"No, I didn't. And we searched the whole island," she explained to the older men. "We'd surely have seen it if there had been one."
"This sounds hopeful!" exclaimed Mr. Crowley, joyfully. "If it didn't have a leak——"
"But didn't you say that it was broken?" asked Mr. Carlton.
"The girl said the engine was broken, but as far as I know, the boat itself was sound," replied Ted.
"Linda could fix the engine!" cried Louise, almost hysterical in her relief. For the first time since the finding of the matchbox, she actually believed that Linda and Dot were still alive.
"We'll work on that theory, anyway," decided Mr. Carlton. "And go out on the ocean tomorrow."
Before they could discuss their plans any further, the telephone on the desk interrupted them, and Mr. Carlton was informed that there were two young men who wanted to see him—Ralph Clavering and James Valier.
"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Mr. Carlton, who had not even known that the boys had started South. "Yes," he added to the clerk on the phone, "ask them to come up right away, by all means."
"Who? What?" demanded Louise, eagerly. "Any news?"