Dave Porter in the South Seas Part 40

"Don't ask me!" returned Dave, who was sitting on the upper step with his arms entwined around the companionway rail. "I guess it's an earthquake and a hurricane rolled into one."

"Has anybody gone overboard?" asked Phil, as he tried to stand up.

"I don't know. Billy Dill gave the warning."

The door to the cabin was open, and the three lads fairly tumbled into the compartment. The bark was rocking to such an extent that to stand upright was out of the question. Everything that was loose was on the floor, shifting from one side to the other.

The boys waited with bated breath, and a few minutes later heard a crash on the deck, which told that a topmast, or one of the yards, had come down. Then came a yell of alarm from one of the sailors.

"We are going to sink! We are going to sink!"

"Did you hear that?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Roger. "He said the _Stormy Petrel_ was going to sink!"

"What shall we do?" put in Phil. "I don't want to drown!"

Phil had scarcely spoken when a side door to one of the staterooms burst open and a man came forth, wild with terror, his face scratched and bleeding. Much to their amazement, they saw it was Jasper Van Blott.

"Is the ship really going down?" cried the former supercargo, in a trembling voice.

"Where did you come from?" cried Dave.

"I--er--I've been in hiding. But, tell me, are we going down?"

"I don't know."

"I--er--I must go on deck and see. It nearly killed me, the bark bounced around so," went on Van Blott.

He started for the companionway, but had not yet reached the top when a big wave hit the _Stormy Petrel_ broadside, sweeping the deck from end to end and sending some of the water into the cabin. The former supercargo was washed off the steps and came down flat on his back, screaming with terror.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The former supercargo was washed off the steps and came down flat on his back.--_Page 225._]

The boys were nearly as much alarmed, and, as soon as it was possible to do so, all three crawled up to where they could get a view of the deck and the sea beyond.

The outlook was truly startling. The ocean was whipped up into a milk-white foam and was dashing and churning in all directions. One tremendous wave was rolling straight to the southward, and on this the bark was riding, like a monkey on a runaway race horse. The wind was whistling through the rigging, and the sky was filled with dark clouds and a strange, whitish dust.

"What is this?" called Dave to the captain, as the latter pa.s.sed.

"It's a tidal wave!" yelled back Captain Marshall. "There has been another earthquake, and, most likely, some of the volcanoes in this vicinity have become active."

"Are we going down, as that sailor said?"

"Not yet. I will warn you, if there is any danger of our sinking."

"You can't put out any small boats, can you?" asked Phil.

"No, a small boat would not live a minute in such a sea as is now running."

"Has anybody been washed overboard?" asked Roger.

"I believe not--but I am not sure. It came on so sudden, we had no time to prepare for it," said Captain Marshall.

"Mr. Van Blott is below," said Dave.

"Van Blott! You must be dreaming!"

"No. He had been in hiding, and the alarm scared him."

"Humph! Well, we'll take care of him later--if we get out of this with a whole skin."

The boys could do nothing on deck, and so went below again, to find that the former supercargo had disappeared.

"It doesn't matter," observed Phil. "We know he is on board, and he can't get away until we land, and I guess we can root him out before that time."

The _Stormy Petrel_ was still being carried forward, but now the motion was a bit more steady than before. It was true that she had encountered a tidal wave, due to a submarine earthquake, and also true that a volcano on the island of Cholomu had become active. The fine volcanic dust floated for miles over the ocean, covering the bark from stem to stern as with flour.

Half an hour later came another alarm. Somebody roared out: "Breakers ahead!" and in a moment more the _Stormy Petrel_ was in the midst of a choppy sea, and staggered from side to side, as if ready to go over.

Then came a sc.r.a.ping at the bottom.

"We have struck a reef!" cried the first mate. "We are done for now!"

But, even as he spoke, the bark went on, over the reef and into what seemed to be a large harbor. Far in the distance could be seen a palm-fringed sh.o.r.e, with the waves dashing high up on the sands.

It took Captain Marshall but an instant to consider the situation, and he immediately gave orders to cast an anchor. The _Stormy Petrel_ continued to rush onward, but quarter of a mile from the sh.o.r.e the forward progress was checked. Then another anchor was dropped, and it was seen that this had secured a good hold. In the meantime the waters of the tidal wave began to recede, and by sunset the ocean was almost as calm as ever.

"Thank fortune, that peril is a thing of the past!" said Dave, fervently; and the other boys and Captain Marshall echoed his sentiments.

CHAPTER XXVI

EXPLORING A TROPICAL ISLAND

The night to follow was an anxious one for all on board the _Stormy Petrel_. The sea was still too rough to think of venturing ash.o.r.e, and so it was impossible to learn to what harbor they had floated and what was the prospect of continuing their voyage to Sobago Island.

"We must be at least two hundred miles out of our reckoning," said Captain Marshall, in reply to a question from Phil. "This may be Tapley Island, but I am not sure."

"Is Tapley Island inhabited?"

"I am not sure about that, either. There was once a colony there, but I think it died out. The natives on the other islands around here are very fierce."

"Then I hope we haven't landed on one of the other islands," remarked Dave.

"If we came over a reef, how are we to get out of this harbor?"

questioned Roger.

"That remains to be learned, Roger," answered the master of the _Stormy Petrel_, gravely.

During the night the sea went down a great deal, and in the morning the harbor could be plainly distinguished. A boat was lowered, and Captain Marshall went ash.o.r.e, taking Dave and Phil with him.