The Bertha B passed one of the clumps of stakes that Sailor Bishop had pointed out.
And at once, "Let go your dredges!" came the order from the pilot-house.
Alec and the sailor seized the starboard dredge by which they stood, and Dick and Joe grasped the other; and both dredges shot overboard at the same instant. The chains paid out against the vertical rollers with a loud rattle. Alec stood silent, eagerly awaiting the first haul. He wondered what would be in the dredge. The engine continued to churn up the water, and the Bertha B forged ahead, dragging her heavy, clumsy dredges behind her.
"How deep is this bed?" asked Alec.
"About eighteen or twenty feet, I reckon."
"Are they all as deep as that?"
"No. Some of them ain't more than ten feet deep. It all depends upon——"
Suddenly there was a loud, clanking sound in the hold. The chain of the starboard dredge began to grow taut.
"Look out for that chain," warned the sailor again, as it began to reel up.
Suddenly the dredge shot out of water and followed the chain over the roller. Alec and the sailor grabbed it and shoved it to the deck. In another second they had thrust the dredge back over the side.