"Why, what do you mean?" asked Harold Bird, in puzzled tones.
"We found this steam yacht on the water deserted—not a soul on board."
"You don't mean it!" ejaculated Fred. "What's her name?"
"The Mermaid."
"Creation!" shouted Harold Bird. "Why, that's the steam yacht was advertised in all the newspapers some weeks ago. She was missing, and the club that owns her offered a reward of five thousand dollars for information leading to her return."
"Well, we picked her up as a derelict," said Tom. "And we'll claim salvage accordingly. But how did she disappear?"
"It's a long story. She was left in charge of an old man, and he went off and got intoxicated. Then a storm came up and they found the old man in a rowboat and the steam yacht missing. She must have blown and drifted far away on the gulf. But it's queer she wasn't sighted before."
"Maybe she was, but nobody thought she was deserted," said Sam, and his idea was probably true.
Thus far Dan Baxter had kept in the background. When he came forward there was more astonishment, and our friends had to tell about
