ABOARD THE WRECK
The motor boat made good time, and about an hour later was almost at
the wreck, which, as the boys could see, was that of quite a good
sized steamer. She had run well up on a rocky reef, and when the tide
fell, the strain had “broken her back” so that the bow and stern were
separated. The stern was low in the water, and gradually settling.
“Good thing it’s calm,” Sam remarked, “we can get close up, and,
perhaps go aboard.”
“Will they let us?” asked Jerry.
“There’s nobody to stop us,” replied the sailor. “The ship is
abandoned. True, we can’t take anything away, but we can pick up
anything we see floating, and claim salvage on it, and, by the looks
there’s a lot of cargo gone overboard.”
By this time they were quite close to the wreck. On one side the waves
were breaking against the steamer in a way that made it dangerous to
approach. The motor boat was sent around, however, and Sam saw a place
protected enough to allow the _Dartaway_ to go up close.
It required a nice bit of seamanship to get aboard, but here was where
Sam’s long years of service served him and the boys in good stead.
They made their boat fast to some dangling ropes, and soon were on the
sloping deck of the after part of the wrecked steamer.
All about were evidences of the haste with which the crew and
passengers had departed. On the deck were scattered articles of
clothing; boxes and trunks had been broken open and the most valuable
things taken.
The boys ventured to the edge of the deck, where it had been almost
completely separated from the forward part. They could look down
through the various holds and into the engine room.
“Pity to see all this gone to waste,” remarked Jerry. “Can’t they save
any of it?”
“Don’t look so,” replied the sailor. “It’s about as bad a wreck as I
ever saw. They’ll have hard work lightering the cargo off here. Maybe
it’s well insured.”
It was a new and novel experience for the boys to be aboard a big
wrecked steamer. They went below, though it was anything but easy,
considering the condition of the companionways which were at all
angles. They went through the cabins, into some of the staterooms, and
saw many valuable articles, but Sam advised them not to touch any.
“I’m not clear on the law,” he said. “I know it’s all right to pick
stuff out of the sea, but it may be piracy or worse to take it off a
vessel so near shore. We’ll get enough as it is. I see the stuff is
fairly tumbling from the hold in the forward part of the ship.”
“Hark! What’s that noise?” asked Jerry suddenly, holding up his hand
for silence.
Above the splash of the waves against the side there sounded a long,
drawn-out cry.
“It’s a baby! Some one has forgotten their baby!” cried Sam. “The life
savers took everybody off, and left the baby behind!”
Once more the cry came. It was a regular wail.
“That’s a cat!” declared Bob.
“I tell you it’s a baby!” the sailor insisted.
This time there came an unmistakable “mew!”
“Where is it?” inquired Jerry.
They listened and the cry was repeated several times. They finally
traced it to an open hatchway, and, looking down could dimly make out
the form of a cat on some boxes.
“Come on up, pussy,” called Ned.
“Mew! Mew!” cried the feline, as though asking for help.
“Guess it can’t get out,” Sam said. “Things are all topsy-turvy down
there.”
“Will we have to leave the poor thing here to drown?” Ned asked. He was
very fond of animals.
“I guess not,” the sailor replied. “Salt Water Sam ain’t that kind. I
wish it was a baby though, I’m terrible fond of babies.”
“How are you going to get it?” asked Bob.
“I’ll show you,” and the sailor began looking about for a means of
rescuing the kitten.
He soon found what he wanted. It was a long rope, and before the boys
had fathomed his intention he rove one end of it through a pulley on
the end of a boom that projected from a mast, and which had been used
to hoist cargo from the hold.
“Now if you boys will lower me down I’ll get the pussy and you can haul
us both up,” Sam said, as he fastened the rope about his waist. The
chums did as he requested, and soon Sam’s head disappeared into the
depths of the vessel. The boys could hear him calling:
“Here, pussy! Here, pussy! Sam’ll take care of you! Must be hungry,
poor little kittie!”
They felt the rope slacken, indicating that the sailor had landed on
the pile of boxes. Then it shook, showing that Sam was after the cat. A
little later they heard him calling:
“Haul away! I’ve got her!”
Just as the boys began to pull on the rope that was to hoist the sailor
from the hold there came a sudden jar to the wreck. The deck, that was
tilted at a sharp angle, assumed a more decided one. At the same time
there was a grinding, crashing sound.
“Hurry!” yelled Sam. “She’s breaking up!”
There was a sickening lurch to the after part of the ship. The boys
could hardly keep their feet.
“Pull! Pull!” cried Sam, from the depths of the hold, where the cargo
could be heard shifting about.
“All together!” sang out Jerry, and the boys put all their strength to
the rope. Sam came up “on the run” and was landed on deck. He held the
cat in his arms, the frightened creature clinging closely to him.
“No time to lose, boys!” cried the sailor, as he loosened the rope from
his waist. “She’s sliding off into deep water. We must leave her!”
They made a rush for the side, climbed over the bulwarks and slid down
the rope into the _Dartaway_. The cat still clung to Sam. The boys
could see the wreck moving off the reef which had hitherto held it in
place. It was slipping into the deep water astern.
“Start the engine!” cried Jerry as he sprang to the wheel. Ned turned
the fly wheel over. The chug-chug sounded at once, and with a splutter
the boat was off, darting away from the wreck.
“Get well out! Well out!” cried Sam, “or we’ll be sucked under!”
Jerry speeded up the motor. The boys looked back. Faster and faster the
stern of the wreck was slipping into the sea. The waters seemed to be
reaching up to swallow it.
Then, with a sound like a great sigh half the steamer disappeared from
sight beneath the waves. There was a boiling and bubbling in the water,
and a giant whirlpool formed. But the _Dartaway_ was beyond the reach
of it. The force of the sucking currents tossed the small craft about,
but Jerry kept the engine going at full speed, and soon they were in
calmer water.
“That was a narrow squeak,” observed Sam. “But we saved the cat,
anyhow,” and he patted the animal.
The sea, all about them, was dotted with bales and boxes from the
ships. More were constantly coming to the surface as they were
released from the sunken wreck.
“Better make hay while the sea is calm,” observed Sam. “There’ll be a
lot more boats out here in a little while, and we want to get our share
of the wreckage.”
Then with the boat-hooks they had brought the boys and the sailor began
pulling in what they could reach. Some of the boxes seemed to be very
light.
“I wonder if there’s anything in ’em?” Bob asked.
“They’re labeled,” spoke Ned.
“Cinchona bark,” read Jerry. “Why, that’s the stuff they make quinine
from. This is valuable.”
“I thought we’d make something on this deal,” said Sam, much pleased.
“You stick to Salt Water Sam and you’ll be rich.”
“It begins to look so,” admitted Ned, with a laugh.
“Here come some more boats,” called Jerry, and he pointed to where
several power craft, and some big dories could be seen approaching.
The occupants were bent on the same work as were the boys, and they
picked up all the floating wreckage they could.
“Better not overload the craft,” Sam cautioned, after half an hour’s
work.
“Why, it’s calm, and we only have a short run to shore,” objected
Jerry, who wanted to get all of the valuable bark he could. Some of the
boxes and bales were too heavy to be taken into the _Dartaway_.
“Well, I don’t like the looks of the weather,” Sam answered. “There’s
no immediate danger, but you never can tell what a gasolene engine will
do. Remember our one experience.”
“Then you think we’d better start back?” asked Ned.
“Well, say in an hour,” was the sailor’s reply.
“Why, it’s two o’clock,” exclaimed Bob, as he looked at his watch. “Two
hours past dinner time. I’m starved!”