In Search of El Dorado | Page 5

ascended the ladder, his intention in so doing being to convey the
impression that the scare was over and the entire incident ended.
The ruse was brilliantly successful, for the moment at least, for when,
upon reaching the head of the ladder, he turned to see what was
happening on the deck which he had just left, he saw that the whole
crowd of second-class passengers was in full retreat, with the burly
man elbowing his way through it, that he might secure his full share of
whatever might happen to be going in the dining-room.
Pausing for a moment to watch the gradual disappearance of the people
through the deck-house door, Dick waited until the last of them had
vanished, and then darted along the now deserted promenade deck and
up the ladder to the boat deck, where he found himself in the midst of a
scene of the most strenuous activity; the men still feverishly working at
the task of clearing and swinging out the boats, the officers supervising
and assisting in the work, as though every second of time were more
precious than gold, stewards hurrying up from below with provisions
with which to stock the boats, and the captain on the bridge
overlooking all, the whole deck brilliantly illuminated by every
available electric lamp, while overhead the steam still roared out of the
pipes, and the crackle of the wireless obtruded itself insistently through
all other sounds.
Cavendish knew that Mr Brown, the chief officer, was up here
somewhere, and he presently found him and briefly reported what had
happened down on the main deck.
"Good!" returned Brown. "But go back and guard the head of the
ladder leading from the main to the promenade deck. We're holed in
nearly every compartment, and the leaks are gaining upon us in spite of
the steam pumps. The ship's doomed--that's the long and the short of it;
nothing can save her; and as soon as all the boats are ready there will be
a call for the women and children. Your duty then will be to see that no
men from the second-class are allowed to slip past you until all women

and children have been safely got off. Likely enough some of the men
may try to rush you. Got a revolver?"
"I have a pair down in my cabin, but--"
"Good!" interrupted Brown. "Don't waste time going down to fetch
them. Collar a steward and tell him to get them for you. Now, off you
go. Those people down below may take the alarm again at any moment.
One word more. When all the women and children are up, don't let any
men pass you until you get word from me. Now--scoot!"
Dick "scooted," dispatching a steward for his revolvers on the way, not
that he had the slightest intention of using them; but he knew how
efficacious a revolver--even though empty--is in stopping a rush, and
he decided that it would be a good thing to have them. A minute
later--his visit to the boat deck having occupied some ten minutes--he
reached his post at the head of the ladder which he was to guard--just in
time. For as he posted himself, the head of the burly man swung into
view, wagging from side to side as its owner climbed the ladder, with
quite a little crowd behind him, while others were streaming out on
deck.
"What! my friend, you here again?" exclaimed Dick as he planted
himself at the head of the ladder, with a hand grasping the rail on either
side of him, thus converting himself into a human closed gate. "Have
you come to tell me that there were not enough hot drinks to go round
and that you didn't get your fair share? No you don't"--as the man
strove to dislodge Cavendish from his position--"your place is down
there on the main deck, as I've told you before--ah! would you? Then
take that, as a little lesson that when you're aboard ship you must
behave yourself and obey orders!"
"That" was a blow straight between the eyes, administered to the burly
man, who now seemed determined to fight his way up to the boat deck
at all costs. The fellow went reeling back under the impact of the blow,
and would undoubtedly have fallen some ten feet to the deck below had
he not been caught and supported by the people beneath him on the
ladder. These instantly raised a loud clamour, in which the words

"Shame! shame!" were distinctly audible, while some of the women
began to cry and manifest a disposition to become hysterical. Then
another big man suddenly started to elbow his way through the crowd
now thickly grouped about the foot of the ladder which Dick was
guarding, shouting,