"But suppose the other boats have been swamped?" Neal suggested, with a choking sob as he realized that he might never see his father again.
"We won't suppose anything of the kind," Jake replied sharply. "There are plenty in the crowd who can handle the boats better than this one was handled, and if we rode out the night in safety why shouldn't they have done the same?"
"The only chance of our not seein' 'em," one of the sailors said thoughtfully, "is, that sailin' slower, they may now be near land that we passed in the night without knowin' it. There should 'a been a lot of keys within fifty miles of where we abandoned the Sea Dream."
"That's very true, matey," and now Jake spoke in his customary cheerful tone, "an' we'll soon be makin' some place where there'll be a chance of stretchin' our legs. Overhaul the grub, one of you, an' let's have a bite; I feel like a man what's been on a thirty hour watch."
"So you have, for that matter. Even if you ain't a sailor man I'd like to see him as could handle a little craft any better. With me at the helm she'd have gone to the bottom before midnight."
"I won't kick 'cause you praise me," Jake replied with a laugh; "but don't lay it on too thick for fear I might get proud."
"I was only tellin' the truth, an' jest what all of us think. When the breeze freshened I made up my mind that the voyage was about ended; but here we are yet, an' here we're likely to be a spell longer unless we strike another norther."
While the man was speaking he had passed aft two cans of preserved meat, some hard bread, and a small jar of pickles, after opening the tins with his sheath knife, and every one on board made a hearty meal, the boys in particular feeling decidedly cheerful when the repast had been eaten.
"The wind is fallin' off a bit, an' I reckon it'll come dead calm by noon," Jake said, after refusing to allow one of the seamen to relieve him. "We'll all soon have a chance to bottle up sleep."
"How long do you think it ought to be before we sight the land?" Neal asked.
"That's jest what I can't say, lad; but 'cordin' to my way of thinkin' we was a good bit below the coast of Cuba when the little yacht went down. That norther blew us a good way off our course, an' it's possible Mr. Walters might have made a mistake in determinin' the position, although it ain't exactly the proper thing for an engineer to set up agin a first-class sailin' master."