LOST ISLAND
pened. "But can you suggest what we 're going to do with her now?"
"She would fetch a lot of money anywhere—as a curiosity," said Tempest "But I'm afraid the buyers of this interesting maritime monster will have to be quick, because in a few more minutes the sad sea waves will have closed over her for ever."
"Can't we do anything with her?" the boy asked, smiling now in spite of his disappointment.
"She is getting too wet to burn. That's all I can think of."
"What about putting ballast in to keep her upright?"
"You'd have to put enough rocks in to force the bottom out of her. No, I'm sorry to say it, Dave, but the Mud Turtle is a hopeless failure. Come on, we have either to swim ashore or go down with the brute."
And so, in six feet of water, they pushed off from the boat a few minutes before it quietly
242
