Picking him up, Hal carried him to the cabin and laid him on one of the bunks.
"Now for the rope and the cables," he said.
Stepping into the alleyway, he was retracing his steps when the Mohican rose high in the air, trembled violently as a sea struck her, and at once rolled heavily on to her beam ends.
"Good gracious! that will finish it!" exclaimed Hal. "Ah, what was that?"
A loud crash reached his ears, coming from the open door of the engine-room. He ran to the entrance and swarmed down the ladder.
Once more he was to see a sight that seldom meets the eye. The chief engineer had feared the effect of another roll, and though this one had lasted for only a few seconds, and the Mohican was now back in a more or less upright position, yet the sudden movement, the weight of so much metal thrown violently to one side, had proved too great a strain upon the fractured pillar. It had given way, and had carried the cylinders with it, the whole was bringing up against one of the massive ribs of the ship. One sharp angle, projecting beyond this support, had struck the steel plates and ripped them open.
A fountain of water spurted in as Hal reached the engine-room, swamping the place. Turning his eyes to other parts, he saw that the disaster was even greater than it at first seemed, for lying upon the floor were three greasers, while the "chief" was huddled at the foot of the broken pillar. At this moment Mr. Broom emerged from the stoke-hole.
"What a calamity!" he cried. "We are doomed. Nothing can save the Mohican. The next roll will shake those cylinders free, and then they will go through the side to the bottom, and we must follow. We are under-manned as it is, and now so many of our hands have been injured that we are helpless. What is to be done?"
He clung to the rail which surrounded the crank-pit, and looked despairingly at Hal.
"They are the same on deck," the latter answered. "The quartermaster told me that four of the hands had been swept overboard, while others had been seriously injured. But, wait. You want helpers, sir? Why not call upon the passengers? There are about forty aboard."