“Not much likelihood of that,” said Joe. “That hole looks as though she’s been in a collision. But we’ll know all about it in a few minutes more.”
The sailors rowed toward the stern, looking for a good place to board. They found a ladder near the rail and fastened the boat by a rope to the lower rung.
Lieutenant Milton had just set his foot on the ladder to ascend when there came a sharp bark from above, and a black, shaggy head showed itself over the rail.
“Didn’t I tell you there was a dog on board?” demanded Bob.
“You win,” conceded Joe. “And I’ll bet, from the way he barks, he’s glad to see us.”
Two sailors were left in the boat to fend it off from the sides of the vessel, and the rest of the crew followed the lieutenant on deck. The boys were close on their heels.
A scene of indescribable confusion met their eyes as they looked around them. The deck was littered with ropes and parts of the smashed upper works of the vessel, due either to storm or collision.
The lieutenant, calling on his men to follow him, made a tour of inspection of the vessel, searching the decks, the cabins, and the hold. As they had surmised, there was no man on board. The cabins were strewn with clothing and personal belongings that the owners evidently had had no time to take with them. On the tables in the officers’ dining room and the forecastle were the remnants of a half-eaten meal. In the cook’s galley, pans on the stove still had meat and eggs in them that had been burned to a crisp. Everything pointed to the fact that the vessel had been abandoned in a hurry. Perhaps at that very moment the crew were tossing about in small boats on the ocean wastes.
But the attention of the boys was taken up for the moment by a big dog that came bounding up to them with joyful staccato barks of welcome. The poor creature was so glad of human companionship that it seemed as though he would go out of his senses.
“Poor brute,” said Bob, as he caressed the shaggy head. “I wish we had something to give him to eat. He must be nearly starved.”