For safety the whistle was sounded at short intervals.
The girls were the first to retire, and the boys followed half an hour later.

The staterooms of all were close together.
Dick Rover was the last to go to sleep.

How long he slept he did not know.
He awoke with a start.

A shock had thrown him to the floor of the stateroom, and down came Sam on top of him.

There were hoarse cries from the deck, a shrill steam whistle, and the sound of a fog horn, and then a grinding thud and a bump that told the Tacoma had either run into some other ship or into the rocks..