He was soon in the water and striking out boldly, and the others followed.
Short as was the distance, the swim was as hard as any of them looked for, and when they reached the other side of the channel all were out of breath and had to rest for a moment.
"It's a good thing no shark happened to be near," said Tom.

"The monster would certainly have had us at his mercy." When they reached the wreck they found the stern well out of the water.

The _Golden Wave_ lay partly on her left side and it was a comparatively easy matter to, gain the deck.
The masts were gone and there was a big hole in the bow, but otherwise the craft had suffered little damage.

Why she had not sunk was a mystery until, later on, old Jerry discovered that some of the cargo, consisting of flat cases, had got wedged into the break, thus cutting off a large portion of the leak.
"We can anchor her without trouble," said the old sailor.

"And perhaps straighten her up too, so the deck won't be so slanty.