Jeers of triumph arose from the cabin deck of the steamer as those on board took in the significance of the situation. They now considered it certain that the Rambler would soon be at their mercy, blocked beyond the possibility of escape in the lagoon.
Jule at the helm of the motor boat, however, had a very different idea as to how the scene ought to terminate. In a second the great steamer, lumbering and loosely built, lay broadside to the oncoming Rambler. Clay gave a cry of warning as the boy swirled the boat so as to strike the steamer amidships, but Jule held on to his course.
Before Clay could utter another cry of warning, the steel prow of the Rambler crashed into the steamer about a third back from the prow!
It seemed for a moment as if Jule’s prediction that he would go clear through the lumbering old steamer was to be fulfilled, for the steel prow cut into the thin sides of the steamer as a knife cuts into cheese. The shock was terrific.
The boys were knocked off their feet, and Jule found himself rolling on the deck with the tiller ropes still grasped in his hands!
Shouts of rage and alarm came from the sinking boat, and there was an immediate rush for the railing overlooking the motor boat. The steamer was still staggering under the impact of the blow, and those on board were reeling like drunken men.
Clay’s first act was to reverse the motors. Much to his delight and surprise, the Rambler backed slowly out of the cavity she had cut into the side of the steamer. The side wall of the ponderous old boat had been shattered into bits many feet on either side of the actual cut!
As the Rambler backed away, the steamer began drifting downstream, moving as chance would have it, toward the main channel of the river instead of toward the lagoon. The boys saw at once that she was filling with water, and would probably sink where she lay. They saw, too, that men with pistols in their hands were threatening them from the cabin deck of the steamer.
With fear and trembling Clay set the motors going again, wondering whether they had been injured in the collision so as to render the Rambler unmanageable. The motors responded nobly, however, and in a moment the boys had the satisfaction of seeing her glide past the dipping prow of the steamer.
It was dark as ink over the surface of the river, and Alex turned on the lights as the Rambler rounded the sinking saloon boat and swept on downstream. Once well under way, Clay walked up to the prow and looked it over.