601 they could, which was to lash some blankets and provisions to the sides and the slatted bottom. This done, they took some long oars for levers and rollers and pushed and pried and levered till they finally by dint of great exertion got it near the side where the bulwark had been flat- tened for'a space of twenty feet. “Tf the worst comes to the worst,” said Hemingway, wiping the sweat from his eyes, “ we will have some- thing to hang on to. [’m far from satished yet, though.” He ran up to the bridge, where on entering the master’s cabia he- found what he sought—a rack of rifles well oiled and with the magazines filled, as he found when he tested them. Liners on the Pacific that run with Lascar or mixed crews south of the line take no chances, and the bridge on most of them is a miniature fort. He picked two, took the bolts from the rest, and threw them overboard, and then went down to join Marjorie and Oakes. Darkness had fairly settled down and the girl was overcome with nerv- ousness, as well she might be. So Oakes made her go into the first open cabin that they saw, where she lay down upon the locker, and he covered her with a pile of dry blankets that he. took from the upper deck rooms. “T don’t suppose you'll sleep much,” he said as cheerfully as he could; ‘‘but you must try, anyhow, for we will need all of our strength to-morrow.” He bade her good night and went out upon the deck and rejoined Hem- ingway. | The night passed slowly and the hours seemed interminable till four o'clock of a very gray dawning ush- ered in the new day. As the sea rim became visible inch by inch the two men went up on the wrecked bridge, from which vantage point they could get a better view of the horizon. Here Hemingway left Oakes scan- ning the sea-line with a glass that he COMicdoo S CO@