"Not much," retorted Bill. "I"m no mule driver."
"It"s a touching picture, that of Teddy pulling and straining, isn"t it?" laughed Lester, as he pointed to that young gentleman slumped down comfortably in the stern.
With jest and banter, the morning wore away. The day was serene and beautiful, with not a cloud obscuring the sky, while there was just enough wind to make their progress steady and rapid. Almost before they knew it, they had reached the point agreed upon with Ross, and soon after descried the _Sleuth_ coming down to meet them.
They hailed Ross cordially, and his beaming face showed how deep and warm was his feeling for the boys, whom he already seemed to have known for years rather than weeks.
"Some smart navigators, we are, to meet just where we arranged to!"
laughed Lester.
"We"re the real thing in the way of sailor men," a.s.sented Ross, throwing out his chest.
"Listen to the mutual admiration society," jibed the irrepressible Teddy. "Blushing violets aren"t in it with them. Here you let my modest worth pa.s.s unnoticed, while you"re handing bouquets to each other. But that"s the way it is in this world. It"s nerve and gall that counts. Now if I----"
But his eloquent peroration was spoiled by a hasty shift to escape a life preserver that Lester hurled at his head, missing him by an inch.
"You"d better let me have Teddy aboard the _Sleuth_," laughed Ross.
"Then if the engine gives out, I"ll start Teddy wagging his tongue. That will furnish power enough."
"Not a bit of it," replied Lester. "I want him here, in case the wind gives out."
"It"s evident that I"m the most important person here, anyway," retorted Teddy. "Neither one of you seems to be willing to get along without me."
"Seven cities claimed Homer, you know," said Bill sarcastically.
"Yes," said Teddy complacently, "he and I are in the same cla.s.s."
Ross turned his boat around, and the two craft went along side by side.
"The sea"s like a mill pond to-day," remarked Fred. "How different from the day of the storm, when we watched it from the observation room. Do you remember what your father said?"
"Not especially," answered Lester. "What particular thing do you mean?"
"Why, when he prophesied that many a good ship would lay her bones on a reef or beach before the storm was over."
"I suppose he was anxious," answered Lester gravely, "but I haven"t heard of any ship"s being wrecked on this particular strip of the coast during this storm. The worst time we"ve had around here, as far as I can remember, was about three years ago. That storm kept up for three days and three nights, and when it was over there were at least a dozen wrecks, just on the coast of Maine.
"By the way," he went on, as a sudden thought struck him, "we"ll have to pa.s.s one of those wrecks a few miles from here. It"s a schooner that went ash.o.r.e in the storm. There"s part of the hull left, and, if you like, we"ll run in and look it over."
"Was the crew saved?" asked Fred.
"Every soul aboard was drowned," Lester answered soberly. "They were swept overboard before the life-saving crew could get to them. The masts went over the side, and the hull was driven so hard and deep into the sand that it has been there ever since."
A half hour more pa.s.sed, and then Lester gave a twist to the tiller and turned the _Ariel_ insh.o.r.e.
"There"s the wreck," he said in response to Fred"s look of inquiry, as he pointed to a dark object near the beach. "We"ll just run in and look her over. But we won"t be able to stay more than a few minutes, for this is to be one of our busy days."
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE ABANDONED SCHOONER
"Look," cried Teddy suddenly, pointing at right angles to the course they were pursuing.
"What is it?" came from his companions.
"It"s a shark," cried Teddy excitedly. "Perhaps it"s the mate of the one we caught the other day. Have you your harpoon along, Lester?"
"No," replied Lester, as he, with the others, watched the ominous black fin just showing above the surface; "and I haven"t the shark hook, either. It"s just as well anyway, because we can"t afford the time to-day to look after that fellow."
"I suppose you"re right," sighed Teddy, reluctantly abandoning his idea, "but I sure would like to add to my collection of shark"s teeth."
"Wait till we find the chest, and you"ll have money enough to buy a shark and keep him as a pet," suggested Bill.
"And feed him out of your hand," grinned Ross.
As they drew near the sh.o.r.e, the wreck of the abandoned schooner came clearly into view. It was a dismal spectacle. There was nothing visible above the main deck, not even stumps. The masts had been snapped close to their b.u.t.ts, showing the terrific fury of the gale that had severed them almost as neatly as though done by a razor. There were several yawning rents in the side through which the water poured and retreated.
It was evident that the hold must be entirely flooded. The bow was deeply imbedded in the sand, and there was only a slight perceptible motion of the stern, as it swayed and lifted in obedience to the surge of the waves.
The ship seemed at a casual glance to be about eighty feet in length.
The beam was comparatively narrow, and the long graceful lines falling away from the bow showed that she had been built for speed. She was of the greyhound type, and this fact only emphasized her present forlorn condition.
Despite the dilapidated condition of the lower part of the hull, the upper part and the deck itself seemed to be fairly solid.
"Good timber in that old boat," muttered Lester, as they came close, "or she"d have broken up into kindling wood long ago."
"How are you going to get aboard?" asked Bill.
"By way of the stern, I guess," Lester replied, as he measured distances. "Of course it would be easier to get over the bow, but we"d have to go pretty close insh.o.r.e for that, and I don"t know just how deep it is there. I don"t want to take any chances with the _Ariel_."
Fred shortened sail, and they ran in cautiously under the stern. The planks were weatherbeaten, but there were still some vestiges of paint on the upper part, and the boys could clearly make out the name of the unfortunate boat to have been the _Albatross_.
"Poor old _Albatross_," murmured Fred. "Her wings are broken, sure enough."
"She"ll never fly again," added Bill.
They put the fenders over the side to avoid sc.r.a.ping, and Lester tossed a coil of rope over a b.u.t.t that rose at the end of the stern. He held the ends, while Teddy shinned up like a monkey and fastened it more securely. Then Fred and Bill went up, while Lester stayed below to look after the safety of his craft.
"Aren"t you fellows coming along?" asked Fred, looking down over the stern.
"I guess not," replied Lester. "I"ve seen lots of wrecks in my time, and I want to make sure that the _Ariel_ doesn"t make another."
"How about you, Ross?" inquired Teddy.
"I"ll stay and keep Lester company," Ross answered, as he brought the _Sleuth_ a little closer. "You can tell us what you see, which can"t be much, I suppose, after all this time."