"There always is with a fire aboard a ship," answered the commander. "But I think we'll be able to hold her down if we get plenty of steam. Come on up, men," he added, and the sailors scrambled up. They looked more like colored, than white men.
Captain Wiggs acted quickly. When the last man was up, the hatches, or coverings to the hold, were fastened down, and tarpaulins, wet with water, to make them air tight, were spread over the top. Then, from pipes which ran into the hold from below, and which were for use in emergency, jets of live steam were blown into the compartment.
This, the commander knew, would penetrate to every nook and corner, reaching where water could not, and would soon quench the flames.
"Now, all we can do is to wait," said the captain, as he sat down, for he was almost exhausted.
That was the hardest part of all. When one can be busy at something, getting out of danger, or fighting a fire that can be seen, the nervous fear is swallowed up in action. But to sit and wait--wait for the unseen steam to do its work,--that was very trying.
Still there was no help for it. Captain Wiggs looked to the other part of the cargo, seeing that there was no danger of that taking fire. The forward hold was separated from the others by thick bulkheads, and there was little chance of the fire breaking through. The hull of the _Modoc_ was of steel, and, provided the fire did not get hot enough to warp any of the plates, there was small danger to the ship itself.
"We'll have to head for shore, in case it becomes necessary to break out the cargo," decided the captain, as he went on deck. "Come on, boys. We can do nothing now, and we want to get some of this smoke out of our lungs."
The course of the ship was changed. Captain Wiggs got out his charts and looked them over.
"Not much of anywhere," was the reply. "There is no good harbor this side of Duluth, but I've got to do the best I can. There is a little bay, about opposite here. There's no settlement near it, but I understand there's a good shore, and I'm going to make for it, in case this fire gets beyond my control."
Urged on by all the steam the engines could take, though much was needed for the fire, the vessel plowed ahead.