Both vessels were still falling off.

Some one on the tug bellowed frantically through a big trumpet.
"What was that ?" Inza asked.
"Tows!" said Frank.

"Something about tows!" The tug and the steamer did not strike, though they grazed each other so closely that a collision seemed unavoidable.

Then there was more bellowing through trumpets and more whistling, and Frank felt the _Merry Seas_ tremble under him as her engines were reversed.

He knew not what to expect.
Crash! The big tug, _Gladiator_, had a string of heavily laden barges in tow.
Into one of these barges, in spite of every effort to prevent it, the bow of the _Merry Seas_ crashed with terrible force.