Page:Dick Hamilton's Steam Yacht.djvu/170

152 rueful smile. "Then I'd have known better than to crawl in where I did. But I kept on calling, though I was getting weaker, and then"

"Then we came," finished Dick. "Now, don't think any more about it. We'll doctor you and feed you up, and—well, don't go in there again."

"Don't worry—I won't," promised Tim, and then he took some quieting medicine which the captain mixed for him.

They left him to sleep off the effects of his ordeal, and the boys gathered in the main cabin, for a sort of impromptu thanksgiving meeting. The atmosphere of gloom had been dispelled, and they were all happy again, for the thought of one of the members of the yachting party being drowned would have spoiled the whole outing.

Tim was much better the next day, and the storm had blown itself out, so that he could limp up on deck. There the bracing air brought back the color to his cheeks, and he was soon himself again. The swelling in his ankle went down, and he was able to get about nicely on a crutch made by Widdy.

"We've got two cripples aboard now," said the old salt, with a grin. "Between us both, we'll make an able seaman, though."

Meanwhile the yacht was slipping through the water at a good rate of speed, lessening the knots between her and the island of Cuba. The boys found so much that was new and interesting to occupy them, that time passed all too quickly.