But Walter did not tell Tony all that was in his mind. He had a great fear that he would find a number of rafts supporting the bodies of many passengers who had succumbed to starvation and exposure, and that two of them would prove to be his mother’s and Guy’s. He preferred, however, to keep this fear to himself, for he knew that neither Tony nor Det could offer him any reassurance.
The wireless information regarding the Herculanea was too clear and definite to allow of much doubt. The operator had said that a great hole had been blown by some mysterious explosion in the forward part of the ship and that she was rapidly filling and going down. At first it was believed that she had struck an iceberg, as the Titanic had done, but investigation proved this impossible and indicated almost beyond question that a floating contact mine had caused the disaster.
During the night the Jetta kept well out from the shore in order to avoid running onto rocks. True, there was a strong head-light in the bow, but Det did not wish to depend on this and his limited knowledge of the coast to carry them on safely. In the daytime they continued along in sight of the shore until they reached Halifax, where they stopped for gasoline and some additional provisions. They also inquired for news regarding the Herculanea and were astonished at the ignorance of everybody to whom they spoke on the subject. Walter bought a copy of every newspaper he could find but not a line did any of them contain concerning the wreck. Deeply mystified, he returned to the yacht.
From Halifax they proceeded northward and in a few hours were out of sight of land. Shortly before noon Walter caught several messages from the rescue ship, which had reached the scene of the disaster, picked up several boats and rafts loaded with passengers and was making for New York. This was good news in itself, but was accompanied with the announcement that a considerable number of the passengers and crew had perished.
Then followed a long succession of messages from the rescued to relatives and friends ashore. Walter listened eagerly to these, hoping to catch one from his mother and brother. For half an hour he suffered the keenest of hoping and despairing suspense: then came the following, addressed to Mr. Burton:
“Mrs. Burton safe. Guy missing.”
A great thrill of joy leaped into Walter’s heart and mind as he read the first three words of this message; then the reaction of the last two words depressed him almost as violently. What had become of his brother? The message gave no hint. How he longed to be able to flash back a message to his mother that he was racing over the sea to search for Guy!
After leaving Halifax, no more land was sighted on the outward course. Fortunately the sea was not very rough any of the time. On the second night a rather stiff breeze blew from the north, but the waves did not rise very high, and the progress of the Jetta was little impeded. Next day and the following night the wind blew still stronger, but the yacht still rode jauntily over the swell of the ocean.
On the second day they reached, as they believed, the vicinity of the disaster, but darkness gathered before they could make any headway with their search. Then they arranged to pass the night in much needed rest and sleep. Det had the first watch, Tony the second, and Walter the third. Before daybreak Walter prepared breakfast and then called his companions. By the time they had eaten, it was light enough to begin their hunt for survivors of the wreck.
From one of the lockers in the cabin, Walter produced a pair of strong binoculars, and with these he swept the ocean in all directions, but found nothing of interest. There was a little ice here and there, but no icebergs were discovered. Then Det made calculations again and decided that they ought to proceed thirty miles to the southeast in order to reach the exact latitude and longitude specified by the Herculanea operator.