when captain burke observed the dunkery beacon steaming in his direction, and soon afterwards perceived a signal on this steamer to the effect that she wished to speak with the yacht, he began to hope that he was[pg 274] going to get out of his difficulties. the natural surmise was that as one of the pirates had gone to join another just arriving upon the scene, the dunkery beacon—the captain and crew of which must have turned traitors—was now coming to propose some arrangement, probably to give up shirley if the yacht would agree to go its way and cease its harassing interference.
if this proposition should be made, burke and mrs. cliff, in conference, decided to accept it. they had done all they could, and would return to kingston to report to captain horn what they had done, and what they had discovered. but it was not long before the people on the yacht began to wonder very much at the conduct of the great steamer which was now rapidly approaching them, apparently under full head of steam.
the yacht was lying to, her engines motionless, and the dunkery beacon was coming ahead like a furious ram on a course, which, if not quickly changed, would cause her to strike the smaller vessel almost amidships. it became plainer and plainer every second that the dunkery did not intend to change her course, and that her object was to run down the yacht.
why the dunkery beacon should wish to ram the summer shelter nobody on board the yacht considered for a moment, but every one, even willy croup, perceived the immediate necessity of getting out of the way. burke sprang to the wheel, and began to roar his orders in every direction. his object was to put the yacht around so that he could get out of the course of the dunkery beacon and pass her in the opposite direction[pg 275] to which she was going, but nobody on board seemed to be sufficiently alive to the threatening situation, or to be alert enough to do what was ordered at the very instant of command; and burke, excited to the highest pitch, began to swear after a fashion entirely unknown to the two ladies and the members of the synod. his cursing and swearing was of such a cyclonic and all-pervading character that some of those on board shuddered almost as much on account of his language as for fear of the terrible crash which was impending.
"this is dreadful!" said one of the clergymen, advancing as if he would mount to the pilot house.
"stop!" said mr. arbuckle, excitedly placing his hand upon the shoulder of the other. "don't interfere at such a moment. the ship must be managed."
in a very short time, although it seemed like long, weary minutes to the people on the yacht, her engines moved, her screw revolved, and she slowly moved around to leeward. if she could have done this half a minute sooner, she would have steamed out of the course of the dunkery beacon so that that vessel must have passed her, but she did not do it soon enough. the large steamer came on at what seemed amazing speed, and would have struck the yacht a little abaft the bow had not burke, seeing that a collision could not be avoided, quickly reversed his helm. almost in the next second the two vessels came together, but it was the stem of the yacht which struck the larger steamer abaft the bow.
the shock to the summer shelter was terrific, and having but little headway at the moment of collision she[pg 276] was driven backward by the tremendous momentum of the larger vessel as if she had been a ball struck by a bat. every person on board was thrown down and hurled forward. mrs. cliff extended herself flat upon the deck, her arms outspread, and every clergyman was stretched out at full length or curled up against some obstacle. the engineer had been thrown among his levers and cranks, bruising himself badly about the head and shoulders, while his assistant and mr. hodgson, who were at work below, were jammed among the ashes of the furnace as if they were trying to stop the draught with their bodies.
mr. burdette was on the forward deck, and if he had not tripped and fallen, would probably have been shot overboard; and the sailing-master was thrown against the smokestack with such violence that for a few moments he was insensible.
burke, who was at the wheel, saw what was coming and tried to brace himself so that he should not be impaled upon one of the handles, but the shock was too much for him and he pitched forward with such force that he came near going over the wheel and out of the window of the pilot house. as soon as captain burke could recover himself he scrambled back to his position behind the wheel. he had been dazed and bruised, but his senses quickly came to him and he comprehended the present condition of affairs.
the yacht had not only been forced violently backward, but had been veered around so that it now lay with its broadside towards the bow of the other steamer.[pg 277] in some way, either unwittingly by the engineer or by the violence of the shock, her engine had been stopped and she was without motion, except the slight pitching and rolling occasioned by the collision. the dunkery beacon was not far away, and burke saw to his horror that she was again moving forward. she was coming slowly, but if she reached the yacht in the latter's present position, she would have weight and force enough to turn over the smaller vessel.
immediately burke attempted to give the order to back the yacht. the instant performance of this order was the only chance of safety, but he had been thrown against the speaking-tube with such violence that he had jammed it and made it useless. if he pulled a bell the engineer might misunderstand. she must back! she could not pass the other vessel if she went ahead. he leaned out of the door of the pilot house and yelled downward to the engineer to back her; he yelled to somebody to tell the engineer to back her; he shouted until his shouts became screams, but nobody obeyed his orders, no one seemed to hear or to heed. but one person did hear.
willy croup had been impelled out of the door of the saloon and had slid forward on her knees and elbows until she was nearly under the pilot house. at the sound of burke's voice, she looked up, she comprehended that orders were being given to which no attention was paid. the wild excitement of the shouting captain filled her with an excitement quite as wild. she heard the name of the engineer, she heard the order, and with[pg 278]out taking time to rise to her feet, she made a bound in the direction of the engine room.
thrusting her body half through the doorway she yelled to the engineer, who, scarcely conscious of where he was or what he was doing, was pushing himself away from among his bars and rods. "back her!" screamed willy, and without knowing what she said or did, she repeated this order over and over again in a roaring voice which no one would have supposed her capable of, and accompanied by all the oaths which at that moment were being hurled down from the pilot house.
the engineer did not look up; he did not consider himself nor the situation. there was but one impression upon his mind made by the electric flash of the order backed by the following crash of oaths. instinctively he seized his lever, reversed the engine, and started the summer shelter backward. slowly, very slowly, she moved. burke held his breath!
but the great steamer was coming on slowly. her motion was increasing, but so was that of the yacht, and when, after some moments of almost paralyzing terror, during which willy croup continued to hurl her furious orders into the engine room, not knowing they had been obeyed, the two vessels drew near each other, the dunkery beacon crossed the bow of the summer shelter a very long biscuit-toss ahead.
"miss croup," said mr. litchfield, his hand upon her shoulder, "that will do! the yacht is out of immediate danger."
willy started up. her wild eyes were raised to the[pg 279] face of the young clergyman, the roar of her own invectives sounded in her ears. tears poured from her eyes.
"mercy on me, mr. litchfield," she exclaimed, "what have i been saying?"
"never mind now, miss croup," said he. "don't think of what you said. she backed!"