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He watched the meteor a few more seconds, making sure the course change would take them out of its path, and then gave the command. "Fire!" Before he could draw another breath, Tom felt himself pressed into his seat as the Polaris quickly accelerated and curved up and away from the onrushing meteor in a long, smooth arc. Captain Strong suddenly stepped through the hatch into the control deck.
There's a hatch in the deck, and a way in as well from the cabins, so that you can get to the stores when you like." "What about the ammunition?" "There's a place below communicating with the compartment by a trap, sir. Come and see." The captain led the way into the dark store-like place, which proved to be eminently satisfactory, cut off as it was from the brig's hold.
In the roar of water rushing down the hatch I remember thinking that the Day of Judgment was come. Yells on deck mingled with all the uproar; I heard something thud like a sledge-hammer on the ship's side. The captain picked himself up holding his head, which was all one gore of blood from the crack against the ship's side. "Beam ends," he said stupidly. "Beam ends. Yes. Yes."
But I am running ahead of my yarn. We shared the hatch cover between us. We took turn and turn about, one lying flat on the cover and resting, while the other, submerged to the neck, merely held on with his hands. For two days and nights, spell and spell, on the cover and in the water, we drifted over the ocean.
One thing struck me as peculiar. Her complement of boats was ample enough. She had two surf boats, a dingy, and a dory slung to the davits. In addition another dory, the one you picked me up in was lashed to the top of the deck house. "They'd mighty near have a boat apiece," I thought, and went forward. Just outside the forecastle hatch I paused.
Tom plunged headlong through the hatch door and scrambled down the ladder. Roger tried to follow, but Quent fired as Roger started to jump feet first through the hatch. His body became rigid as he tumbled through the hatch.
"What are we to do, Harry?" Jeanne said steadily, while Virginie clung to her sister sobbing bitterly. "Fasten this bundle of corks between Virginie's shoulders high up-yes, there." While Jeanne was doing this, Harry fastened a rope to a ring in the side of the hatch, then he tied the corks on to Jeanne's shoulders, and adjusted the third bundle to his own.
While we waited we devoted the time to the construction of an upper deck, since the one immediately above the ballast was some seven feet from the gunwale. The second deck was four feet above this. In it was a large, commodious hatch, leading to the lower deck.
When Tom opened the hatch to the main lounge, the sight that filled his eyes was so funny that, even in the face of danger, he had to laugh. Roger, with his hands clasped behind his back, was down on his knees trying to push a food pellet across the deck with his nose. The whole passenger lounge echoed with hysterical laughter.
He would have a better chance of not being seen if he waited for darkness. On the other hand, they might reach their destination before that and he would be caught. Tom made up his mind quickly. Moving back to the hatch, he eased himself through the opening. There was a ticklish moment when he had to let go of the side of the compartment and swing over on the step.
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