CHAPTER XXXVII
LEFT IN DOUBT
The task they had set themselves was no child’s play, and this Brandon and Milly soon discovered. But they were working for their lives, for according to their reckoning, the Success would not remain above the surface many hours.
The captain’s daughter showed herself not only capable of handling tools, but she was strong, too. For years she had sailed up and down the seas with her father—nearly all her life, in fact—for her mother, Brandon had discovered by questioning, had died when she was quite young.
This information assured him that there could be no reasonable doubt of Milly Frank’s identity. But for the present he said nothing to the girl about her relatives in New York.
Milly’s life, therefore, had made her hardy and strong, although her education was limited in many lines.
But she had a good basis of hard, common sense to build upon, and with a few terms at a well conducted school, she would make as well informed a girl as one could find.
With some trouble they managed to wrench away the fastenings of the forward hatch, and with a heavy bit which Brandon found in the captain’s chest ’tween decks, he was able to bore a hole of sufficient size to receive the butt of the small spar.
He brought two oars on deck also, and a square of sailcloth which was bunglingly fashioned into a sail.
Brandon proposed to leave nothing undone which would make the success of their undertaking more sure. Something might happen to keep them from reaching the other wreck, so he brought up several cans of sea biscuit and some canned meats from the cabin stores, and placed them in readiness for loading the raft after it was launched.
Then with the aid of heavy rollers and a short bar they got the raft under way, and once it was started down the inclined deck they had no trouble whatever in keeping it going. The only bother was to keep it from moving too fast.