And on that errand Mayo departed the next morning after breakfast.
Only a sailor, young, alert, and bold, could have scaled the side of
the steamer in that weather. Her ladder was in place, but nothing much
except an exaggerated icicle. But it was on the lee side of her, and
his dory was fairly well protected from the rush of the seas. With his
hatchet he hacked foothold on the ladder, left his men in the dory, and
notched his perilous way to the deck. The fore-hatch was open, just as
the hastily departing salvagers had left it. He went below, down the
frosted iron ladder. He was fronted with a cheerless aspect. Cargo and
water hid what damage she had suffered. The fat man had secured most of
the cargo that the water had not ruined.
He climbed back on deck and explored amidships and aft. Her engine-room
was partially flooded, for her forepeak was propped on the higher part
of the reef, and water had settled aft. Her crew's quarters were above
the main-deck, as is the case with most cargo-carriers of the newer
type. He found plenty of tinned food in the steward's domains, coal in
tie galley bunker, and there was bedding in the officers' staterooms.
Mayo scrambled back to his dory and went aboard the schooner. He
reported his findings.
"And here's the only sensible plan for the present, Captain Candage:
I'll take two men and a dory and go aboard and guard our property.
Somebody must stay here--and I don't want you to take the chances
on that wreck. You've got a daughter. You probably know more of the
shipyard crowd in Limeport than I do. That's the nearest city, and I
believe that when you report that the Conomo is holding after this
storm you can hire some equipment on credit and borrow some money."
"I swear I'll do my best. I know a lot of water-front folks, and I've
always paid my bills."
"We need stuff for the whole wrecking game--engine, pumps, and all the
rest. You go and scout on shore and capture a few men and bring 'em out
here to look our prospect over."
"Offer 'em a lay?"
"No, sir. We'll make this a close corporation. I don't propose to let a
lot of land sharks in here to manipulate us out of what's our own. It's
our gamble, and we want what's coming out of it. Go ashore and see what
you can do on prices and terms. Don't close anything till you and I
have conferred. I'll have a schedule of needs made up by the time you're
back."