In the meanwhile the steamboat stopped.
“What’s the trouble?” called a voice.
No answer was vouchsafed, and a moment later the steamboat went on.
“Like as not, Si Peters and Wash Crosby are dead,” observed Harry, as he bent to his oar.
“We’ll soon know the truth,” replied the young oarsman.
Both boys pulled a swift stroke, and were soon on the spot where the catastrophe had occurred.
In the meanwhile the steamboat was fast disappearing in the distance. Soon the last light faded from sight.
In the darkness of the night Jerry and Harry could see but little.
“There is an oar,” cried Harry, pointing it out.
“And there is part of the row-boat’s bottom,” said Jerry. “It looks as if the row-boat was actually ground to pieces.”