killed asleep!" groaned Hans. "Say, I
dink I ton't go py der ped, not me!" he added, earnestly.

At that moment came a cry from the deck. It was followed by a thump
and a crash that threw all of the boys flat on the floor of the cabin
of the steamer.

CHAPTER XV

THE CASTAWAYS OF THE GULF

"It vos der earthkvake!" yelled Hans, as he scrambled to his feet.
"Der oceans vos all busted up alretty! Safe me!" And he ran for the
cabin doorway.

"We must have struck something in the fog!" cried Dick, as he, too,
arose. "Oh!"

Another crash had come, heavier than the first, and the _Mascotte_
careened far over to port. Then came wild screams from the deck,
followed by orders delivered in rapid succession. All in a moment
the passengers were in a panic, asking what had been struck and if
the steamer was going down.

The Rovers and their friends tried to make their way on deck, but
another shock threw Fred and Songbird back into the cabin and partly
stunned them. Then Harold Bird ran to his stateroom, to get a pocketbook
containing his money.

Out on the deck all was misty, the lights gleaming faintly through
the darkness. To one side loomed up another steamer, of the "tramp"
variety, heavily laden with a miscellaneous cargo from Central American
ports.

"The _Mascotte_ is going down!" was the cry, as the steamer gave a
suspicious lurch. Then came another crash, and before he knew it Dick
Rover went spinning over the side, into the dark and misty waters of
the gulf!

It was certainly a time of extreme peril, and had not poor Dick kept
his wits about him he must surely have been drowned. Down he went
over his head and it was fully quarter of a minute before he came to
the surface once more, spluttering and clashing the water from his
eyes. He looked around, felt something hard hit him, and then went
under once more.

He knew he was near the bottom of some ship and held his breath as
long as possible. When he again arose it was to gasp for air. Now he
was free of the ship, and the rolling waters of the Gulf of Mexico
lay all around him.

His first impulse was to cry out for help, and again and again he
raised his voice. But the confusion on board the _Mascotte_ and the
other steamer was so great that nobody heard him, or, at least, paid
any attention.

Dick strained his eyes and could make out the steamer lights dimly.
He was about to yell again, when something floated near and struck
him down once again. Bu