Not one of the rescued men could speak English, and little beyond the fact that the bark was bound from Genoa to New York could be drawn from them. They were, however, bright, cheerful fellows, and seemed full of gratitude for their escape.
"Now after we've fed these men," said Captain Raynor, "we'll go down to the bay, and help the boys step their mast. Boys, you've got to have some breakfast with us. You've done about as much as we have, and the government can afford to feed you."
The Captain kept his word, and after breakfast he and two of the men went down to where the Ghost was lying, and stepped the heavy mast. Without their aid the boys would have been in an unpleasant predicament, for they could not step the mast alone, and they did not want to row a heavy sail-boat two miles across the bay. When the Ghost was once more ready to set sail, the patrolmen shook hands with the boys, wished them a pleasant voyage, and told them how to steer to avoid the shallows in the south side of the bay, and to reach the mouth of the creek which connects the Great South Bay at Westhampton with Quantuck Bay, which lies further east. The wind had gone down very much since sunrise, and with a single reef in the mainsail, the Ghost displayed her sailing qualities to great advantage.
All that day the Ghost was kept on her course, and at the end of the afternoon she was moored to the shore within sight of the Westhampton bridge, and very near the beach. It promised to be a beautiful moonlight night, and had not the boys been tired out, they would have kept on, and sailed until midnight. They felt, however, that they needed sleep, for they had slept very little the preceding night. So, after a hearty supper, they turned in, and were soon nearly asleep.
"Boys," said Joe, suddenly, "I can't go to sleep. I know I have done wrong."
"What have you done, old fellow?" said Charley, rousing himself. "Let's hear about it."
"I haven't been wet all day," answered Joe, solemnly.
"If you say another word, we'll get up and throw you overboard," exclaimed Harry.
After which there was silence in the cabin of the Ghost.