such an irresistible momentum as would crash the
two prodigious hulls to splinters, and send the crews and passengers
to join the multitudes who have gone before them to the bottom of the
sea.

Signals and commands were rapidly exchanged, and the slight
misunderstanding which existed between the two steamers at first was
quickly removed. The shouts and orders, the tinkling of the engineer's
bell, and even the sound of hurrying feet, were heard on one ship as
distinctly as on the other.

Most fortunately the officers of each were sensible men, who enforced
discipline, and who, therefore, did not lose their heads when sudden
peril came upon them.

There was desperate need of haste on the part of all, but the haste
was intelligent, and something was accomplished.

The stranger instantly reversed her screw, while the _Polynesia_ was
equally prompt in her backward movement. They escaped by a chance so
narrow that it was terrifying. The bow of the _Polynesia_ grazed the
side of the stranger as they passed upon their diagonal courses, and
every one on the two ships who understood the dreadful peril drew a
deep breath and uttered a prayer of thankfulness when it swept by, and
the two steamers vanished from each other's sight in the misty
darkness.

The engineer of the _Polynesia_ was signaled to go forward again, and
the screw was started; but, if the one who uttered the order had
forgotten the contingency against which they had been warned, the one
who executed that order had not, and he gave the engine just enough
steam to start the shaft.

As he did so, listening intently the meanwhile, he heard an ominous
crunching, grinding and jarring in the after hold, and he knew too
well what it meant. He instantly shut off steam, and with the captain
hastened to make the investigation. As they feared, the broken shaft
had been wrenched apart again, and it looked as if it were injured
beyond repair.

But what man has done, man can do, and the ingenious recourse of Abe
Storms was resorted to again. With great care the fractured pieces
were reunited and bound, but the task was, in reality, harder than
before, since the terrific grinding and wrenching to which it had been
subjected broke off much of the corrugated surface.

The work was completed after many long hours of hard work, and once
more the _Polynesia_ started slowly under steam for the strange
island-empire of Asia. This unexpected delay, as the reader will see,
doub