The Iron Boys on the
Ore Boats

OR

Roughing It on the Great Lakes

By

JAMES R. MEARS

Author of The Iron Boys in the Mines, The Iron Boys as Foremen, The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills, etc.

Illustrated

PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY

Copyright, 1913, by
Howard E. Altemus

Both Boys Were Hurled Forward
Frontispiece

CONTENTS

The Iron Boys on the Ore Boats

CHAPTER I

TO THE INLAND SEAS

"WHAT are we to do?"

"The first duty of an inspector is to inspect, I should say," answered Steve Rush, with a soft laugh, in answer to his companion's question.

Bob Jarvis made a wry face.

"You think you are very smart this morning, seeing that you have been complimented by the president of the mining company," grumbled Jarvis. "I don't know whether I like this new job or not. We were making pretty good money in the mines and we were bosses at that. Are we going to do any bossing when we get on the lakes?"

"I think not. We shall be ordinary seamen. Somebody else will do the bossing in this instance and we shall be the victims. Mr. Carrhart will tell us all about it in a minute. He is arranging for our work now. It will be a great change, and while we shall be working pretty hard we shall be adding to our store of knowledge, Bob. We are lucky to possess so fully the confidence of our superiors. Let's try to show that we are worthy of their confidence in our new places."

"When do we start?"

"I don't know. Mr. Carrhart is looking that matter up now."

The lads were sitting in the private office of the president of the mining company, whither they had been summoned from their work at the mines. Mr. Carrhart, the president, stepped briskly into the office at that juncture.

"Well, lads, I have arranged for your transportation."

"May I ask on what ship we are to sail, sir?" questioned Steve.

"The 'Wanderer.' She is not one of our newest ships, but she is a staunch old vessel with about as many conveniences as are to be found on the newer and more modern boats. I sometimes think we are getting further away from what a ship should be—but then, I am not a sailor. I am not supposed to know anything about ships," laughed the president.

"When do we sail?"

"Some time to-night. The 'Wanderer' is not yet in. She passed the Soo nearly forty hours ago and should dock some time this afternoon. She is coming up light this time, for a change."

"How long does it take to load the ship with ore?" asked Steve, his active mind already in search of knowledge along the line of their new calling.

"Eight hours or so."

"That is quick time," nodded Jarvis.

"It strikes me as being a long time," remarked Rush.

"That is the point exactly," agreed Mr. Carrhart. "If you boys can find a way to shorten the loading time you will have served your purpose well. That is exactly why we are sending you out on this inspecting tour—that is, it is one of the reasons. We want to know where we can save money and time in the shipment of ores to the furnaces."

"But, sir, we know nothing about this branch of the business," protested Steve. "Are there not others better qualified than ourselves?"

"They think they are," answered the president reflectively. "We have tried them out. Most of them are wedded to old methods. What we want is new methods as well as new blood. Besides, you lads have expressed yourselves as being anxious to learn everything about the mining and steel business. I am taking you at your word. You are thoroughly posted on the mining end. I do not believe you could be much more so were you to spend three years more underground. The shipment of the ore is the next step. You have followed the ore down from the mines to the shipping point, here in Duluth. Now I am going to have you spend a few months on the Great Lakes."

"That will be a fine experience, sir."

"I think so."

"Is the purpose of our going to sea on the lakes known, or is it not to be known to any one outside of ourselves?"

"Certainly not. The mission might fail of its purposes were such to be the case. To all intents and appearances, you two boys will be plain, everyday sailors. You will find many hardships in the life of a Great Lakes sailor, but then, if I know you, I do not believe you will mind these very much," added Mr. Carrhart, with an indulgent smile.

"We certainly shall not," answered Rush, with emphasis. "The harder the work the better it seems to agree with me."

"But not with me," retorted Jarvis.

The president laughed.

"That doesn't agree with what the reports show. For industry and attention to duty you are a close second to your friend Rush. I presume, Rush, that we shall be losing you one of these days?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"You will wish to go on to the mills, eh?"

Steve thought briefly.

"Yes, sir; that is our ambition."

"I thought so. You may depend upon me to use my influence to further your ambition, though I shall very much dislike to lose you."

"You are very kind, sir."

"What I hoped you would do was to remain with the mining end of our business, where one of these days you would rise to the grade of general superintendent. Perhaps after you have had your experiences at the other end of the line, you will decide to come back. If I am still president of the mining company you will be well taken care of, should you return."

"Thank you, sir; perhaps we shall be back sooner than you think."

"And now for the subject at issue. Here is a letter to the master of the 'Wanderer,' Captain Simms, stating that you are to be taken on board his ship as seamen. He does not know that it is your first cruise, but I have an idea that he will learn the truth soon enough."

There was a grim smile on the face of the president.

"You will find Captain Simms a gruff old seadog. He is one of our oldest and most trustworthy masters, and after you come to know him I am sure you will like him very much. You have a fairly clear idea of what is expected of you by the company. You boys are both keen and resourceful and I expect a great deal from you. I know that you will see all there is to be seen, and no doubt will see some things that have been overlooked by older heads than yours."

"Have you any further directions to give before we leave you, sir?" inquired Steve.

"None whatever. I wish you success, which I am sure you will have. You need not go to the ore docks until this evening, unless you wish to, as you probably will have some things to do in town."

After bidding the president good-bye, the boys took their leave. It seemed only a few weeks since Steve Rush had first entered the office of the president of the mining company looking for a job. The same office boy with whom he had had trouble at the start of his career was on guard at the door, but Steve had grown away from him. Steve, who with his companion, Bob Jarvis, will be recognized at once as one of the Iron Boys, was tall for his age and muscular. His manner of life had done much for his physical well-being, and he was not the same boy who had fought his way into the president's office, the account of which is set forth in "The Iron Boys in the Mines."

It was there that Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis first became friends, after they had met and fought a battle in a lonely drift in the Cousin Jack Iron Mine; it was there that both lads proved their heroism by saving the president and several other officials of the company, when the entire company was threatened with death from a burning bag of dynamite.

It was in the Cousin Jack Mine that Steve and his newly found friend saw the need of and invented a new tram railroad system, by which the mining company was saved many thousands of dollars a year.

Again in "The Iron Boys as Foremen," was told how the lads proved themselves by saving the powder magazine from blowing up while the mine was burning and the flames were creeping toward the deadly explosives. It will be recalled that it was mainly through the heroic efforts of the Iron Boys that the Red Rock Mine was saved from almost total destruction, and that through their further efforts many lives were undoubtedly saved. From then on they continued to distinguish themselves, playing a conspicuous part in the great strike, in the end exposing and unmasking a wicked and unscrupulous man who was leading the miners on to commit deeds of violence.

They were the same boys who were now starting out on a new career for the same company. In this instance the lads were to become sailors on the inland seas, known as the Great Lakes. The lads were taking up this new calling for the twofold purpose of learning still another branch of the great corporation's business and they fondly hoped their work would prove of importance to their employers.

The office of the president was located in Duluth, many miles from the Iron Range where the boys had been working for the last two years.

Their first act after leaving the offices was to make their way down to the water front to the ship canal, leading from the harbor out to Lake Superior. Steve pointed out the äerial bridge to his companion. This was a car carried through the air suspended from a giant truss over the river, by which passengers were transferred across to Superior on the other side. Bob had never seen this wonder before and was deeply interested in it. To Steve Rush it was of particular interest, for he had acquired no slight knowledge of engineering during his experience in the mines up on the range.

Boats were moving in and out, huge lake freighters, ore boats and passenger ships, for the lake traffic was in full cry now. After strolling about for a time, Steve took his companion home with him, and the rest of the afternoon was spent with Steve's mother. Supper finished, the lads decided that they would get down to the ore docks, as the ship would likely be in by that time.

Darkness had set in when they reached the docks. These docks, as those who have had the misfortune to have to make their way over them are aware, consist of tiers upon tiers of trestle. Over the tops, high in the air, ore trains rumble in by day and by night, discharging their cargoes of red ore into huge hoppers, from which the ore is loaded into the boats, or Great Lakes ore carriers, as they are called.

Neither boy had ever been out on one of these trestles before, and the task looked to be rather formidable.

"How are we going to do it?" demanded Bob, surveying the great structure apprehensively.

"I guess the only way will be to keep going until we get somewhere or fall off. I don't see the ship, but we shall see it when we get to the top of the trestle."

Both boys narrowly missed being run down by an ore train as it was shunted out on the trestle. The lads were in a dangerous place, but they did not feel at all disturbed about it. Men were flitting about in the dim light of half a dozen electric globes distributed along the top of the trestle that loomed all of seventy-five feet above the water.

"There's a ship down there," cried Steve.

"Yes, and there's one on the other side," answered Bob. "Why, there are ships at all of the docks along here. Are you sure we have hit the right dock?"

"I am not sure of anything, except that we are likely to break our necks if we don't look sharp," answered Rush, with a laugh. "We will ask the first man we meet where the 'Wanderer' is. There comes some one now."

Rush hailed the man, a foreigner. The latter neither answered nor paid the slightest attention to the question put to him.

"Thank you," murmured Rush.

"Mighty sociable lot of men up here," jeered Bob. "But then I suppose they have to keep their minds on their work or fall off the trestle. I prefer to work underground. In the mines, there's no danger of falling down."

Ore was being shot down through the chutes into boats on each side of the great trestle. There was the roar as of a great cataract as the red dirt went hurtling down into the hold of the ships many feet below.

"Let's get down on one of the other levels, Steve. Then we'll drift over to the heading at the other end."

"Anybody'd think you were down in a mine. These aren't levels; they are tiers. You remind me of one of our miners who came down here to Duluth. He went to a hotel, and in telling some of the boys about it, he said: 'We got in a swell cage with looking glasses all around the inside. The cage tender jerked us up to the sixteenth level. We went along this till we came to a crosscut; then they led us into a swell drift an' we struck the heading and sat down.' What do you think of that?"

"That sounds like a lumber-jack more than it does a miner. He must have had a sky parlor. I wonder what hotel he got into."

Suddenly a great shouting was set up far below where the boys were standing, and further on toward the end of the trestle.

"Now what's the matter?" wondered Steve. Two long blasts of a steamship's whistle sounded.

"There goes a ship. They're pulling out. I'll bet that's the 'Wanderer,'" shouted Bob.

"If if is, she will pull out without us. No, it can't be the 'Wanderer,' for she did not come in until after sundown and it is not possible that the ship could be loaded by this time. We'll simply have to find our way down through the trestle somewhere and locate our ship. If we knew which side the boat lay it would be easier for us. Can you see which boat is leaving, Bob?"

"I think it is a boat from one of the other piers. I don't see anything going away near us."

"Suppose we move out toward the end. Then we shall be able to see where we are and what we are doing."

"And fall off?"

"Certainly not. We will walk along by the side of the track. There is a railing here. No danger at all of falling."

The boys had their suit cases in their hands. They carried little baggage, having been informed that there was no room on board for trunks or luggage. Besides, the lads needed few clothes outside of several suits of underwear.

As they stepped along, walking side by side, Steve pointed up at a bright star.

"I wonder if we had better lay our course by that one——Grab me, Bob—I'm falling!" suddenly cried Steve Rush.

Jarvis stretched out a quick hand, fastening upon Steve's collar. But the movement threw Jarvis off his balance. He, too, toppled forward.

Rush had stepped into an open chute through which the red ore was roaring down into the hold of the ship seventy-five feet below them. Steve struggled valiantly to prevent himself from going in, and Bob tried his best to keep from going in after.

"Let go, Bob; you'll go in, too!"

The warning came too late. Steve shot out of sight, leaving a fragment of his coat collar in the hand of his companion. Then Bob went in, head first.

Neither lad uttered a cry. They were not of the crying kind, and even had they uttered a shout their voices would have been drowned in the roar of the ore thundering into the hold of the big ship awaiting it down in the slip.

CHAPTER II

THE IRON BOYS AS CARGO

THROUGH some fortunate twist of his body, Jarvis righted himself while going through the big hopper into which the ore was shooting. He landed feet first at the bottom of the hopper.

In the meantime Steve Rush, with a few seconds' start of his companion, had gone on down through the hopper. He hit the long wooden ore chutes that led down into the ship; he struck the chute with a heavy bump and then went on at a speed that took his breath away. Steve was in a sitting posture. Jarvis followed him at the same rate of speed, lying flat on his back.

There was ore on all sides of them; in fact, they were riding on the swift-moving ore; all about them was darkness, and even had there been lights it is doubtful if the Iron Boys would have seen them, because of the speed at which they were traveling.

Steve's mind was working with its usual rapidity. Had he known exactly what awaited them below he might have been able to plan with more certainty. He did reason, however, that they would probably have to pass through a small opening when they reached the bottom of the chute. In this he was wrong, though right across the chute where it entered the ship was a heavy iron brace dividing the chute in half, which was placed there to give the ship more rigidity.

"Lie flat!" shouted Rush, with quick instinct, himself dropping on his back. He did not know whether Bob were following him or not. Jarvis was, but he was in no need of the admonition to lie flat. He was as flat as it was possible for him to be and he could not have straightened up had it been to save his life.

Jarvis was close enough, however, to hear the warning cry. He opened his mouth to answer, getting it full of red ore as a result. The ore got down in his throat, sending him into a paroxysm of choking, sneezing and growling that was lost in the noise about him.

Suddenly Steve felt himself shooting through space. He realized, in that instant, that he had left the chute. A few seconds more and he struck heavily on his feet, bounded into the air, then plunged forward head first.

The lad landed on his stomach, slipped down a conical pile of ore to the bottom, his head striking the side of the ship, doubling him up and leaving him stunned and unconscious.

Jarvis, who was not far behind him, went through very much the same experience, save that he turned a somersault when he left the chute, landing flat on his back on the pile of ore. His feet drove against the side of the ship with the force of a battering-ram, backed by the full weight of the lad's body. The effect was nearly the same as it had been in the case of Rush. Bob was stunned. He, too, lay still, after curling up against the vessel's side.

"Hey, what's that?" a voice had shouted as the boys disappeared through the hatches.

"What's what?"

"I thought I saw something besides ore go through the chute in number seven hatch."

"You're seeing things!"

"Maybe I am."

"Close number seven hatch!" shouted the second mate, and the two deck hands, after the chute had been hoisted a little above the deck, slid the heavy hatch cover into place. All the ore that was needed had gone in through that hatch. The ship was nearly loaded. All that was now required was a few car-loads at the ends to trim the ship properly, after which she would be ready to sail.

Within the next ten minutes the rest of the ore had been shipped. With loud crashings, interspersed with hoarse shouts, harshly-uttered commands and an occasional toot of warning from the ship's whistle, the hatch-covers were put in place and the ship made ready for her journey down the Great Lakes.

There followed a moment of inactivity; then came a blast of the whistle fully a minute in duration. It was the signal that the ship was about to back out of her slip, warning all other craft to keep clear.

The propeller began to churn the waters of the harbor and the ore carrier, with its cargo of ten thousand tons of iron ore, backed slowly out into the stream.

Bob Jarvis rolled over until he was practically standing on his head and shoulders. He toppled over on his back with a jolt that woke him up. The lad gave a kick and some one grunted.

"Hey, there, take your foot out of my stomach, whoever you are. Is that you, Bob?"

"I—I don't know. Hello, Steve, that you?"

"I guess it's both of us. Ugh! My mouth is so full of ore that I can hard—hardly talk."

"I've got a dark red taste in my own mouth. I've swallowed enough ore to make a steel rail. Do you know where we are?"

"We have fallen into the hold of a ship, and we are lucky that we are not dead."

"Maybe we are and don't know it," jeered Jarvis, pulling himself up. He tried to get to his feet, but the ore slipped from under him, leaving him at the bottom against the side of the vessel again.

"Quit it!" shouted Steve. "Are you trying to bury me?"

The latter was on his feet too, brushing the dirt from mouth, eyes, nose and ears. Bob had sent a quantity of it sliding down the chute.

"I can't help it. What's the matter with you? What do you think about this business?"

"I don't think, I know. We are in a nice fix."

"Think so?"

"I told you I didn't think," retorted Steve in a tone of slight irritation.

"Glad you admit it."

"We have been dumped into the hold of an ore vessel. I don't know whether or not there is any way to get out, and it is sure that the hatches will not be opened again until the vessel reaches her destination."

"How long will that be?"

"That depends upon where they are going. If they are bound for any of the Lake Erie ports I should imagine it would take a week or more."

Bob groaned.

"I'm going to yell."

"Yell, if you can. I've too much ore in my mouth to make much of a noise."

Jarvis raised his voice in a shout. It did not seem to attract any attention. The lad shouted again and again. By this time the ship was trembling from stem to stern under the jar of the propeller that was beating the water at many hundred revolutions a minute.

"Nobody on this ship, I guess," muttered Bob. "Come, suggest something. You've always got something to say," urged Jarvis.

"I was about to say that you might as well save your breath. No one can hear us through the thick decks; in fact, I presume every one has turned in except those on watch forward, and the engine room crews at the rear end of the ship."

"Then I am going to lie down and go to sleep," declared Jarvis.

"Don't do anything of the sort. The ore is likely to slide down and bury you. The less disturbance we make here the better it will be for us."

"Why didn't you think of that before we fell in? I suppose we are pretty deep down in the ship, aren't we?"

"About as close to the bottom as we can get without drowning. We will keep as quiet as possible until we can plan some way of helping ourselves out of this predicament."

Bob grunted unintelligibly. For some time after this the Iron Boys leaned against the side of the ship, Steve trying to plan some way out of the difficulty, Bob growling inwardly over the hard luck that had befallen them.

All at once the ship gave a quick, sudden lurch. Jarvis lost his balance, falling over on his face. The ore came down in a deluge, covering him from head to feet before he had sufficient time to scramble out of the way. Steve, bracing himself against the side of the ship, stooped over and helped his companion to his feet.

"The old tub's going to tip over," gasped Jarvis. "What's the matter with her?"

"Nothing is wrong. We have gotten out of the ship canal and into the open water of Lake Superior. There must be considerable sea. Don't you hear the waves smashing against the sides of the ship?"

"It isn't what I hear, but what I feel," answered Bob faintly. "I feel queer. My head's spinning like a top. Is yours?"

"No; I can't say that it is. Are you getting seasick?"

"How do I know? I have never been seasick. How does it feel to be that way?"

"I have heard that when people are seasick they don't care very much whether they live or die."

"Then—then—I wish I could die right here, if it would make me forget that awful goneness under my belt. Ugh!"

Bob settled down against the side of the ship, moaning.

"Don't be a baby. Get up and be a man."

"I—I don't want to be a man. I—I'd rather be a wooden image, then I wouldn't care what happened. In case the ship went down I could float and——"

Bob's words were lost in an anguished moan. Steve felt far from comfortable, but he set his teeth and made a resolve not to give up.

"The sea is coming up, Bob," announced Rush after a long period of silence.

"The—the sea——? It's my opinion that something else will be coming up soon if things don't stop moving around the way—the way they are doing now."

Steve laughed.

"Remember, Bob, that we are not likely to get anything in our stomachs for some days. Be careful."

Bob groaned.

"If I ever get anything solid under my feet I'll take it out of you for that! That's a mean trick to play on a fellow when he's in the shape I'm in at this minute. How long do you suppose the noise outside will keep up?"

"I don't know. Probably all the way down Superior."

"And how far is that?"

"Let me see. I think Mr. Carrhart said the trip to the—the Soo took thirty-six hours."

"Help!" muttered Jarvis faintly.

"Now, I want you to brace up. Come on, get up. If you don't I'll trounce you and make you forget your troubles."

"Yes, you can talk, but if you felt as badly as I do, you wouldn't spout that way. You; couldn't without—without——"

"Perhaps I do feel badly, but I may have the will power to fight it out."

Steve reached down and pulled Jarvis up beside him. The latter protested, but it did him no good, for he was apparently unable to offer any resistance. Rush threw an arm about his companion and began talking about other subjects in order to divert Bob's mind from his sufferings, for his was a real case of seasickness.

In the meantime the sea seemed to be rising, though as a matter of fact there was little sea on. The short, sharp waves of the lake were moving the big, flat-bottomed steamer almost as roughly as they would have moved a little row boat, for the ore carriers are proverbial rollers.

After a time Jarvis began to feel easier, and the lads, lulled by the motion of the ship, grew sleepy. Steve did not dare allow himself to go to sleep. He knew, full well, that such a thing would be dangerous. A lurch of the vessel might cover their heads with dirt and smother them to death before they were able to extricate themselves. Then again, they might be buried too deeply to dig their way out at all.

"Lean up against me, Bob. No need of our both standing here suffering for sleep. If you get too heavy I'll let you drop; then I guess you will wake up."

Bob leaned heavily on his companion. He would have done so in a moment more at any rate, for his eyelids seemed to weigh a ton. The lad was asleep almost instantly. After a time Steve's eyelids also drooped. He could hold them up no longer. Then he went to sleep, braced against the wall of the hull, his companion sleeping soundly in his arms.

There could be but one result of this. They had been asleep but a few moments before, in a lurch of the ship, Rush toppled over with Jarvis on top of him, a ton or more of ore banked up about them.

"Get up! Get up!" shouted Steve, as soon as he was able to get his mouth free of the red ore.

Jarvis muttered, and Steve was obliged to push his companion off by sheer force. The lad pinched and pounded himself, to awaken his dulled senses thoroughly, then he began to punch Jarvis about with his clenched fists.

"Leggo! Quit that, or I'll——"

Bob tried to strike Steve, but instead, he measured his length on the ore pile.

"I'm trying to get you awake, and if you don't want to be roughly handled you'd better pull yourself together," warned Steve.

"I'll get even with you for this one," growled Jarvis. "What's the use in trying to keep awake?"

"I've answered that question already. Besides, I am going to try to find some way out of this hold."

"You'll have a nice time doing it," growled Jarvis.

"I expect to have. But I know there must be some way. You keep close to me."

"What are you going to do?"

"Feel my way along the side of the ship to see if I can get hold of a ladder or something that we can climb up."

"I couldn't climb a step ladder without falling off, the way I feel now," objected Jarvis.

CHAPTER III

A SURPRISED SKIPPER

No use!" groaned Jarvis. "There isn't a ghost of a chance of our getting out of this until the old tub gets to some place or other. We're done for, this time. I wish I had stayed in the mines, where I belong, instead of following along after you. You can get into more trouble than any other fellow I ever knew."

"Never mind," laughed Steve. "We're the Iron Boys. Why shouldn't we travel as part of the iron ore cargo? The only thing that troubles me is that we have lost our ship. The 'Wanderer' will sail to-night with two men short, and—but I care more about what Mr. Carrhart will think when he hears that we missed our boat. He will think us a couple of stupid boys, and he will be justified in so thinking."

"I don't care what he thinks," growled Bob. "What's bothering me now is my stomach, and the thought of how I'm going to get out of this."

Steve did not reply. An idea had occurred to him. Gathering up a handful of soft ore he tossed it up over His head. Some of the stuff showered down over Bob Jarvis, causing that young man to protest vigorously. A large portion of the stuff, however, did not come down. Steve heard it drop on metal, roll a little way then stop.

"Quit that, now," protested Jarvis. "What on earth are you trying to do? I can't appreciate a joke to-night."

"This is not a joke," answered Steve, gathering up another handful. "I am saving your life."

"Huh! Pleasant way you have of doing the trick."

Several large chunks of ore were tossed up with the same result. They did not roll back into the hold.

"I've got it, Bob," exulted the Iron Boy.

"You're wrong there. I got most of it myself."

"Listen! There is a platform or passageway running along this side of the ship above our heads. I suspected there must be something of the sort, for surely they have to get into the hold occasionally——"

"Above our heads, you say, eh?"

"Yes."

"Precious lot of good that will do us," grunted Bob.

"That depends upon whether or not you have any spunk left."

"I guess I've got as much of that kind of stuff as you have. But I'm sick—I'm a sick man, Steve Rush!"

"Forget it, and then you'll be a brave man. At all events I'll tell you what I want you to do."

"Go ahead. I can't be any worse off than I am."

"I am going to brace myself here against the side, and I want you to climb up to my shoulders. You ought not to have any difficulty in standing on them, when once you get up, for you will have the side of the hull to lean against."

"Can't do it; can't do it at all. Why don't you do it yourself, instead of trying to make me do so when you know how sick I am?"

"All right, if you want me to stand on your neck. I am offering you the easiest part of the plan."

"I guess you won't stand on my neck! All right; I'll be the goat. What am I to do when I get up to where I can stand on your neck?"

"Reach up for the platform. If you can get it, all you have to do is to pull yourself up. Then, after you are once up you can, perhaps, reach over and give me a hand."

"Fine, fine!" jeered Jarvis. "I wish I could talk as easily as you. Why, I'd hire out to spout in a political campaign and——"

"Don't waste breath. I am ready."

Feeling his way in the darkness, Bob finally got hold of his companion. It was not a difficult task for him, strong and athletic as he was, to climb to Rush's shoulders. The difficulty was in staying on the shoulders after he once got there.

Bob didn't stay long. He toppled over backwards with a quick roll of the ship, landing high up on the ore pile, sliding down to the bottom, protesting and growling at the boy who had been the cause of his downfall.

"Do it yourself!" Jarvis shouted after getting to his feet once more.

"Come on, now! You're all right."

After a little urging Jarvis succeeded in reaching his chum's shoulders once more.

"Now, be careful! I will try to hold you," said Steve grasping his companion's ankles.

"I've got hold of it. I've got the platform. It's only a little above my waist. Leggo my legs."

Steve stepped out from under so suddenly that Jarvis was left dangling in the air.

The latter was too busy in trying to pull himself up, to enable him to make any retort. He scrambled to the passageway or platform, out of breath and dizzy. For a few moments Bob lay flat on the support beneath him, groaning.

"Don't be a tenderfoot. What's the matter?" called Steve.

"Everything's the matter. I'm all shot to pieces—I'm all falling apart inside——"

"Take your time. When you feel able give me a hand. Is there any railing around the walk?"

"Yes; how did you know?"

"I just guessed it, that's all."

"All right; come on."

Bob leaned as far over as he could, without falling, and tried to reach the upraised hands of his companion.

"Can't make it. You've got to grow a little first," Jarvis jeered.

"We are going to make it. I'm going to back up on the ore and take a running jump. You stand by ready to catch me. Better twist your legs about a railing post if there is such a thing handy."

"I'm waiting for you. I hope you bump your nose until it bleeds."

But Steve Rush did not bump his nose. He took a running jump, nearly losing his foothold in starting. By a lucky chance he landed half way up the side of the hold, right against Bob's hands. Bob grasped him about the waist.

"Now, pull me up," commanded Rush.

"I can't. I'm a sick man, I tell you."

"Fudge! Just hang on and I will do the rest, but for goodness' sake don't let go and fall off."

"Why should I let go? You don't think I am so anxious to get down there as all that, do you?"

Steve climbed nimbly up the body of his companion until he found himself able to reach the rail with one hand. It was then but the work of a moment to pull himself up to the platform.

"There, now we're all right," exclaimed Rush triumphantly.

"No, we're all wrong. I tell you I'm a sick man," protested Jarvis.

"If I hear you say that again, I am likely to throw you off. You make me sick."

"Hope I do. Then you'll know how I feel."

"This is better than I had hoped for," said Steve, not heeding his friend's ill-natured remark. "They've got to get up early in the morning if they want to down the Iron Boys, I tell you," he chuckled.

"It strikes me that we downed ourselves pretty thoroughly. Well, are we going to get out of here to-night?"

"We are going to make an effort to do so at once. Keep hold of the rail and follow me. Look out where you step. We don't want to take any more tumbles, or——"

"Oh, that's all right. I couldn't feel any worse if I fell off from a house or the top of a mine shaft."

The two moved along cautiously, Steve feeling his way with feet and hands. They were going toward the stern of the ship, though they were not aware of the fact. The passageway, constructed for the purpose of getting about on the inside of the hull, was narrow, built of metal, but without anything on it to bar their progress.

They made their way around the stern, which, inside the ship, was next to the engine room. Rush felt the throb of the engines near him and knew then that they were near the stern. They were separated from the engine room by a bulkhead and there was no opening into the engine compartment from the cargo-carrying part of the hull.

"We shall have to work our way to the other end," Steve said.

The boys, with Steve in the lead, continued their cautious creeping around the ship until finally they had reached the forward end. Steve's hands came in contact with a door.

"Oh, pshaw, it's locked," he cried. "This is too bad."

"Kick it in," suggested Bob, as the most practical way out of the difficulty.

"I can't; it's locked."

"And after all the trouble we have been put to!"

"At least, Bob, we have found a place where we shall be able to lie down and go to sleep in safety. That is surely worth all the trouble we have been put to, as you call it."

"That's so. I hadn't thought of it in that light before. And I'm such a sick——"

"You know what I told you."

Jarvis did not complete what he was saying.

"Good night."

Bob threw himself down on the hard floor and went to sleep. Steve decided that this was the best thing they could do, so he, too, lay down and was sound asleep at once. Neither lad awakened for hours. Steve finally opened his eyes and yawned. A ray of light that had penetrated between a thin joint between a hatch cover and its frame, hit his left eye squarely.

"Wake up, Bob," he cried.

"Go 'way! Don't bother me. I'm having my beauty sleep."

Steve sprang up, shaking the other boy roughly.

"It's daylight. Come on; we've got to make a break to get out of here now, if we do it at all. I just heard some one tramping along the deck overhead."

Bob sat up rubbing his eyes sleepily. He would much have preferred to sleep longer, but he knew full well that, if he tried it, Steve Rush would fall upon him and make life miserable for him for the next few minutes. So Jarvis got up, grumbling.

"Where does that door lead to?" he demanded, pointing to a door that Steve had not yet seen.

A faint light in the hold made it possible to see a short distance away. Steve glanced at the door, then sprang toward it.

"Hurrah, it is unlocked!"

"And don't forget that I found it. I can see like an owl, even if I am sick——"

Steve had jerked the door open, revealing a dark chamber. It proved to be the chain and anchor room where odds and ends of the ship were stored.

After a little groping about in this chamber, they came upon a companion-way, up which they hurried. There they met with another door, but this one too was unlocked. Rush opened it and stepped into the full light of day.

For the moment the light blinded both. The boys stood there, rubbing their eyes, blinking, and breathing in the fresh air of the lake.

"Great!" exclaimed Steve.

The ship was rolling gently. They glanced about them, but there was no land in sight. Everything was a sea of green, with white-capped combers tracing long lines of white against the deep green.

"Beautiful, isn't it, old chap?"

"It might be, if there were some land in sight. Where's everybody?"

"I don't know, but we will find out."

Smoke was rolling from the funnel of the steamer, a ribbon of white steam from the exhaust pipe trailing off astern and losing itself in the black smoke.

"This is a beautiful sight, even if we have lost our boat and gone to sea on an unknown craft," exclaimed Rush, his eyes glistening.

"Pshaw!" grunted Jarvis.