Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.
The Signal of Distress that was Never Seen.
The missing lifeboat from the burned steamer, Columbian, abandoned. Note the coat at the masthead.
"You mean that the wreckers have put up a false light to lead vessels on to the reefs?"
"It's that decoy light that brought me here," said the skipper, "and if you hadn't come when you did, I reckon every one of us would have had our throats cut and the vessel would have been skinned by this time."
CHAPTER XII
THE GRAVEYARD OF THE DEEP
Following on the information given by the captain of the Norwegian steamer, which had so nearly been looted by wreckers, the Miami started on a search for the decoy light that had led that steamer to her fate. The captain was an able navigator, and, until the moment he had seen the false light and been led astray by it, he had been absolutely upon his right course. Under such circumstances it was not difficult to find the latitude and longitude where the captain reported having first seen the light. He had also given the bearing in the log, so the Miami crept slowly forward in the direction indicated, heaving the lead constantly for treacherous shoals.