Page:The Wireless Operator with the U.S. Coast Guard.djvu/170

 CHAPTER XI

OR a moment the crew of the Iroquois stood as though petrified. In the brilliant beam of the searchlight they could see the dark forms of their comrades as they bobbed up above the smother of foam. Down from the bridge and the rigging of the Capitol City, where the members of her crew had taken refuge from the sweeping waves, these men now came leaping fearlessly. To rope and life-buoy they ran, and, seizing them, hurled them far out into the waves toward the struggling men from the Iroquois. But the strong cross-current that had borne the floating keg so far to one side of the stranded ship, now carried the struggling men rapidly away from the steamer and the floating buoys. Desperately the men fought to reach the Capitol City, but the rushing tide beat them back, sucked them farther and farther away from the ship, and dragged them out toward the deeper water. Not long did the men on the Iroquois remain idly watching their comrades, helpless in the surf. One instant alone they stood as though paralyzed. Then, as the captain began to bark his