All of our friends were so exhausted that they had to be carried to
the cabin and here Dora and Grace fainted away completely, while
Nellie was little better off. Tom had had his left arm bruised and
Dick was suffering from an ugly scratch on the forehead. It was fully
an hour before any of them felt like moving around.
In the meantime the two vessels had separated, and though red fire
was burned twice, after that, and rockets sent up, nothing more was
seen or heard of the Tacoma or those left on board.
"But I don't think she went down," said Captain Jerry. "She was too
well built for that." And he was right, as events proved. Much crippled
the steamer two days later entered Honolulu harbor, where she was
laid up for repairs.
Worn out completely by what they had passed through, the boys slept
heavily for the rest of the night, not caring what ship they were on
or where they were going. Everybody was busy with the wreckage, so
they were left almost entirely to themselves.
Tom was the first to get up, and going on deck found that the storm
had cleared away and that the sun was shining brightly. Without delay
he halted a sailor who happened to be passing.
"What ship is this?" he questioned.
"Dis ship da _Golden Wave_," replied the sailor, who was a Norwegian.
"And where are you bound?"
"Da ship sail for Australia."
"Great Scott! Australia!" gasped Tom. "This is the worst yet.
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