“There goes von Kluck and the crew!” shouted Harry, pointing to leeward. “They’re scared to death. That mine settled them!”
A short distance away the boys could see the larger of the two boats that had been carried by the schooner. In it were the members of the crew, accompanied by the captain and the mate.
Tossed about by the angry waters the little shell seemed about to be engulfed at any moment. However, skillful hands were at the oars. Rising and falling, now on top of a wave, now out of sight, the boat soon put considerable distance between the two parties.
“Well, Great Frozen Hot Boxes!” exclaimed Jimmie in disgust. “What do you know about that? They’ve gone and left us!”
“And the ship is settling fast!” cried Ned, in alarm. “We’d better get busy if we don’t want to go down with it!”
“What can we do?” asked Harry. “The boat’s gone!”
“Suppose we try to patch up the leak,” suggested Jimmie. “Maybe we could keep the old tub afloat until the storm dies down!”
“No chance!” decided Ned. “Von Kluck and his crew would have done that if they could. We’d better get busy!”
“What’s the matter with using the small boat at the stern?”
“That’s a good idea unless it is broken too badly. Let’s have a look at it anyway,” replied Ned, hastening toward the stern.