THE task they had set themselves was no child’s play, and this Brandon and Milly soon discovered. But they were working for their lives, for according to their reckoning, the Success would not remain above the surface many hours.
The captain’s daughter showed herself not only capable of handling tools, but she was strong, too. For years she had sailed up and down the seas with her father—nearly all her life, in fact—for her mother, Brandon had discovered by questioning, had died when she was quite young.
This information assured him that there could be no reasonable doubt of Milly Frank’s identity. But for the present he said nothing to the girl about her relatives in New York.
Milly’s life, therefore, had made her hardy and strong, although her education was limited in many lines.
But she had a good basis of hard, common sense to build upon, and with a few terms at a well conducted school, she would make as well informed a girl as one could find.
With some trouble they managed to wrench away the fastenings of the forward hatch, and with a heavy bit which Brandon found in the captain’s chest ’tween decks, he was able to bore a hole of sufficient size to receive the butt of the small spar.
He brought two oars on deck also, and a square of sailcloth which was bunglingly fashioned into a sail.
Brandon proposed to leave nothing undone which would make the success of their undertaking more sure. Something might happen to keep them from reaching the other wreck, so he brought up several cans of sea biscuit and some canned meats from the cabin stores, and placed them in readiness for loading the raft after it was launched.
Then with the aid of heavy rollers and a short bar they got the raft under way, and once it was started down the inclined deck they had no trouble whatever in keeping it going. The only bother was to keep it from moving too fast.
Brandon found it impracticable to launch the raft from the stern, and therefore cut away a piece of the rail on the starboard side wide enough to admit of the passage of the lumbering hatch.
They took the precaution to fasten a cable to the raft, that it might not get away from them in its plunge overboard, and then, by an almost superhuman effort, rolled the platform into the sea.
It went in with a terrific splash, the sea water wetting both the castaways a good deal, for they had to stand at the rail to steady the raft’s plunge into the ocean.
“Hurrah!” Brandon shouted. “It floats, and we shall be able to get away.”
He hastened to pull the hatch up under the brig’s rail; and, with Milly’s aid, stepped the short mast. Then he placed the boxes and provisions aboard and lashed them firmly, after which a bed was made for Swivel on the raft.
Once more he descended into the half submerged galley and made some more warm drink for the injured boy, and this time Swivel was able to eat a little cracker with it.
They told him what they were about to do, and he seemed to take more interest in the plan than he had in anything since the night before.
“Can—can you carry me, Don?” he asked faintly.
“I can if I don’t hurt you,” the other replied. “Now don’t try to talk, Swivel; but, if I hurt you badly, touch me so I’ll know.”
With this he lifted the slight form of the lad in his strong arms, and carried him quickly, though easily, across the sloping deck and stepped aboard the raft, which floated almost even with the brig’s rail.
The sea had gone down very much now, and it was therefore a simple matter to embark upon the hatch.
Swivel was made comfortable among the blankets, his two friends hoisted the rule sail, the painter was cast off, and the castaways moved slowly away from the hulk of the Success.
By this time it was quite late in the afternoon. Still there were several hours of daylight left them, for in this latitude the sun does not set very early, even in the spring.
The time which had elapsed since they had first sighted the second wreck had given this latter an opportunity to sail by the Success, for she moved much faster than the water logged brig. The raft, however, wafted along by the brisk breeze, began to overhaul the stranger at once. By the aid of an oar, in lieu of a rudder, Brandon was able, with little difficulty to keep headed toward their objective point.
Milly, who had brought her father’s glass along, as well as the log book of the Success, and all papers of any value belonging to her father, occupied her time in trimming the sail, under Brandon’s directions, and in gazing through the glass at the strange vessel.
Soon the outlines of the latter became quite clearly visible.
“It was a brig like papa’s,” declared the girl, scrutinizing the hull which, although denuded of every inch of spar and rigging, still rode the long swells as though perfectly seaworthy.
“Can you see the stern, Milly?” Brandon asked, in excitement.
“Yes.”
“Is there a name on it? The Swan had her name on the stern?”
“There is something on the stern, but it’s too far off yet for me to be sure,” she replied.
“The raft is behaving beautifully,” Brandon declared, “and we shall be near enough presently for you to be sure of what you do see.”
Milly put down the glass and knelt by Swivel a moment, to place his head more comfortably. Then she went back to the instrument again.
Fifteen minutes passed before she uttered a word, while Brandon watched her face with eager interest. Finally she passed him the glass and seized the steering oar herself, although she said never a word.
With hands that trembled slightly Brandon placed the instrument to his eye and ranged it upon the stern of the derelict. Long and earnestly did he examine the lettering upon it, and then closed the glass with a snap.
“The Silver Swan—thank God!” he said.
“Oh, I’m so glad, for your sake, Don!” exclaimed Milly, tears of happiness shining in her eyes. “You’ll get your father’s diamonds and be rich.”
“Riches on a wreck won’t do us much good,” returned Don grimly. “I’d rather be a pauper ashore.”
“Ah, but somebody will come very quickly now to take us off,” she said confidently.
“Perhaps. But, did you ever think, that perhaps somebody has been before us?”
“How do you mean?”
“Why, I mean that perhaps somebody has boarded the brig already and secured the diamonds.”
“Who?” asked the girl doubtfully. “Who knows about it excepting your Mr. Wetherbee and that Leroyd and his friend Weeks?”
“Nobody that I know of.”
“And nobody else knew where the jewels were hidden?”
“Probably not.”
“Then do you suppose the steamer has been here first?”
LONG AND EARNESTLY DID HE EXAMINE THE LETTERING
UPON IT THEN CLOSED THE GLASS WITH A SNAP
“Oh, no; Caleb would have towed the old Swan to a place of safety if he had found her—especially if she is as seaworthy as she appears to be from this distance.”
“Then what do you mean?” demanded Milly in exasperation.
“What about Leroyd and Weeks?” asked Brandon slowly.
“Well, what about them?”
“Do you suppose they are drowned?”
“They may be.”
“And then again they may not be. If they were picked up by some vessel they might have still continued their search for the derelict; might have found her by accident, in fact.”
“Oh, Don,” cried the girl, “you are supposing altogether too much. Don’t conjure up such disheartening ideas as that. Let us hope that we are the first, who know about the treasure, to find the Silver Swan.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem hardly possible that I should get the diamonds without any more trouble,” Brandon said, with a sigh. “I’m afraid there’s something wrong about it.”
“Don’t talk that way, but be thankful that you haven’t had more trouble—though, I should say you’d had almost enough,” returned Milly, laughing a little.