"Look out for the mast!" screamed Captain Jerry, and all jumped just in the nick of time. Down came the stick, to strike the rail and shatter it like a pipe stem, and then lay over the deck and over the waves beyond. CHAPTER VI ADRIFT ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN "The mast has gone by the board!" screamed Dick, on rising to his feet. "That stick will turn the yacht over!" gasped Tom. Poor Sam could not speak, for a wave had struck him full in the mouth, and he had all he could do to keep from being washed overboard. The girls in the cabin heard the crash above the roaring of the elements, and let up a scream of alarm. "Are we going down?" "Shall we come out on deck?" "Stay where ye are!" shouted back Captain Jerry, clinging to the wheel with a grip of steel. Then he turned to Dick: "Can ye git an ax and clear away the wreck?" "I'll try it," replied the eldest Rover, and he moved cautiously to where an ax rested in a holder. Soon he had the article in hand, and was chopping away as fast as he could, while Tom, holding to the bottom of the mast with one hand, held Dick with the other. Sam, in the meantime, cut away some.. cordage with a hatchet which was handy. It was truly a perilous moment, and it looked as if the mighty waves would swamp the Old Glory before the wreckage could be cleared away. The girls stood at a cabin window watching the work and ready to leap out if the yacht should start to go down. "There it goes!" cried Dick, at last, and gave another stroke with the ax. There followed a snap and a crack, and overboard slid the broken mast, carrying a mass of cordage with it. At once the Old Glory righted herself, sending a small sheet of water flowing from one side of the deck to the other. Some of the water swept into the cabin, and the girls were alarmed more than ever. "A good job done that it's overboard," said Captain Jerry. "Another plunge or two and we would have gone over, sure pop!" With the wreckage cleared away the boys breathed more freely. But the peril was still extreme, for it was no easy matter to keep the craft from taking the mighty waves broadside. But the force of the wind drove them on, and Captain Jerry handled the wheel as only a veteran tar could. "I guess it's a hurricane," was Tom's comment. "Looks more like a cyclone to me," spluttered Sam. "I'd give a good deal to be out of it." To keep from, being swamped they had to run out to sea. This was no pleasant prospect to the boys, but it could not be helped. "We needn't tell the girls," said Dick. "It will only worry them more, without doing any good." Two hours went by, and the storm kept on as madly as ever. Night was now coming on, and soon it was impossible to see a hundred feet in any direction. The yacht's lanterns were lit, and one was hoisted on a stick which Dick nailed to the stump of the mast. "We've got to, have some sort o' light," said Captain Jerry. "If not, we may run afoul o' some other craft."