This suggestion commended itself to Ned's companions, and the boys set off at once, taking the axe and hatchet with them.
When they arrived at the wreck the tide was very nearly full, so that there was not much difficulty in getting the remains of the Red Bird afloat. It was a mere raft of plank and timbers, of course, which must be dragged through the water along the shore by means of the anchor rope and some wild vines cut in the woods. For a time the still incoming tide was in their favor, and they travelled the first half mile pretty rapidly. When the tide turned, however, the labor became very severe, and it was ten o'clock at night when the wreck of the Red Bird was safely landed at the camp. The boys were exhausted with work, and very hungry. Ned stirred up the fire and put on a kettle of salt water, into which, as soon as it boiled, he poured a quart or two of shrimps.
"We'll make a shrimp dinner to-night," he said, "and that will leave us the mullets and wild grapes for breakfast."
"All right," answered Jack; "I'm hungry enough not to care for variety to-night; speed is the word just now."
Dinner over, the boys had still to collect a large mass of the long gray moss to serve instead of the stolen blankets, so that it was quite midnight when they finally got to sleep.
CHAPTER XI.
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE.
"How shall we cook our fish, Ned?" asked Charley, the next morning. He had already thrown wood upon the embers when Ned and Jack came out of the hut.
"We must roast them," said Ned, "now that we have no bacon to fry them with. We can broil sometimes and roast sometimes, for variety. Without butter broiled fish are rather dry. I'll be cook this morning, and show you how to roast small fish."