“Do you know, I believe it is a body tied to a bit of wreckage.”
“Let’s investigate. Perhaps the person may be still alive, if it is a person.”
Clif sprang to the stem and grasped the steering oar, which had been abandoned with the coming of daylight. Joy and Trolley handled the sail, and the launch was soon lumbering along on the opposite tack.
The sea was subsiding with each passing moment. The breeze was just strong enough to allow of the free handling of the boat. In the east the sun was climbing into a sky almost cloudless. It promised to be a perfect day.
Under other circumstances the cadets would have felt light-hearted and happy. But the memory of the recent night and its tragedy, and of their present desperate situation attuned no merry song for them.
As they approached the object floating at the mercy of the waves, they became more and more excited. Finally Trolley sprang up with a shout.
“It two bodies, and they tied to spar,” he cried. “They no dead. I see one move.”
As if to prove the truth of his words, one of the objects feebly waved an arm.
A faint shout came across the water.
“Help! Help!”