CHAPTER XVIII

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!”