But the wireless operator reassured them. He said it probably would not
sink at all. He seemed to have learned at first glance a lot about that
schooner.

"It's lumber laden, from some Maine port. Probably going to Baltimore,
or some port down that way. They have jettisoned her deck load, and now
she'll just float soggily. But her sails will never carry her to port."

Russ eagerly asked what "jettisoned" meant, and the man explained that
the crew had pushed overboard all the deckload of lumber. The hold was
filled with the same kind of cargo, and of course lumber would not
really sink. But the dirty, torn sails which the children saw did not
promise to hold wind enough to propel the water-logged craft.

"She's got to have help," said the wireless operator, and Russ and Rose
realized that the _Kammerboy_ was slowing down.

"Are we going to stop?" asked Rose. "Will they take the men off that
ship into our small boats? Oh, it's a regular shipwreck, Russ!"

"Not much it isn't, little girl," said the operator. "And this steamer
can't stop to do much in the way of rescue. The crew wouldn't want to
leave that schooner in good weather, anyway."

"What shall we do, then?" Rose asked again.

Just then their friend, the quartermaster, hurried up with a written
paper which he handed to the operator.