Amid his excitement, the boatswain nearly fell into the water. A minute later the raft came towards them. It touched the side of the grating, and a hearty voice cried out:
The occupants of the raft were two--a boy and a man. The dress of the latter indicated him to be a sailor. He was about Jack’s age.
His companion was a boy, a year or two older than Will and Tom. His pallor showed that he had suffered from exposure to the storm, but his eye brightened as he assisted the boys to clamber on the raft.
It was a strong, substantial craft, made of stout timbers, covered with a gangway top, and lashed together with stout ropes.
Old Jack secured the grating to the end of the raft with a rope, and then turned to the sailor in charge of it.
There was a gleam of curiosity in the eyes of the latter as he surveyed Jack’s dripping form.
“Well, mate,” he said, “you seem to have been cruising on a frail craft?”
“Portland, on the Golden Moose, and sunk in midocean a few hours since. And you?”
“Hugo Arnold, second mate of the merchantman Liverpool, bound for Philadelphia, and went down, disabled in a collision with an unknown ship.”
A few words of interrogation and reply showed that the ship which had hastened the sinking of the Moose was the Liverpool.
“The crew and the passengers all got off--some in the long-boats, some on rafts. This one we fixed up quickly, but three others on it abandoned us and swam after the boats.”
“Yes. We saw your signal, and are mighty glad of company. We took one precaution,” and the old sailor pointed to a cask and a box. “Drink and food,” he remarked.
Never did food have a more welcome taste to Will and Tom than the hard ship’s biscuit they were proffered.
They learned that the Liverpool had come from Germany with a large cargo, and that the mate’s companion was a student of a German university, returning to his home in Boston.
His name was Willis Moore, and the boys soon struck up a genial acquaintanceship.
The two old sailors indulged in a long confidential conversation while the boys were discussing the situation among themselves.
They were experienced sailors, and their general knowledge of the ocean enabled them to very clearly estimate their probable location.