ar gulf
tug, carrying eight people. As it came closer Sam, who had a spy-glass,
gave a shout:

"What do you think! There are Fred and Songbird, and yes, there is
Harold Bird, too! Oh, how glad I am that they are safe!"

CHAPTER XXX

HOMEWARD BOUND--CONCLUSION

The report was true, the tug contained Fred, Songbird, and Harold
Bird, and as soon as these three made out who were on board of the
_Mermaid_ they set up a cheer. Then the sails on the steam yacht were
lowered and the tug came alongside. In a minute more Fred was scrambling
on deck, followed by the others.

"Alive! All of you!" cried Fred. "Oh, this is the best news yet!"

"And we are glad to see you alive too," cried Tom. "We were afraid
the _Mascotte_ had been lost."

"Well, we came close to it," said Songbird. "And when we got in to
port some of the passengers had the captain arrested for ill treatment.
But we didn't wait for that. We were wild to know what had become of
you, and so we chartered this tug and began a hunt. You were lucky
to be picked up by such a nice craft as this."

"We weren't picked up,--we picked ourselves up," answered Dick.

"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 the
arrival of Sack Todd and the others, and of what had been done since.

"I want you to understand that Dan helped us a great deal," said
Dick, to Fred and Songbird. "He isn't the fellow he was. He has
changed so you would ha