From his position on the deck where he had been thrown by the impact of the collision, Alex looked up at Jule with a whimsical smile on his face.
“Did you see that?” he asked.
“I felt it,” Jule replied, rubbing his head.
“What did it feel like?” asked Alex
“Like a battering ram,” was the reply.
“Well,” Alex said, “it might have been a battering ram, but it looked to me like Max, and it’s dollars to apples that he caused the Cartier to start downstream. A few pulls from the water would have started the line running out.”
“That’s just it!” Jule exclaimed. “That’s exactly the idea!”
Captain Joe now leaned over the gunwale of the Rambler and cried out:
“Which one of you boys fell overboard?”
“That was Max,” Alex replied. “He’s been here in the cabin of the launch for nobody knows how long, ransacking the lockers and destroying papers. He must have come aboard about as soon as it was lifted out of the water. The scamp certainly keeps busy, anyway.”