Penny and Sally worked feverishly carrying out orders. The deck hose was attached, and buckets were brought from below and filled with water. All survivors who were able to help, cooperated to the fullest extent, helping wet down the decks and assisting women and children to the stern of the ferryboat.
Captain Barker had given an order for the Queen to move full speed ahead.
In a moment the two boats made jarring contact. Penny was thrown from her feet. Scrambling up, she saw that blazing timbers from the Florence had crashed directly onto the River Queen’s deck. Sparks were falling everywhere. The ferryboat had caught fire in a dozen places.
Seizing a bucket of water, she doused out the flames nearest her. Heat from the Florence was intense, and many of the men who had volunteered to help, began to retreat.
Penny and Sally stuck at their post, knowing that the lives of all depended upon extinguishing the flames quickly. Crew members of the Florence worked beside them with quiet, determined efficiency.
In the midst of the excitement, the final boatload of picked-up survivors had to be taken aboard. Captain Jamison, one of the last to leave the Florence, collapsed as he reached the deck. Severely burned, he was carried below to receive first-aid treatment.
Undaunted, Captain Barker shouted terse orders, goading the men to greater activity when the flames showed signs of getting beyond control. After the first contact with the Florence, only occasional sparks ignited the Queen’s decks, but the heat was terrific. Women and children became hysterical, fearful that the ferryboat would become a flaming torch.
“The worst is over now,” Sally sighed as she and Penny refilled water buckets. “Pop knows what he’s doing. He’s saved the waterfront.”
“But this ferryboat?”
“It still may go up in smoke, but I don’t think so,” Sally replied calmly. “Pop is heading so that the wind will carry the flames away from us. He’ll beach the Florence on Horseshoe Shoal and let the wreck burn to the water’s edge.”