ng sound. It grew
louder and louder, and the boys felt a strange suction of wind which
made them hold tightly to the rail for fear of being pulled overboard
by some uncanny force. There followed a loud snap and a crash, and
the mast began to come down.

"Look out for the mast!" screamed Captain Jerry, and all jumped just
in the nick of time. Down came the stick, to strike the rail and
shatter it like a pipe stem, and then lay over the deck and over the
waves beyond.

CHAPTER VI

ADRIFT ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN

"The mast has gone by the board!" screamed Dick, on rising to his feet.

"That stick will turn the yacht over!" gasped Tom.

Poor Sam could not speak, for a wave had struck him full in the mouth,
and he had all he could do to keep from being washed overboard.

The girls in the cabin heard the crash above the roaring of the
elements, and let up a scream of alarm.

"Are we going down?"

"Shall we come out on deck?"

"Stay where ye are!" shouted back Captain Jerry, clinging to the
wheel with a grip of steel. Then he turned to Dick: "Can ye git an
ax and clear away the wreck?"

"I'll try it," replied the eldest Rover, and he moved cautiously to
where an ax rested in a holder. Soon he had the article in hand, and
was chopping away as fast as he could, while Tom, holding to the
bottom of the mast with one hand, held Dick with the other. Sam, in
the meantime, cut away some.. cordage with a hatchet which was handy.

It was truly a perilous moment, and it looked as if the mighty waves
would swamp the Old Glory before the wreckage could be cleared away.
The girls stood at a cabin window watching the work and ready to leap
out if the yacht should start to go down.

"There it goes!" cried Dick, at last, and gave another stroke with
the ax. There followed a snap and a crack, and overboard slid the
broken mast, carrying a mass of cordage with it.

At once the Old Glory righted herself, sending a small sheet of water
flowing from one side of the deck to the other. Some of the water
swept into the cabin, and the girls were alarmed more than ever.

"A good job done that it's overboard," said Captain Jerry. "Another
plunge or two and we would have gone over, sure pop!"

With the wreckage cleared away the boys breathed more freely. But
the peril was still extreme, for it was no easy matter to keep the
craft from taking the mighty waves broadside. But the force of the
wind drove them on, and Captain Jerry ha