The boy was given a basket of waste which had been used in cleaning the motors, and in a short time the sea-cock was securely plugged.
Then the pumps were set in motion again and in a very short time the Cartier was virtually free of water.
“That’s a mighty handsome boat,” Captain Joe observed as the launch lay on the surface. “If I had her down on the South Branch, I could have the time of my life every day in the week.”
The boys worked over the boat for some time drying off the woodwork and fixing the valve of the sea-cock so it would close.
“Of course, she won’t run now,” Captain Joe explained, “because the batteries and the magneto are soaked with water. We can transfer new apparatus from the Rambler and, as she has plenty of gasoline, she will go like a duck on a mill-pond.”
“I guess Clay will think we have been going some to get that boat off the bottom,” laughed Case.
Captain Joe looked at his watch, his face clouding as he did so.
“Why, look here,” he said. “We’ve been a long time on this job. It is after one o’clock.”
“We might have known that by the tide coming in,” Case said.
“I wasn’t thinking about the water,” the captain laughed. “I was thinking about Clay and Alex. Now, where do you suppose those two scamps are? They ought to have been here long ago.”