To the end of the chute I now quickly made my way. The Donegal man wanted to help, and faith! he was a good man when it came to doing things he understood. He showed me where the upper end of that chute was in that roaring surge of filthy water, and the beggar actually got a hold of the lever that worked the cover and jammed it open.
I instantly dropped the lead, the wood, and the line through, and had the satisfaction of feeling the line going fast to the bottom out through the hole in the bilge. When the line had gone about ten fathoms I gave the sudden jerk. Off comes the lead and the line stops running out.
"Get to windward and grab that plank," I yelled, and even the old man followed the bunch that struggled to the rail and watched the sea where we drifted bodily off. In a minute the bos'n saw it. In five more he had the plank back aboard and a three-inch line fast to the lead line. This I hauled quickly but cautiously back through the ash pipe until I got a good hold of the end.
"Now," I yelled, "give me mattresses, beds, canvas, fearnaught, or oakum—anything so long as you get it here quick."
The stewardess had already anticipated my work. I caught her eye back of the line of men.
"Here they are," she said quietly.
The bos'n got a Number Double O hatch cover. I wrapped the mattresses in it, and then quickly hitched the three-inch line carefully about the middle.
"Over the side with it," I shouted. Over it went, and as it did so I got the line hauling through the pipe. Two men helped me. We hauled the plug jam up tight against the ship's bilge, and then surged upon the line and made it fast.
"Now go ahead and pump her clear, Mac, pump her out—she's tight as a drum," I said, and the old man looked at me with a peculiar smile.
An hour later that compartment was clear of water, and she leaked only a little around the stuffing, which was not enough to wet a man's feet. Another day and the starboard boilers were doing duty with a smoothing sea and a sun peeping out through the banks of trade clouds. The storm had long passed; the Prince Albert was on her way under full power, with nothing at all to disturb the serenity of the passage, save the knowledge that we had a masterly crew aboard and some excellent specimens for manning passenger ships.