“I couldn’t have been much whiter than you was,” Vance retorted.
“I’m willing to admit that,” Roy replied, “for I was as frightened as I well could be, and the thought that two out of our crew of three were dead didn’t tend to make the situation seem any more cheerful.”
“Could you have run the yacht to Savannah if she hadn’t got wrecked?” Ned asked.
“We might, but only by pure chance, and then it would have been necessary to heave to at night. The engineer confessed that he couldn’t do it, so you can see that even then matters appeared to be about as bad as possible, though we soon had good proof they were not. For two hours more we staggered along as best we could, and it seemed to me that the yacht was completely under water half the time. Then the engineer came to tell us that Vance must come into the engine-room with him. Something had gone wrong and he needed assistance.
“Vance went, and when they arrived there the engineer discovered that several of his tools were in the forepeak. He started after them. I saw him come on deck and tried to make him go back. At that moment the engine stopped suddenly; the yacht seemed to be filled with steam, and when it was possible to see anything more the engineer had disappeared, probably washed overboard as the others had been.
“Of course it was useless to stand at the wheel while there was no steerage-way on, and Vance and I had begun to discuss whether it would be possible for us to hoist one of the sails in order to keep her before the wind, when the final disaster came.
“I can’t describe how it happened, but in an instant she was on her beam-ends, and every movable thing, including both the boats, was washed away. I didn’t feel so very bad when the tenders went, because they would have been of no service to us in that sea, even if we could have gotten them free from the davits, which I doubt.
“From that hour until you saw us we could do no more than cling to the rail waiting for the last moment to come, and many times did it seem certain the wreck was going to the bottom. I gave up all hope when the engineer was washed overboard, and never saw a ray of promise again, even when you shouted for us to jump.”
“Well,” Ned said reflectively after a brief pause, “now we’re here, what’s the chance of ever gettin’ away? The yacht might be floated, but the question is whether you could run her.”
“I don’t know but that the machinery is injured so badly we couldn’t even turn the screw. Don’t you suppose some kind of a craft will come along this way pretty soon?”