lows of the sea. But the stopping of the
engines awoke him instantly. He felt the ship lurch away from her
course, and saw the quick swerve of the compass indicator over his
head. As he ran down the gangway leading from the bridge he heard the
officer of the watch say:

"Something given way in the engine-room, sir."

Several minutes elapsed before he, or Walker, aided by willing
volunteers, could penetrate the depths of the stoke-hold. The place
was a charnel-house, a stifling pit, filled with the charred contents
of the furnaces, which gave off the most noisome fumes owing to the
rapid condensation of steam and water escaping from the damaged pipes.
But the gale raging without served one good purpose in driving plenty
of air down the ventilating cowls. Gradually, the choking atmosphere
cleared. Courtenay was the first to reach the lowermost rung of the
iron ladder, whence he looked with the eyes of despair on a scene of
death and ruin.

The electric light was uninjured. It revealed the bodies of several
men, either dead or insensible, lying amidst the scattered coal.
Shovels, stoking-rods, and pieces of iron plate had been hurled about
in wild confusion. The door of one furnace was blown clean out of its
bolts; furnace bars and fire-bricks strewed the iron deck, while, each
time the ship rolled, the heavy clank of loose metal somewhere in the
engine-room proved that the damage was not confined solely to the
stoke-hold.

If Courtenay could have dropped quietly into the sea through the stout
hull of the _Kansas_ he would have welcomed the certain result in that
bitter moment. But he was the captain, and men would look to him for
salvation. Well, he would do all that was possible, and, at any rate,
die at his post. So, choking back his misery, he organized the work of
rescue. Slings were formed of ropes, and those men in whom any signs
of life were visible were the first to be lifted to the upper deck.
The stoke-hold was quickly emptied of its inanimate occupants; living
and dead alike were carried to the untenanted second-class saloon
forward. Then Courtenay left Walker to solve the puzzle of the
accident and report on its extent, while he climbed back to the bridge,
there to tackle the far more pressing problem of the measures to be
adopted if he would save his ship.

It was typical of the man that his first act was to wipe the grime of
the stoke-hold off his face and hands. Then he drew a chart from