“All gone—Brandon, whose dead father I promised I’d look out for him, an’ that other poor lad, an’ the little girl. God help me! how can I go back and tell Adoniram about this?
“An’ then, we’ve not found the Silver Swan yet—nor air we likely to after this gale. She’s gone to the bottom, too, mayhap, and Brandon’s fortune along with her. Well——”
Just here he was interrupted in his soliloquy by the hurried entrance of Mr. Bolin.
“Will you please come on deck, sir?” said the third officer, evidently somewhat excited. “We have sighted what appears to be a steamer and a dismantled vessel with her. Mr. Coffin wishes you to come up and see if you can make her out.”
But Caleb was out of the cabin before Mr. Bolin had finished speaking, glass in hand.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“Right ahead, captain,” replied Mr. Coffin. “There! you can see the black smoke rising from the steamship’s funnels now. The wreck, if it is a wreck, is between her and us.”
Caleb got the range of the two vessels almost immediately, and it did not take a very long look to assure him that his mate was right.
“That’s a wreck, sure enough,” he declared, paying but very little attention to the steamship. “Order the engineer to go ahead at full speed.”
Fifteen minutes later they were near enough to see the wreck quite plainly. The steam vessel seemed to be lying quietly upon the sea now, and as they looked a boat was lowered and pulled toward the dismantled hulk.