“No matter whether he does or not; I will be responsible. Now go ahead, Wolf. You can put her through by daylight.”
The captain consented to take part in the enterprise, when informed that I was the “young engineer,”—as I had the honor to be called,—and that I had a plan to put the dummy on shore.
“Shall I explain the plan to you, Captain Underwood?” I asked.
“No, you needn’t, Wolf, unless you wish to do so,” interposed Tommy, impatiently.
“If you will tell me what to do, I will obey orders,” answered the captain. “In fact, I don’t care to know anything about it; and then I shall be responsible for nothing.”
“All right, captain. You shall not be responsible, and if I fail no harm will be done. Have you a stout iron hook?”
“Yes; here is one on the end of this tow-line,” he replied, pointing to a coil of large rope.
“That’s just what I want,” said I, throwing off my coat. “Now run up to the north side of the dummy.”
Before the steamer reached the spot I had thrown off all my clothes. Jumping into my skiff with Tommy, who was proud and happy to have a finger in the pie, we took the tow-line on board, and pulled to the end of the dummy, to which I made fast. I had ascertained from my companion that there was a shackle eye in each end of the engine, by which another car could be attached to it; and my present purpose was to fasten the hook into this eye.
The water of Lake Ucayga is as clear as crystal, and I had no trouble in finding the eye, which was no more than four feet below the surface of the lake. I dropped down into the engine-room, standing up to my neck in water, and Tommy lowered down the iron hook. I then stooped down, disappeared from the view of the world above me for a moment, and attached the hook to the eye.