"How came he there?" asked Howard.
"You see, we ain't far from where the steamer sunk, and there may be more near us. This man has gone down just as we were passing by him, and in his blind struggles has caught your ankle."
"If a drowning man will catch at a straw, wouldn't he be after catching at a leg?" inquired Tim.
"It seems natural that he should do so; but we are in the most dangerous place we could be. Let's keep a sharp lookout."
Our friends peered in every direction, as they rose and sunk on the long, heaving swell of the sea. They saw pieces of charred wood and fragments of the wreck, but caught sight of no human being until Mr. Yard pointed, to a dark mass some distance away.
"That is a raft covered with people," said he.
"They seem to be standing still."
"Yes, they merely want to keep afloat until morning, when no doubt they will be picked up and cared for. Keep quiet, for if we talk too loud some one may start for us."
"And work hard," whispered Tim, struggling harder than ever. "Aich of yees shove like a locomotive."
"Good advice," added Mr. Yard, in the same cautions undertone. "Let's get away as fast as possible."