  “Say Jim, there’s a good-sized freighter.” Don sitting at the tiller of the Lassie called his brother’s attention to a large black freighter that could be seen some distance off their starboard bow. It was several days later, and the three boys had cruised leisurely down the coast, stopping now and then at cities to buy provisions and see the sights. They were now near the coast of Massachusetts, not far from Boston, which was their ultimate destination. They had been sailing along under motor power all afternoon, and now, toward evening, Don sighted the black freighter. The weather had been stormy, as Captain Blow had assured them it would be. He had made the prediction just before they had sailed, and the boys took his word for it. Wind and rain had taken up most of the cruise, but as sailing under such conditions was more interesting than calm sailing the boys had not complained or greatly minded. Terry and Jim looked toward the strange freighter with interest. It was a shabby-looking boat, with the paint peeling off the sides. It wallowed in the choppy waves about a mile to windward. During the cruise the boys had not seen many freighters and they looked eagerly at this one. “Wonder where she’s from?” said Jim. “Haven’t any idea,” Don returned. “Maybe it’s just some old coaler or lumber carrier. Quite a number of the old ships have been turned into carriers. Funny thing, look at those smokestacks.” “What’s wrong with ’em?” asked Terry. “There isn’t any smoke coming out of them,” Don said. “I can’t hear its engine running and from here it looks as if there’s nobody on deck. Get out the glasses, will you, Jim?” Jim went below, to return a few minutes later with a pair of marine glasses. He looked toward the freighter. “You’re right about the smokestacks,” he said. “And I wonder where the crew is? What kind of a skipper must they have on that ship?” “He must be a poor one,” Don commented. “Hold the tiller while I take a look.” Jim took over the tiller and Don looked steadily in the direction of the big ship. After a time he lowered the glass. “I can’t make out anyone on the bridge,” he said. “Could you?” Jim shook his head. “No. Take a look and see if the flag is upside down.” “Why should it be upside down?” Terry asked. “If it is upside down it is a signal of distress.” “The flag is all right,” Don reported a moment later. “That freighter looks strange to me. Shall we run close and look it over?” “Yes, let’s do that.” And suiting his words with instant action Jim moved the tiller until the Lassie was heading toward the freighter. “Gosh, we surely look awfully small alongside that baby,” Terry remarked. “Yes, that’s a big ship. I notice that it is pretty low in the water, too. It must be loaded with something heavy,” said Don. The sloop moved through the water at a lively clip and rapidly cut down the distance that separated the two boats. As they drew nearer Don trained his glass on the bow of the freighter. “Well, jeepers, that’s a name for you!” he said suddenly. “What’s its name?” asked Terry. “Nice cheerful one,” grinned Don. “It is called the Black Mummy!” “Oh, boy!” breathed Jim. “Some undertaker or grave digger must own it!” They drew so near to the freighter that the aid of the glass was no longer necessary. Both Don and Jim discovered an important fact at the same time. “There is no one at the wheel!” they said, in a chorus. “What does that mean?” Terry asked. “I don’t know,” Don confessed. “The wheel isn’t lashed down, either. It must mean that either the captain and crew are all sick or there is no one on that freighter!” “An abandoned freighter?” cried Terry. “Possibly. If everything was normal there would surely be someone around. But something is wrong when there isn’t a man anywhere on deck.” He turned to Jim. “Suppose we ought to hail them?” “Yes,” nodded the younger boy, promptly. “It might be that someone is ill there, and if that is the case we wouldn’t want to pass by without finding it out. Sure, go ahead.” They were now close beside the freighter, and Don stepped to the rail. As the boys had noted before, boxes and fragments of rope lay tumbled about the deck, and the freighter was in anything but shipshape condition. The door to the companionway was open. “Ahoy!” yelled Don, cupping his hands. “Anybody aboard the Black Mummy?” They waited for a moment, Jim turning off the motor, but no reply came back. The deck of the freighter remained deserted, and the wheel continued to turn back and forth. Don repeated his hail but there was no answer. “Well,” remarked Terry. “I guess we’ll have to go aboard.” “Yes,” agreed Don. “We’ll have to tie up to the freighter, too. Our anchor cable won’t be long enough to do any good out here, so we’ll have to moor on to the rail of the freighter. Give her a little power, Jim, and I’ll tie fast.” Jim gave the Lassie a little power and drove the bow toward the stern of the Black Mummy. The rail of the freighter was three or four feet higher than that of the sloop, but Don waited until the bow of the sloop was almost to the ship. “Give it the reverse,” he directed, and Jim sent the motor into reverse. With its speed visibly slackened the sloop approached the rail and Don threw the painter over the rail and made fast. Jim shut off the motor and the sloop rode gently beside the bigger ship. “Well, let’s get aboard,” said Jim. “We’d better watch our step, however. No knowing what we may find on that ship.” With hearts beating the least bit rapidly the three boys swung over the rail of the freighter and dropped onto the deck. They made their way across the deck, past the wheel and came to the companionway. Don called down. “Anybody aboard?” Only a mocking echo came back to him and they began their climb down the ladder. They found themselves in a passageway, with the galley back of them and cabins on each side. One look into the galley showed them that the crew had evidently left in a hurry, for pots and pans were scattered right and left over the sink, the table and the floor. Some scraps of food had been partially devoured by rats and the refuse lay on the floor. “Well, there’s something funny here,” said Don, as he walked down the passageway. They looked into the rooms, to find each one of them empty. The largest of all had evidently been a bunkroom for the crew. “Must have had a crew of twelve or more,” decided Jim, after counting the bunks. There now remained only the hold to explore and they prepared to descend. The hold was reached by a trap door at the end of the passageway, although there was a large door on the deck opening to it. The boys raised the trap and looked down. “Awfully dark down there,” Terry remarked. “Too bad we didn’t bring a light with us.” “Yes, it is,” Don agreed, beginning to descend. “But we’ll just give a glance around. We won’t be down there long enough to need a light.” The short ladder ended abruptly and the boys found themselves at the bottom of the hold. In the darkness they could see lumber piled around them. It had been originally stacked high, but the movement of the waves had caused it to fall together in the middle, forming a complicated and tangled barrier. “Just as I figured,” said Jim. “It’s a lumber barge. But whoever stacked that lumber made a lousy job of it. It should have been braced, and instead of that it was allowed to stand by itself. Now look at it!” They decided that lumber was the only thing to be found in the hold, and turned to leave. At that moment there came a terrific pounding somewhere near them. Startled, the boys looked at each other. “Hey, what’s that?” gasped Jim. “Must be something knocking on the bottom of the boat,” guessed Terry. The knocking came again, and the boys listened keenly. Don turned startled eyes toward the others. “What do you make of it?” Jim whispered. “Someone, or something, is down under those boards!” was Don’s reply. For a moment Jim stared at him. “What are we going to do?” “We’ll have to go back to the Lassie, bring lanterns and go to work on that tangle of lumber,” Don answered. |
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