“Yes, but how are we going to get off? We haven’t a boat.”
“I know, but we can make a raft. There’s no end of wood here, and we have plenty of rope left after tying that man up, with which to bind the planks together. There are some nails in the motor boat wreck, too, and some tools. We could make a raft good enough to take us far enough out so we would be picked up. We might even make the main land. There are two paddles in the Swallow.”
“What are we going to do with him—leave him here?” and he nodded toward the prisoner.
“We’ll have to take him along,” said Andy. “We’re not going to lose him after we had so much trouble in finding him.”
“Well, perhaps it’s the best thing to do,” agreed Frank, after thinking it over. “But we can’t get it done in time to leave to-day. It’s late afternoon now.”
“No, but we can start it, finish it the first thing in the morning, and leave as early as possible. We ought to be home by to-morrow easily.”
“I wish we could be. If we could only run the Swallow!”
“It wouldn’t be safe, in the condition she’s in. The raft is the only thing.”
They ceased their useless searching of the motor boat, and began gathering large pieces of driftwood. Their prisoner in his seaweed shelter watched them curiously.
“What are you up to now?” he asked in his surly voice.