At eight bells, midnight, so much coal had been removed that it was impossible for the men to work any longer. They were so close to the fire now that only a thin wall of coal separated them from it. The heat was terrific. Above, the steel sides of the bunker began to glow with a dull red color from the seething inferno inside.
Mr. Briggs went on deck and reported to the captain what had been done. By this time both Ned and Herc had returned to work and taken their share of the gruelling task just as if nothing had happened to upset them.
The chief engineer was in a quandary. He dared not try to flood the bunkers with water. A sudden rush of water on the blazing mass of red-hot coals would be likely to blow the side out of the ship, or, at any rate, to cause a serious accident. He was still wrestling with the problem when he came below. A consultation with his junior officers followed, but nobody could suggest any solution but to let the fire burn itself out.
But this Mr. Briggs was unwilling to do. The fire might communicate to the other bunkers if not promptly checked. At length he decided to rig steam pipes into the bunkers and throttle the blaze in that way. The pipes were rigged through the ventilators and then steam at high pressure was forced through the reënforced hose employed for the purpose. The experiment was completely successful and by daylight the Manhattan had escaped a grave peril and the Dreadnought Boys had passed through an experience which neither of them was likely to forget for a long time to come. Nor till it was all over did a man of the crew, except those immediately concerned, know of the dire peril to which the ship had been exposed.
CHAPTER XVI.
A STRANGE CRAFT, INDEED.
It was some days later, long after the storm had blown itself out, that the fleet was making its fifteen knots in column formation over a waveless sea, smooth as a mirror under a clear blue sky. The Jackies lolled about the decks in the hour after dinner, some smoking, some writing long letters home and some reading or skylarking.
Suddenly Herc shattered the repose of all hands by a loud shout.
“There’s a sail right ahead of us, ship-mates!”
Now the monotony of a sea voyage is always agreeably interrupted by the sighting of a vessel, and the one Herc had spied was the first to be encountered since the fleet had sailed from San Francisco. All sorts of speculations flew about regarding the ship that Herc had sighted.