"To the mess room, to the mess room!" directed Leonard.
"Sure, sure, we wouldn't touch a mouthful for hanything!" cried Mulcher
earnestly.
"Misther Madden, you're a wonder!" extolled Hogan.
Then the three men climbed up and were received clamorously. Even the
silent Greer found himself beset with a temporary bunch of admirers. All
began talking of the _Minnie B_, asking questions. Caradoc unbent
his dignity and explained what he had observed.
Leonard went straight to the officer's cabin, eager to satisfy his
curiosity about salvage. A whole fortune shimmered before his vision if
law allowed the crew to salve the dock. He turned into the hot cabin,
struck a light and ran his eyes over the mate's shelf of books. He soon
found what he was hunting, "Abbot's Law of Merchant's Ships and Seamen."
Leonard sat down at his desk, placed the light close by and began a
sweating search for the legal rule applicable to salvage. It was
Madden's intention to attempt to get the dock to port no matter what the
law said, but he knew his best chance of getting the crew to cooperate
was through possible prize money.
Like all legal works, Abbott gave shading decisions on both sides of the
topic. As the lad read on he discovered many questions were involved.
What constitutes the crew of a vessel? Can a towed vessel have a
navigating crew? Could a lawful crew be composed of ordinary laborers,
or would it be necessary for them to be able seamen?
All these points and many others were involved, but Leonard plodded
patiently through the legal labyrinth, and finally decided that he and
his crew were eligible for prize money.
Pages:
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117