“Let’s make sure,” suggested Tom. “We must get him aboard here, unless that boat is better than the derelict. Maybe we had better take to that.”
“No,” decided Joe, after a careful look. “She’s stove in, and only her water-tight compartments keep her afloat. It wouldn’t be safe to get into her. Our own craft is better.”
“Then we must get him aboard here,” went on Tom. “That is, if he’s alive.”
“And we must get some of that drinking water out of the boat, too,” went on Abe. “It’s just what we need.”
“Maybe there’s food, also,” suggested Joe. “It’s a good find all right, even if the boat is a wreck.”
“Is my daddy in it?” asked Jackie.
“No,” replied Tom sadly. “But, Jackie I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’ll make a little house out of part of that boat, and we can sleep in it.”
“Really and truly, Tom?”
“Surely.”