The _Rambler's_ pump was now put in operation, but the interior of the launch remained full of water. The river rushed in as fast as the pumps removed it, so the craft did not rise to the surface.
"You'll have to get your feet wet again, Jule," Case said. "Just drop over into the cockpit and see if you can see any hole in the bottom."
Jule did as requested, floundering and splashing about in the water as though he considered the enterprise only a bit of fun.
"Nothing doing here!" he shouted back. "There's no hole in the bottom that I can see. There may be one under the double floor in the cabin but I don't believe it."
"Look for the sea-cock," cried Captain Joe, leaning over the gunwale of the _Rambler_. "It may have been opened. It ought to be right there in the cockpit close to the wall of the cabin."
Jule felt around in the water for a time, ducked his head under in order to get closer to the bottom now and then and finally raised his dripping face with a shout.
"I've found it!" he cried. "The sea-cock was wide open and that's what sunk the launch."
"Wonder Fontenelle wouldn't have investigated," said Case.
"The launch was probably sunk in the night," Captain Joe suggested, "when the members of the party were away. When they returned to the boat, of course, they had no grappling apparatus or anything to help raise her, and so they just went away and left her in the mud."
"That's probably it," Case said, turning on the pump.
"Hold on," Jule cried. "You wait till I get something to plug this sea-cock with. I can't turn the valve. It's rusty."
The boy was given a basket of waste which had been used in cleaning the motors, and in a short time the sea-cock was securely plugged.
Then the pumps were set in motion again and in a very short time the _Cartier_ was virtually free of water.
"That's a mighty handsome boat," Captain Joe observed as the launch lay on the surface. "If I had her down on the South Branch, I could have the time of my life every day in the week."
The boys worked over the boat for some time drying off the woodwork and fixing the valve of the sea-cock so it would close.
"Of course, she won't run now," Captain Joe explained, "because the batteries and the magneto are soaked with water. We can transfer new apparatus from the _Rambler_ and, as she has plenty of gasoline, she will go like a duck on a mill-pond."