.
"After all, this Ice Patrol that the _Miami_ is going on next month, was
only begun as a result of the sinking of the _Titanic_, wasn't it?"

"That's all. But wasn't that reason enough?"

"It surely was," agreed the boy.

"I think the summer ice patrol is a mighty useful thing. If the _Seneca_
keeps the lane of ocean travel free of derelicts and we cover the Ice
Patrol of that same steamship lane, it ought to make a difference in
the safety of ships at sea. Ever see a big iceberg, Mr. Swift?"

"Heaps of them, sir," answered the lad. "I was on the Bering Sea patrol
last year."

"That's right. But you'll find the Atlantic bergs are different. There's
a lot of ice in the North Pacific but it's mostly in small pans. No big
stuff comes through Bering Strait. It would strand. And then the
Aleutian and Kuril Islands make a sort of breakwater to head off big
bergs. But in the North Atlantic there's nothing to keep the big
Greenland glacier breaks from floating south right into the very path of
the steamers. In fact that's what they do. You'll see some real ones
this summer."

As the lieutenant had pointed out to him, the whole ice question assumed
great importance, viewed in the light of the Atlantic Ice Patrol. The
_Miami_, on orders from the department, steamed north and relieved the
_Seneca_ on duty. She picked up the bergs which the _Seneca_ had found
and plotted their positions on the chart. Every day at eight bells of
the middle watch (4 A.M.) the wireless operator on the _Miami_ sent to
the Hydrographic office a statement as to the exact position of all
bergs that had been sighted and the amount of their probable daily
drift. This information was sent out again as a daily ice warning to
merchant vessels by the Hydrographic Bureau.

[Illustration: ICEBERG WITH _MIAMI_ IN THE BACKGROUND.

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.]

[Illustration: THE GHOSTLY ALLY OF DISASTER.

Berg in the lane of Atlantic travel, continuously watched by Coast Guard
Cutter, safeguarding thousands of human lives.

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.]

The experiment of trying to demolish the larger bergs by gunnery was
tried, and a six-pound shot was fired full at close range at one of the
bergs. But it had no other result than to shake down a barrelful of
snow-like dust. Following up the various bergs kept the _Miami_ busy. At
the same time she sent and received messages from passing steamers along
the line of travel.

Only one large