"Let's tie the motor boat fast".
"Why?" asked Sammy.
"Because, we don't know anything about that schooner," went on Bob. "Maybe all her crew died from smallpox, or something like that. Maybe she's sinking, and we wouldn't want to stay on board if she was. You can't tell what makes her this way. Tie our boat fast, I say, and then, if we want to, we can come back on the Skip if we don't like it on the Mary Ellen," for that was the name of the drifting schooner, as they could see painted under her stern.
"Good idea," exclaimed Sammy. "We can live on the Skip for a while, anyhow, if it doesn't storm again. But let's have a try on this schooner. We'll have more room there, and if it does get rough we won't mind it so."
They all agreed with this plan, and soon a rope from the motor boat was made fast to a cable from the schooner. Then, making sure they would not lose the Skip, the boys pulled themselves over the rail of the Mary Ellen, and landed on her deck.
They looked about them curiously. There was not a sound except the creaking of ropes in pulley blocks, and the rattle and bang of the sails as they swung to and fro, not being held in check by the main sheets.
"There doesn't seem to be anybody here," said Bob. He spoke in a low voice, as though someone were dead.
"Not a soul," went on Sammy, in the same quiet tones.
The big boom of the forward sail swung across the deck over the heads of the boys. They ducked, but there was no need for it.