With the early beams of the morning sun Jack was awake.
"Come on, boys," he cried. "We'll have to bathe in a pint bowl this morning. No hose for us today."
"Well, if we can't have a shower bath, let's take a quick cold sponge and then have a little setting up exercise," suggested Tom.
Their actions were a revelation to the watchman who was now just recovering from his stupor of the night before. His brain was still so befuddled by the liquor that he could not at once understand what was going on about him. His surprise pleased the boys.
"What'll we have for breakfast?" asked Tom, and then added, "Suggest something easy, for I'm cook, you know."
"Pancakes," cried Frank. "Those you made when we were leaving Petit Bois were just about the best I ever ate."
"Pancakes it is, then," agreed Tom dashing to the kitchenette, where he proceeded to prepare a breakfast of delicious pancakes and coffee. A few freshly boiled shrimp added to the feast were welcomed by the boys. A passing fisherman had offered them to Jack at just the right moment. The boys did ample justice to the feast.
Leaving the foreman to superintend the matter of replacing the plank where Wyckoff had bored the hole in his dastardly effort to sink the Fortuna and her crew, the boys took a boat from the Fortuna and rowed up to the leaning oak. From thence it was easy enough with Rowdy's aid to trail the route to the site of the cabin in the clearing.
The embers had now cooled sufficiently so that the boys could search in the ruins. For a moment they hesitated to explore the ashes, fearing what they might find. A last they plucked up their courage and began a thorough search. The task was not a pleasant one.
"What's this?" cried Tom. "Boys, I declare I smell burned flesh. That odor hangs around here something fierce."