“Where are those storage batteries for Santa Marta stored?” he asked.
“In hold Number One,” was the reply. “They are on the top of the Santa Marta cargo.”
“Can they be got at easily?” asked Jack.
“They are among the ‘fragile’ goods,” was the reply, “on the port side of the hold. They were to be the first things ashore at Santa Marta. But why do you want to know?”
“Oh, there’s a reason, as the ads. say,” laughed Jack.
That afternoon the two young wireless men spent in long and anxious consultation. Dark came, and from the volcano a lurid glare lit the sky, yet no heavy convulsions of the earth occurred. Supper was over and the sailors, after desperately trying to keep up their spirits by singing, turned in. Soon the whole camp was wrapped in silence. The only ones awake were Jack and Sam.
Silently, on the soft sand, the two lads crept from the camp. Around their waists they wore life belts taken from the boats, which lay on the sand where they had been pulled up. The inspiration that had come to Jack when he read that entry on the manifest, was about to be put to the test.
“You are sure you can swim it, Sam?” asked the boy as the two lads waded into the water with their eyes fixed on the black hull of the stranded steamer.
“With this life jacket on I could swim round the Horn,” declared Sam confidently.
“All right, then, here goes.” Jack struck off into deep water, followed by Sam.