"Brace for it!"
Orders were being given, and the whistles were hoarsely blowing. Both
vessels were still falling off. Some one on the tug bellowed frantically
through a big trumpet.
"What was that?" Inza asked.
"Tows!" said Frank. "Something about tows!"
The tug and the steamer did not strike, though they grazed each other so
closely that a collision seemed unavoidable. Then there was more
bellowing through trumpets and more whistling, and Frank felt the _Merry
Seas_ tremble under him as her engines were reversed. He knew not what
to expect.
Crash!
The big tug, _Gladiator_, had a string of heavily laden barges in tow.
Into one of these barges, in spite of every effort to prevent it, the
bow of the _Merry Seas_ crashed with terrible force. It was as if a
horse should rush headlong against a stone wall.
The shock was terrific. Merriwell heard a sound of smashing timbers and
snapping iron. He was pitched violently from his feet as the bow of the
_Merry Seas_ was forced downward by the collision. He felt himself
flying through the air. Then he struck the water, and went down, down,
down!
But Frank did not lose consciousness. And as he came to the surface, he
supported himself by a gentle motion of his hands and feet, and tried to
look about.
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