As last they made out the distant city, and the harbor dotted here and there with the burnt shipping. Directly in the roadstead rested the wrecked and burnt hulk of a big steamship, the _Roraima_, of the Quebec line. The _Roraima_ had been caught with twenty-one passengers and a crew of forty-seven on board, and of that number less than a third were saved and many of these were horribly crippled for life. “Another ship! A man-of-war!” cried Frank, and he was right. Close at hand was the big warship, the _Suchet_, sent north once more from Fort de France to investigate the happenings of St. Pierre. The captain of the warship had just taken on board the survivors from the _Roraima_, and now a hail was sent to our friends and they too were assisted to the deck. CHAPTER XXX LOOKING FOR THE MISSING ONES “Oh, Mark, the city is laid in ashes! Nobody escaped!” It was Frank who uttered the words, after a French naval officer, who could speak English, had explained the situation. “But some people must have gotten away,” insisted Mark, unwilling to believe the awful facts. “Remember how we found our boat, and how we saw those other boats further up the coast. They must have had warning enough.” “But the fiery blast came so quickly,” went on the younger youth. “Those from the _Roraima_ say it came in one gigantic swoop that swept everything before it. If that is so, and our fathers were in the city----” “We must go ashore and make a search, Frank--that is, as soon as it is safe to do so. I wonder where the _Vendee_ is?” “There is no telling. If she was in the harbor perhaps she was burnt up like the _Roraima_ and those other craft lying about,” answered Frank, dismally. It was truly a trying time on board of the warship, where the cries of those suffering from burns could be plainly heard. The boys wanted to help, but were told there were plenty of doctors for that purpose. In the meantime Sven Orlaff had made himself at home among the sailors. Two hours later found the lads on shore, in company with a searching party sent to bring in any persons who might be found alive. The landing was made in a small boat some distance south of the fallen city. There were two priests and several naval officers, and also half a dozen Frenchmen, and two Americans who had business interests in that locality. It was with extreme difficulty that the boys picked their way along, over the trunks of fallen trees and over rocks which were still hot to the touch. Everything was blasted as if by a lightning stroke and covered with mud, lava and ashes. Nothing could be seen of the roadway, which was buried beneath stones, brick and other debris. The boys had been told in their letters that their parents would stop at the Hotel Rosa, on the Rue de Victor Hugo, one of the principal streets of St. Pierre. One of the Americans in the party, John Waterbury by name, was bound for this street, and the boys plodded along beside him.