The excited talking brought the girls out one after another, and they were equally pleased over the stroke of good fortune.

“She seems to be cast up pretty high on the sand,” said old Jerry.  “But even so, the sooner we get to her the better, or the sea may carry her off.”

“I am ready to go now,” said Tom.  “But how are we to get to that island?  It’s a pity we didn’t bring our boat around.”

“There are two islands of the circle in between,” came from Sam.  “Why can’t we swim from one to the next and get around that way?”

“We can try it, lad.  But we want to be careful.  There may be sharks around in these parts.”

“Oh, don’t let the sharks eat you up!” cried Grace.

“We’ll keep our eyes open, never fear,” said Dick.

A vote was taken, and it was decided that Sam should remain with the girls, to protect them in case of unexpected danger, while Tom, Dick, and old Jerry should make their way as best they could to the wreck.

The old sailor and the two boys were soon off.  They tramped down the beach a short distance and then reached a coral reef leading to the next island.  Here the water was not over a foot and a half deep, and as clear as crystal, so the passage to Island No. 2, as Tom named it, was comparatively easy.

The second island crossed they followed the shore around until they came opposite to the island upon which the wreck rested.  Here there was a channel sixty or eighty feet wide and of unknown depth, the channel through which the wreck had most likely entered the bay.  The water here was by no means smooth and Captain Jerry shook his head doubtfully.

“It won’t be no easy swim,” he said.  “Reckon as how I’ll try it first.”

“I can get over easily enough,” said Dick, and threw off part of his clothing and his shoes.  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.  Then she’ll be a reg’lar hotel for all hands.”

“Let us go below and see how things are down there,” said Dick, and he at once led the way.