The Iron Boys on the Ore Boats Part 26

"Guide lights," spoke up Steve quickly. "They are the lights on sh.o.r.e, either lighthouses or buoys, to show you how to lay your course."

"That is the idea," agreed Captain Simms. "Let's hear you box the compa.s.s while we are here alone, Jarvis."

Bob went over, taking a look at the compa.s.s.

"Why do you do that?"

"I wanted to see whether we were at the north pole or the south pole."

"I guess you would know it if you were--that is, you would be pretty certain that you weren't navigating the Great Lakes. Go ahead now."

Jarvis shut his eyes and began reading off the points of the compa.s.s, making only one error in his reading.

"That is fine," announced the skipper. "I'll guarantee there isn't a man in the ship's crew, outside of the first mate, who can do it so well. Of course, I am excepting Rush and myself. Rush does everything well."

That night Steve took his regular trick at the wheel at eight o'clock.

Of course, Jarvis was there, too, as were the captain and the first mate. They were nearing the Soo, as they could see from the lights.

"Let's see, you boys have not been through here, have you?"

"We were below decks the other time, sir."

"Oh, yes, I remember. We will take the Canadian locks this time. The Canadian locks are on the left and the American locks on the right, but the latter are too short to hold a boat as long as this one, so we are obliged to take the Canadian side."

"Why do we have to lock through?" questioned Jarvis.

"To get around the rapids, and for the further reason that Huron lies lower than Superior. This is Whitefish Bay. The light that we have just dropped to starboard is Whitefish Point Lighthouse. Rush, do you see that red light yonder?"

"Yes, sir."

"Point on it."

"I can't see the bow of our boat so as to tell whether I am pointing on the light or not."

"I'll fix that."

The captain pressed a b.u.t.ton and a ray of dull, ghostly light appeared just beyond and over the bow.

The lads uttered exclamations of amazement.

"What is it? How did you do it, sir?"

"That, lads, is a guide light on the end of the pole that answers for the bowsprit. The light is there for the purpose of giving you a guide to steer by in narrow places."

Lights began to spring up ahead, until there was such a confusion of them that neither boy could make anything out of them, but the steady eyes of the captain picked out the lights that he wished to find without the least difficulty.

"Do you hear the roar of the rapids in the St. Mary's River?"

"Yes; we hear them."

"Those green lights way over yonder are on the American locks. Now port your helm and steer for that white light standing high above the rest.

Are you on it?"

"On the mark, sir," answered Steve.

They continued on this course for ten or fifteen minutes, when the captain ordered the wheelman to starboard his wheel. This threw the bow to the left, sending the boat across the bay on a diagonal course.

"Why don't you go straight in?" asked Jarvis.

"We should land high and dry on the rocks if we did," answered the skipper, with a short laugh. "Others have tried that very thing. The hulls of some of their ships are down there under the water now."

The boys began to realize that navigating the Great Lakes required a great deal of skill and knowledge.

"There is a ship in the locks now," announced Captain Simms.

Both boys gazed into the night, but they could see no ship. The master signaled the engine room to slow down, explaining, at the same time, that they would have to drift in slowly and stop until the other boat got out.

The channel began to narrow as the master directed the wheel this way and that until they found themselves in a walled-in channel that led directly to the locks themselves.

"Snub her!" commanded the captain, leaning from the pilot-house window.

A ladder was shoved over the side of the moving ship, a man on either side of it on deck pushing it along so that it might not be dragged.

Quick as a flash a sailor sprang on the ladder, and, grasping the side pieces, shot down to the dock on that side, a distance of some twenty feet. Following came others, all getting down in the same manner. It was a dangerous thing to do and excited the wonder and admiration of the two boys in the pilot-house.

"If I were to try that I would be in the water," laughed Rush. "It is a good thing for me that I am at the wheel, for I wouldn't be able to resist trying that experiment."

Hawsers were cast over from the deck, and these, the men who had gone over the side, twisted about snubbing posts. At the same time the ship's propeller began reversing slowly at a signal from the captain. The ship came to an easy stop. The skill with which it had all been done, made a deep impression on the Iron Boys.

A few moments later the gates of the locks opened and the other steamer moved slowly out. So close did they pa.s.s the "Richmond" that some of the men reached out and shook hands across the gulf, while the two captains held a brief conversation. Then the "Richmond" let go her moorings and moved slowly into the Canadian locks. The gates swung to behind them, the water began rushing from the other end of the locks and the ship rapidly settled until her decks were level with the dock beside which she stood. The men who had gone over the side now stepped aboard and hauled in the hawsers after them.

"Marvelous!" breathed the Iron Boys.

"Slow speed ahead," commanded the skipper. "We are now on the Huron level. Here comes your relief. I hope you boys get a good night's sleep."

"Thank you, sir; good night," answered the lads, starting for their cabin. It had been a most interesting evening for them.

CHAPTER XVI

THROUGH THE ROCKY CUT

FOUR long and two short blasts roared from the whistle of the "Richmond."

It was the private signal of Captain Simms. The ship was bearing down on Port Huron and was at that moment at the mouth of the St. Clair River.

The skipper stepped to the door of the pilot-house with megaphone in hand.

"This is where I live," he explained. "My wife always comes out to see me as we pa.s.s. See the light there, in that cottage on the river bank?