This was a story I read in the 70’ or 80’s. It was a science fiction story from the Golden Age, I think. It was in an anthology. The plot was that some space travelers came across a space ship that had been lost. The people were powering the space ship manually by pulling something in unison that made the motor work. I think that the people who found them left them to there own devices to return home using this power system. Thanks in advance.
Oh spit. I remember this one. Their drive had failed but they had a sort of space anchor doohickey, and they were basically kedging themselves home across interstellar space.
"The Long Way Hom e " by Fred Saberhagen , I think.
That’s it. I was able to find it online. It was strange that when I was reading it that it was totally unfamiliar. But then I came to the end and that was what I remembered. Except that they do interfere. So, thanks again.
Welcome. 
A great plot . . . people who spent thousands of years, walking back to earth. But I bet Saberhagen was paid by the word.
Every short story writer is paid by the word.
There are a few exceptions where they’re paid a flat fee, but that only is for the very top-end markets (Playboy, The New Yorker, The Atlantic or very low end ($5 a story). If an author stretches things out unnecessarily, the story will be rejected.
There’s a story about Mickey Spillane - someone asked him why Mike Hammer had to empty ‘Betsy’ every time he fired it. “Listen,” Spillane said, “I get paid by the word. Every time I type ‘bang!’ I get three cents. If you think I’m going to end a scene with fifteen cents’ worth of unused ammunition, you’re crazy.”
“The Long Way Home” is such a slow read, for a simple concept. But I guess it’s appropriate for people walking their way home through space.
And it is the sample chapter for the collection as published by Baen as an ebook …