as tim o'rooney spoke, he pointed to the bow of the steamer, where, in the bright moonlight, some smoke could be seen rising—where, too, the next instant, they caught sight of a gleam of fire.
"oh, heaven! what shall we do?" exclaimed elwood, struck with a panic.
"wait and trust to providence."
"let us jump overboard; i'd rather be drowned than burned to death. come, howard, let's jump over this minute!"
he made a move toward the stern of the steamer, near which they had been seated, as if he intended to spring overboard, when his arm was sternly caught by the irishman, who said in an indignant tone:
"kaap cool! kaap cool! don't make a fool of yoursilf. can ye swim?"
"yes," answered howard, "we can both swim very well. can you?"
"indaad, i can—swim like a stone."
"but good heavens!" exclaimed elwood, who had not entirely recovered from his excitement, "the land is miles off, and we can't swim there, not taking into account the heavy sea."
"what does that mean?"
as howard spoke, the bow of the steamer made a sweeping bend to the right.
"they've headed toward shore," said elwood.
this snatch of conversation had occupied the shortest possible space of time. the fire had been discovered by the officials on board fully as soon as by our friends, and the men could be seen running hurriedly to and fro, all quiet and still, for they knew too well what the result would be if the alarm was communicated to the sleeping passengers. the pilot had headed the vast craft toward land, and by the furious throbbing of the engines it could be seen that the doomed vessel was straining to the utmost, like some affrighted, faithful horse striving to carry his master as nearly as possible to the port of safely ere he dropped down and died.
it was fully midnight, and, as a matter of course, very nearly all the passengers were in their berths. there were a few, however, who were lingering on the promenade deck, some smoking—here and there a couple of lovers all unconscious of everything else—one or two avaricious speculators; and but a few minutes could elapse before the startling danger should become known.
the last words, which we have given as spoken by our friends, had scarcely been said, when a man, who apparently had been stretched out sound asleep, suddenly sprung up, wild with terror. "the boat is on fire! fire! fire!"
he darted hither and thither like some wild animal compassed on every hand by death, and then suddenly made a leap overboard, and was swallowed up in the sea.
the alarm spread with fearful rapidity, and was soon ringing through every part of the steamer, and now began that fearful confusion and panic which no pen can clearly picture, and which, once seen, can never be forgotten to the dying day.
our three friends were gathered at the stern of the steamer, earnestly and anxiously discussing the best course to pursue.
"let's stay here," said howard, "for every second is taking us nearer land."
"that is what nearly all will do," said elwood, "but we can never reach the shore, and when the time comes we shall all be in the sea together, struggling and sinking, and we shall then be sure to go down."
"yez are right," said tim, addressing the last speaker. "our only chance is to jump overboard this very minute, before the sea is full of the poor fellows. they'll begin to go over the ship's side and will kaap it up until the thing is burned up."
"it's time then that we hunted our life-preservers," said howard.
"git out wid yer life-presarvers!" impatiently exclaimed tim. "didn't me uncle wear one of 'em for six months, and then die with the faver! i'll heave over one of these settaas, and that'll kaap up afloat."
"be quick about it, tim," urged elwood, who was beginning to get nervous. "see, the fire is spreading, and everybody seems to have found out what the matter is."
there was indeed no time to be lost. the steamer was doomed beyond all possibility of salvation, and must soon become unmanageable, when everything would be turned into a pandemonium. one of the large settees was wrenched loose and lifted over the stern of the steamer.
"now," said tim, "the minute it goes over yez must follow. the owld staamer is going like a straak of lightning, and if aither of yez wait, he'll be lift behind."
"all right, no danger, go ahead!"
they now clambered up, and sat poised on the stern. in this fearful position tim o'rooney held the settee balanced for a few minutes.
"be yez riddy?"
"yes."
"do yez jump a little to the right, elwood, and yez a little to the left, howard, so as not to hit the owld thing. all riddy; here we go!"
the next moment the three were spinning down through the air, and struck the water. they went below the surface, the boys sinking quite a distance; but almost instantly they arose and struck bravely out.
"tim, where are you?" called out elwood, not seeing his friend.
"here, to the left," responded the irishman, as he rose on a huge swell. "can ye swim to me?"
"i hope so, but my clothes bother me like creation."
strange! that not one of the three had once thought of removing their superfluous clothing before jumping into the ocean. but elwood was a fine swimmer, and he struggled bravely, although at a great disadvantage, until his outstretched hand was seized by the irishman, and he then caught hold of the settee and rested himself.
"where is howard?" he asked, panting from his exertions.
"here he is," responded howard himself. "i struck the water so close that when i came up my hand hit the settee."
"i tell you what it is," said elwood. "we ought to have brought something else with us beside this. we have got to keep all of our bodies underwater for this to bear us."
"and what of it?"
"suppose some poor fellow claims a part. gracious! here comes a man this minute!"
"we can't turn him off," said tim, "but this owld horse has all the grist he can carry."
a dark body could be seen struggling and rapidly approaching them.
"whoever he is, he is a good swimmer," remarked howard, watching the stranger.
"of course he is, for it comes natural; don't you see it isn't a man, but old terror."
"thank heaven for that! we never thought about him. i am glad he is with us."
the next moment the newfoundland placed his paw on the settee and gave a low bark to announce his joy at being among his friends. the sagacious brute seemed to understand how frail the tenure was that held them all suspended over eternity; for he did nothing more than rest the top of his paw on the precious raft.
