“Shut off the water!” again cried the captain.
Then the attendants at the lock were made aware that something was wrong. Orders were shouted; men ran to and fro. With immense levers they shut the flood gates, and, slowly and sullenly, as though cheated of its prey, the bubbling subsided.
“We must pull the barge back!” cried one of the lock men, running up along the cement wall.
“No, don’t do that,” advised Captain Wiggs, as he stood on the bridge of his vessel, while the boys, who were much alarmed by the impending accident, had joined him, for they were permitted the run of the ship.
“Why not?” asked the man. “We’ve got to free her from that gate beam.”
“Yes, but if you pull her out from under the edge of that beam suddenly, she’s sure to bound up, and then she’ll come slap-bang against the side of my craft. Besides, I think she’s held so tight that you can’t pull her back.”
“What shall we do?” asked the man, recognizing that Captain Wiggs knew what he was about.
“Let the water out from the rear gate,” was his suggestion. “That will lower my vessel and the barge gradually. They’ll assume their right positions, and no damage will be done. Then you can raise us again, and be sure no more ropes break. I don’t want an accident like that again.”
The captain’s advice was followed. When the water ceased coming in the forward gate, the men ran to the rear one and opened the valves there. Out rushed the imprisoned fluid, boiling and bubbling at a great rate. Slowly the two big vessels began to sink. The barge swung away from the Modoc and then, a little later, when the water had fallen sufficiently, the bow was released from the projecting beam. The two crafts were now in the same positions they had been in when they first entered the lock.
Men hastily fastened heavier ropes to the barge, and took several turns about strong bitts, so the ship could not again drift into danger. Then the flood was once more allowed to enter the lock.