After a little groping about in this chamber, they came upon a companion-way, up which they hurried. There they met with another door, but this one too was unlocked. Rush opened it and stepped into the full light of day.
For the moment the light blinded both. The boys stood there, rubbing their eyes, blinking, and breathing in the fresh air of the lake.
"Great!" exclaimed Steve.
The ship was rolling gently. They glanced about them, but there was no land in sight. Everything was a sea of green, with white-capped combers tracing long lines of white against the deep green.
"Beautiful, isn't it, old chap?"
"It might be, if there were some land in sight. Where's everybody?"
"I don't know, but we will find out."
Smoke was rolling from the funnel of the steamer, a ribbon of white steam from the exhaust pipe trailing off astern and losing itself in the black smoke.
"This is a beautiful sight, even if we have lost our boat and gone to sea on an unknown craft," exclaimed Rush, his eyes glistening.
"Pshaw!" grunted Jarvis.