Chapter XXIV: A Struggle for Life

The next moments were filled with anxiety. The sea was running high, and, although Dr. Perkins had brought his craft upon a level keel by skillful volplaning, before it struck the waves, the situation was extremely serious.

The hydroplane portion of the _Sea Eagle_ was built lightly, and, although it was well strengthened with braces, the test was a severe one. Over the bow the crests of the waves broke constantly, showering the occupants with spray. The _Sea Eagle_ was tossed about helplessly, a plaything of the waves, while her adventurers strove to collect their thoughts and decide what was to be done.

First they adopted Frank's suggestion and donned the life jackets, so that if the worst came to the worst they would have a fighting chance for their lives. When this had been done, Frank, who had had some experience in motor boats, supervised the rigging of a "spray-hood" across the bow. This kept some of the spray out, and, although it was formed of sheets of spare canvas intended to be used as waterproof night coverings, it answered its purpose well enough.

"Do you think that there is a chance of our keeping afloat?" asked Harry when this had been done.

"Well, we appear to be making out all right so far," rejoined Dr. Perkins; "the wing floats are working well, and if only we can get the engine going again we may be able to fly ashore yet."

The wing floats referred to were nothing more nor less than the light cylindrical pontoons affixed to each lower wing tip. They acted precisely as "outriggers" would do in steadying the _Sea Eagle_. In fact, had it not been for this lateral support, the craft must have turned turtle under the terrific tossing she was receiving.

"I'm going right to work on the engine," announced Frank.

With Harry to help him, the lad proceeded to carry out this purpose. But it was the hardest bit of "trouble finding" he had ever done. The motion of the _Sea Eagle_, as she was tossed on a wave crest and then hurled into the abyss beyond, made it hard to hold on, let alone investigating the complicated mechanism of a motor. But as time wore on and they still kept afloat, they began to have hopes that they would at least stay on the surface till the engine could be started once more.

One after another Frank made the different tests employed to ascertain the various troubles that may assail a gasolene motor. He tested the ignition, the spark, the gasolene supply and the bearings. Everything appeared to be all right, and he paused in a puzzled way before he went to work on the carburetor. That is a delicate piece of mechanism, even to an ingenious boy like Frank Chester; but he finally concluded that the trouble must lie there. His first task was to open the relief cock and drain the brass bowl of the mixing chamber.

He turned the valve, and the mystery of the stoppage of the engine was instantly explained.

Sand had been placed in the carburetor by persons whom Frank had little difficulty in mentally identifying.

"So that was what those rascals did!" he cried aloud. "No wonder we couldn't find anything the trouble with the ship. They were too foxy for that, and could hardly have found a better way of injuring the _Sea Eagle_ than to do that."

"Is there any way of fixing the damage?" asked Dr. Perkins, who, with Harry, had hastened to Frank's side as he cried out over his discovery.

"Yes. Thank goodness, we've got a spare carburetor on board, for it would take a week to clean out this. If no sand has got into the cylinders I think I can promise to get things going again before very long."

Out of the locker in which the spare parts were kept Frank produced another carburetor. But unscrewing the feed pipe and taking off the old mixing chamber and adjusting the new one were tedious tasks, especially under the circumstances in which Frank was compelled to work. But at last it was done, and with a beating heart Frank adjusted the self-starter. A few seconds now would decide their fate.

Harry shivered in anticipation of failure as his brother, having got the engine going by the just mentioned appliance, turned on the gasolene and spark.

For a breathless instant their fate hung in the balance, and then there came the welcome sound of the exhaust. Bit by bit Frank allowed the speed to increase, till the engine was running at its full capacity of revolutions. But the propellers were not turning, as before testing the motor he had thrown the clutch out of gear.

"I think that we can try to rise now," he said calmly, after the motor had run without a miss or a skip for ten minutes or so.

"I think so, too," said Dr. Perkins, "and I want to tell you, Frank, that you have done what I would not have believed possible under the conditions."

Another anxious moment followed when the clutch was thrown in and the full load of the propellers came upon the engine. But not a hitch occurred. The large-bladed driving fans of the _Sea Eagle_ beat the air rapidly and surely, and the hydroplane-formed underbody began to glide over the tops of the waves, instead of rolling and pitching helplessly among them. To the westward, too, there showed a patch of lighter sky, heralding the passing of the storm.

But, as if unwilling to allow them to escape without again bringing their hearts into their mouths, the storm had one more buffeting to give them. As full power was applied, and the _Sea Eagle_ rose above the tossing wave crests and headed slantingly skyward, there came a sudden puff of wind.

Skillful as Dr. Perkins was, it caught him momentarily unprepared. In the wink of an eye the _Sea Eagle_ careened over, almost on her "beam ends." It seemed as if the right hand wing tips actually touched the water. One inch more and there might have been an abrupt conclusion to this story, but Dr. Perkins' hands seemed to be everywhere at once. They flashed among levers and wheels.

For the space of a breath the _Sea Eagle_ hung almost vertically, and then the big craft suddenly righted and shot upward on an even keel once more. But the moment had been an awful one, and as they winged their way upward not one aboard was there but felt that they had been delivered from a dreadful fate by what might well be described as a miracle.