He indicated a spot some distance off the port quarter. It was merely a speck tossing about at the mercy of the waves.
Clif watched it long and earnestly, then he said, with more excitement than he had yet shown:
“Do you know, I believe it is a body tied to a bit of wreckage.”
“Let’s investigate. Perhaps the person may be still alive, if it is a person.”
Clif sprang to the stem and grasped the steering oar, which had been abandoned with the coming of daylight. Joy and Trolley handled the sail, and the launch was soon lumbering along on the opposite tack.
The sea was subsiding with each passing moment. The breeze was just strong enough to allow of the free handling of the boat. In the east the sun was climbing into a sky almost cloudless. It promised to be a perfect day.
Under other circumstances the cadets would have felt light-hearted and happy. But the memory of the recent night and its tragedy, and of their present desperate situation attuned no merry song for them.
As they approached the object floating at the mercy of the waves, they became more and more excited. Finally Trolley sprang up with a shout.
“It two bodies, and they tied to spar,” he cried. “They no dead. I see one move.”
As if to prove the truth of his words, one of the objects feebly waved an arm.
“That voice is familiar,” he exclaimed. “Can it be----”
“It is Judson Greene,” hastily interrupted the lanky lad. “He was in the launch with us last night.”
“I am heartily glad he is saved,” said Clif, sincerely. “Poor fellow, what a terrible time he must have had last night.”
“No worse than us,” muttered Trolley. “He no good anyway. Why he saved instead of good man?”
“Trolley never forgives an enemy,” said Joy. “He has it in for Judson Greene. And I don’t blame him, either. The fellow is a cad of the first water, and very dirty water at that.”
“We can’t bear animosity under present circumstances,” replied Clif. “I don’t like the fellow any more than you do. He’s tried to injure me in a thousand ways, but I am willing to forget it.”
The Jap and Joy exchanged glances, and the latter said, softly:
“That’s Clif all over. He’s as generous as he is brave and good, bless his old heart!”
The launch crept nearer and nearer to the strange bit of flotsam. The body of the other castaway was presently brought into view; then, as the sailboat swept alongside, a simultaneous cry of joy came from the trio: