CHAPTER XV
ANOTHER CASTAWAY BROUGHT TO LIGHT
"The _Golden Wave_! Hurrah!"
Tom could not resist setting up a shout when he saw the familiar hullof the schooner, resting quietly on the beach of an island on theother side of the bay.
The cry awoke Sam, Dick, and old Jerry, and they came running out tolearn what it meant.
"The schooner!" came from Sam. "How did that get there?"
"The storm must have driven her off the rocks and into this bay,"answered Dick. "She didn't go down, after all."
"It's a fine thing for us," put in Captain Jerry, his broad facebeaming with pleasure. "Now we can have all the provisions we want,and clothing and guns, and if we can anchor the wreck in some way,we can live on her just as comfortably as in a house at home."
The excited talking brought the girls out one after another, and theywere equally pleased over the stroke of good fortune.
"She seems to be cast up pretty high on the sand," said old Jerry. "Buteven so, the sooner we get to her the better, or the sea may carryher off."
"I am ready to go now," said Tom. "But how are we to get to thatisland? It's a pity we didn't bring our boat around."
"There are two islands of the circle in between," came from Sam. "Whycan't we swim from one to the next and get around that way?"
"We can try it, lad. But we want to be careful. There may be sharksaround in these parts."
"Oh, don't let the sharks eat you up!" cried Grace.
"We'll keep our eyes open, never fear," said Dick.
A vote was taken, and it was decided that Sam should remain with thegirls, to protect them in case of unexpected danger, while Tom, Dick,and old Jerry should make their way as best they could to the wreck.
The old sailor and the two boys were soon off. They tramped down thebeach a short distance and then reached a coral reef leading to thenext island. Here the water was not over a foot and a half deep, andas clear as crystal, so the passage to Island No. 2, as Tom namedit, was comparatively easy.
The second island crossed they followed the shore around until theycame opposite to the island upon which the wreck rested. Here therewas a channel sixty or eighty feet wide and of unknown depth, thechannel through which the wreck had most likely entered the bay. Thewater here was by no means smooth and Captain Jerry shook his headdoubtfully.
"It won't be no easy swim," he said. "Reckon as how I'll try it first."
"I can get over easily enough," said Dick, and threw off part of hisclothing and his shoes. He was soon in the water and striking outboldly, and the others followed.
Short as was the distance, the swim was as hard as any of them lookedfor, and when they reached the other side of the channel all wereout of breath and had to rest for a moment.
"It's a good thing no shark happened to be near," said Tom. "Themonster would certainly have had us at his mercy."
When they reached the wreck they found the stern well out of thewater. The _Golden Wave_ lay partly on her left side and it was acomparatively easy matter to, gain the deck.
The masts were gone and there was a big hole in the bow, but otherwisethe craft had suffered little damage. Why she had not sunk was amystery until, later on, old Jerry discovered that some of the cargo,consisting of flat cases, had got wedged into the break, thus cuttingoff a large portion of the leak.
"We can anchor her without trouble," said the old sailor. "And perhapsstraighten her up too, so the deck won't be so slanty. Then she'llbe a reg'lar hotel for all hands."
"Let us go below and see how things are down there," said Dick, andhe at once led the way.
At that instant a loud sneeze reached their ears, causing Dick topause on the companion way. Looking into the cabin he saw a manstanding there, partly dressed.
"Captain Blossom!" he ejaculated. "Is it really you or your ghost?"
"Dick Rover!" cried the master of the schooner. "Then you weren'tdrowned, after all?"
"No, captain. But--but how did you escape?"
"Is it really Captain Blossom?" came from Tom, and he rushed downinto the cabin, followed by old Jerry. All shook hands, and the faceof the captain showed his pleasure over the meeting.
"So you all escaped and are here," he said. "I am downright glad toknow it. What of the others?"
"We don't know what became of the other boats," answered Dick.
"Saw nothing at all?"
"Not a thing."
The captain shook his head sorrowfully.
"But how did you escape?" asked Dick again.
"That is a short story, lad. When I went overboard from the rowboat,I caught hold of some of the wreckage from the schooner. This wasstill fast to the deck, and by hauling myself in I soon got on boardagain. As I had no boat, I remained on board, for I soon saw thatthe schooner would not go down immediately. At daylight the ship leftthe rocks and drifted around on the ocean until the wind came up lastnight, when we struck this island and got beached, as you see. I wasworn out with watching, and as soon as I found the boat was safe fromsinking I went to bed, and slept soundly until I heard you threetramping around the deck."
"We are stopping over on yonder island," said Tom, when all went ondeck, and he pointed in the direction. "See, Sam and the girls arewaving to us. Let us wave in return, and stand apart, so they cansee that there are four of us."
They did as the youngest Rover advised and soon saw that they wereseen. Then Captain Blossom held up his spyglass.
"I reckon they will know who I am by that," he said, and he was right,for Sam told the girls that the fourth man was Captain Blossom beyonda doubt.
"How is your stock of provisions?" asked old Jerry. "We are gettingjust a bit tired of living on birds and fish. And we want a gun ora pistol with which to protect ourselves."
"The _Golden Wave_ has enough provisions to last this party a year,"answered the captain. "We haven't anything very fine, but we haveplenty of flour, dried beans, salt and smoked meats, and a good manycases of canned vegetables, as well as sugar, tea, coffee, salt, andpepper. With fresh fish and some game we'll be able to live as wellhere as if we were on shore,--that is, if we can find fresh water."
"We have all the fresh water we want,--on the large island," saidTom. "And lots of tropical fruit--cocoanuts, bananas, and the like."
"If we are going to live on the ship, we'll have to bring fresh waterover from the other island in a cask," said Dick. "That will not bevery handy."
"Can't we move the wreck over?" came from Tom.
"No, lad," answered Captain Blossom. "She is here to stay until hertimbers rot. But if we wish, we can move some of the provisionsashore. There are the parts of a rowboat below, and I reckon I amcarpenter enough to put the parts together in a day or two."
"We have a boat on the north beach," said old Jerry; "we can bringit around."
"To do that, we'll have to swim the channel again," came from Dick."And I must say I don't like that."
"Let us make a raft," cried Tom. "There must be plenty of materialon board of the schooner for that."
"There certainly is," answered Captain Blossom. "Come, we can makea raft in less than an hour."
All set to work, and in a short space of time they had the materialtogether. Ropes and spikes were there a-plenty, and as Captain Blossomlaid out one stick and another, the boys and old Jerry either nailedor tied them together. A board flooring was placed on top of thespars and then the whole affair was dumped into the bay with a loudsplash. It floated very well, with the flooring a good ten inchesabove the surface of the water, and as the raft was nearly twentyfeet long by ten wide, it was capable of carrying considerable weight.
"That's better than a boat," said Dick. "We can pile a good deal morestuff on it."
"Let us get on and paddle to where we left the others," said Tom."They will be anxious to learn the news."
Captain Blossom was willing, and they took with them a variety ofprovisions and also some extra clothing and some firearms. Then theraft was moved to w
here the boys had left part of their own clothingwhen they had started to swim the channel.
The coming of the big raft and its passengers to the shore where thecabin was located was greeted with shouts of joy from Sam and thethree girls.
"Hurrah for the captain of the _Golden Wave_!" cried Sam, swinging hiscap in the air. "We are very glad to see you safe and sound."
"And I am glad to see you," answered Captain Blossom, as he leapedashore and grasped one and another by the hand. "Last night I wasthinking I would be a lonely castaway; now I find I shall have plentyof company."
"We have brought along some provisions," put in Tom. "And in honorof this reunion, and also in honor of the fact that the Golden 'Wavehas not been sunk, I move we invite the girls to get us up a regularfeast. I think all bands deserve it."
"Second the motion!" cried Sam.
"All right, we'll cook you anything you want," said Nellie. "Thatis, if you will supply the things."
"I will," answered Tom. Then he scratched his head. "Well, by gracious!"
"What's the trouble, Tom?" asked Grace. "Did you forget to bringalong some sugar?"
"Worse than that. I brought along all sorts of good things to eat,and not a single knife, fork, spoon, or dish outside of some cookingutensils."
"Oh, dear!" burst out Dora. "It will be a sorry feast if we haven'tanything to eat from!"
"I'll go back for the dishes," replied Tom promptly. "Sam, do youwant to visit the wreck? We can go and come by the time the thingsare cooked."
"To be sure I'll go," said Sam; and in a few minutes more the twoboys were off on the clumsy raft.