[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?”