“Wreck—dead ahead, sir!”
CHAPTER XXXII
RELATING HOW THE SILVER SWAN WAS HEARD FROM
As the sun rose and lit up the sea more fully Brandon could plainly view the wreck which the steamer was now rapidly approaching.
It was not, he believed at first glance, the Silver Swan. It was the hull of a vessel, sunk a good deal at the stern; but one mast was standing, and a great tangle of cordage and torn sails was still attached to it.
“That’s never the Silver Swan, lad,” Caleb declared. “She was swept as clean as a whistle. This was a square rigged vessel, however.”
The steamer ran in very close to the wreck, and Brandon made out the words, “Porpoise, New Haven,” under the bows.
The derelict gave every appearance of being what Mr. Coffin called “an old stager,” and labored in the seas most heavily.
“That’s a mighty dangerous wreck,” Caleb declared reflectively, as the whaleback steamed slowly by. “It wouldn’t take long to sink her, although ’twould cost something. What d’ye say, Mr. Coffin—will you go aboard her, and if she isn’t worth towing in, drop enough dynamite into her hold to blow her up? You know how to run that battery Mr. Pepper had put aboard.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” the first officer replied, and bustled away to order a boat launched at once.
By special request Brandon was allowed to accompany the expedition. The old hulk was found to be in ballast, and Mr. Coffin therefore placed a quantity of the powerful explosive in her hold, attached the wire, and they pulled back toward the steamer.