“Blow the whistle!” cried Ned.
Instinctively Jerry pulled the cord. He forgot the engine was not working, and that there was no compressed air to send out a blast. In the midst of his terror, he resolved to have a storage tank installed for air for the whistle if ever they came safely out of their trouble.
“Ship ahoy!” yelled Sam, with lungs that had done their duty in all sorts of weather. “On board the steamer!”
The sailor and Jerry peering between the curtains at the bow, and Ned and Bob, looking forth from the side awnings, saw a big vessel bearing right down on them. They could distinguish the towering bow and the twinkling lights.
“Ship ahoy! You’ll run us down!” hailed Sam.
The boys joined their voices to his, and a chorus of shouts went up. But the wind had freshened and was blowing quite strongly. Even had the night been still it is doubtful if the pilot could have heard, shut up in the bridge house.
As for the lookout aloft, he was too far up, and the wind, doubtless, made such a noise through the rigging that it would have taken a megaphone to have aroused him.
“Veer off! Veer off!” shouted the sailor.