"Well, he can't see a thing ahead and he doesn't want to run into anything."
"And Hans?"
"Down, the sickest ever."
"Too bad! I know what it is to be sick. Better leave him alone."
"That's what Dick said."
As but little steam was needed Sam had no call to urge on his fire beneath the boiler, and he and Tom sat down near the speaking tube, to talk occasionally to Dick.
Thus two hours went by. Nobody had the least desire to go to sleep, even though the long swim had made each boy rather tired. The fury of the elements made them nervous.
"This puts me in mind of the time we were on the Pacific," called down Dick through the speaking tube. He referred to the adventures they had had as related in "The Rover Boys on Land and Sea."
"Well, we don't want to be cast away on a lonely island as we were then," said Sam.
"There are no islands around here," answered Tom. "I looked on the chart to make sure."