“Any harm done?” called Jule.
“No harm that paint and putty won’t repair,” answered Clay. “That is, not here,” he added. “Some of you boys would better look into the cabin.”
The cabin certainly was in a mess. Alex’s cherished catfish lay rolling on the floor, with Teddy shambling back and forth after it. Many of the lockers had been burst open, and a heap of broken crockery lay on the floor not far from the electric coils. The glass panel in the cabin door was shattered, and the coal stove, which had been used in lower latitudes to keep the boys warm, lay on its side.
“Everything’s all right in here!” Alex cried sticking his freckled nose through the sash formerly occupied by the glass panel. “Nothing wrong in here at all, except that the stove is tipped over, and the dishes are all broken, and our expensive wardrobes are rolling in the dirt, and Teddy’s eating up my catfish. Oh, we’re all right in here!”
Clay left the prow and looked through into the cabin.
“We ought to charge this to Jule!” he said with a laugh.
“All right!” said Jule. “I wouldn’t have missed that for a thousand dollars. Do you think I sunk that boat?”
“You certainly did!” answered Clay. “The last I saw of her as we came around the bend her cabin lights were shining mighty low.”
“And now,” Case complained, “they’ll be sending word on down the river to have us arrested for piracy on the high seas.”
“Don’t you ever think they will!” Alex put in. “I don’t believe there’s a man on board that boat that dare step foot either into Indiana or Kentucky. They sell drugged moonshine whiskey, and they rob every man that comes on board, so it’s a sure thing that there’s a warrant for them in every town along the river.”