[THE BOY WRECKERS.]
BY W. O. STODDARD.
CHAPTER II.
THE RIDDLE FROM UNDER THE WATER.
The Elephant rocked and pitched a great deal while Captain Kroom was fishing up that valise with his long boat-hook.
Pete was all the while hard at work with the oars, and he was conducting himself like a prime seaman. That is, he obeyed with scrupulous exactness all the orders he received from the veteran commander of his ship. For him, indeed, Pete evidently had a tremendous amount of respect. Much of it belonged to his belief that the old sailor knew all there was to know about whatever might be on the sea or in it.
"Sam," he said, "let that bundle alone a minute, and see if you can h'ist the sail."
"He can't h'ist a sail," growled the Captain. "He's a landlubber."
Sam's pride was up in an instant, and he caught hold of the ropes. He did know a little about them already, and he had the good luck to pull correctly. Up went the sail, just as the valise came over the side. The bundle already lay on the bottom, and it had taken all the strength Sam had to get it there.
It was not so large a bundle, to be sure, but lifting it in had been somewhat like carrying two pails of water, for it was what the Captain called "waterlogged."