“But how are you going to do it, Tom?” he asked. “Have you money enough to charter a steamer?”
“No, not exactly, though I guess I could raise it if I had to, for, since he got this Australian property, dad will have quite a fortune. But that won’t be necessary.”
“How else are you going to rescue them?”
“Well, I don’t exactly know,” admitted Tom frankly. “I just can’t wait quietly around here, doing nothing. I’m going to start for Australia, anyhow, and maybe some plan will come to me on the way.”
“But it seems to me,” insisted Jack, practically, “that you ought to have some definite plan.”
“Well, I have, part of one,” went on Tom. “I’m going to Sydney, unless I find them drifting around before I get there. I’ll pick out some steamer that will go as near as possible to the latitude and longitude mentioned in the dispatch, as being where the wreckage was picked up. Maybe I can induce the captain to cruise around there for a while, even if I have to pay for lost time.
“Anyhow, if I don’t locate them before, I’ll go on to Sydney, and there I’ll hire some sort of a vessel, and set out in search of my folks.”
“That sounds reasonable,” admitted Jack. “I only wish I could go with you. But I’m afraid my folks wouldn’t let me.”
“I wish you could go, too,” spoke Tom. “But I guess it’s out of the question. Besides, you’ve got your school career to think of. Leaving now, just before the spring term, might put you back, and you’d be a Freshman for two years.”
“I shouldn’t mind that. Still, I won’t think of going. But if I can do anything for you, don’t hesitate to let me know.”