you'll see her. Look now!"

At that moment the _Ajax_ rose on a mighty wave, which lifted her high
toward the sky, in which were now rifted clouds. Mr. Sneed glanced to
where Russ pointed, and saw the long, black hull of a steamer, from
whose stacks belched forth clouds of smoke, showing that her engines
were being driven at top speed to overcome the storm.

"There she is!" cried Russ. "Now if we can only reach her, we'll be all
right, and we can help the others."

"The others," murmured the actor.

"Yes, those on the _Mary Ellen_. She must be in trouble in this storm,
for she isn't built for this sort of thing. It's a wonder she lasted as
long as she did."

"Maybe she's at the bottom now," suggested Mr. Sneed.

"Cheerful, aren't you?" remarked Russ. "I thought you'd given that sort
of thing up."

"I meant to. I really did. I'm sorry!" the other exclaimed, contritely
enough. Really he was a different sort of Mr. Sneed from the "human
grouch" who often made matters so unpleasant for members of the Comet
Film Company. Since he and Russ had so nearly faced death, Mr. Sneed
was much braver and more cheerful.

"I think she'll keep afloat for some time," Russ went on, "as she is all
wood, you know. She may be pretty well battered, though."

If he could only have seen the hapless _Mary Ellen_ then, he would have
believed her quite battered indeed. For another rotten mast had fallen.

"Do you mean you're going to ask those on the steamer to look for the
schooner," asked Mr. Sneed.

"That's what I'm going to do, if we can get to her," Russ said. "It's
going to be nip and tuck, for she's going fast and she won't see us, as
we're so low in the water. She's not heading in our direction, either,
but I'll go after her on a long slant, and maybe I can reach her, or get
near enough to make her see us. This is a pretty fast boat."

They were speeding over the waves, now down in a hollow, and again on
the crest. Sometimes they would lose sight of the steamer altogether,
and again they would catch a fleeting glimpse of her. And, when they
did, she seemed farther off than ever.

"Oh, we'll never reach her!" said Mr. Sneed, despondently enough.
"She'll never give us any aid."

"There you go!" cried Russ. "I thought you'd given up that sort of
thing!"

"Well, I didn't mean just that," the actor said. "Perhaps we will make
her see us after all."

"That's better!" exclaimed Russ. "We'll get her--or crack a cylinder!"
and