Page:Tom Swift and His Wireless Message.djvu/219

Rh charge of the boats. "We must get back to the ship!"

The sea was now swirling angrily, but the sailors, who had been in worse turmoils than this, rowed on steadily.

"We feared you would not get here in time," said Tom to the mate.

"We were under forced draught most of the way," was his answer. "Your wireless message came just in time. An hour later and our operator would have gone to bed."

The young inventor realized by what a narrow margin they had been rescued.

"The island will soon sink," predicted Mr. Parker, as they reached the steamer, and boarded her. Captain Valasquez, who was in command, warmly welcomed the castaways.

"We will hear your story later," he said. "Just now I want to get out of these dangerous waters."

He gave the order for full speed, and, as the Cambaranian got under way, Tom, and the others, standing on the deck, looked back at Earthquake Island.

Suddenly there sounded a dull, rumbling report. The whole ocean about the island seemed to upheave. There was a gigantic shower of