CONCLUSION
When morning came, they were but a few miles from the Northern end of
the longer Island and the fog was over the whole sky. The sea was glassy
with a sullen glaze. Nowhere was there sign of any steamer or ship. The
Sea Eagle had made good her escape.
"I wish we had a stiff breeze to help us along," said the Spaniard, who
loved not manual labor, as did the boys.
"It will come, the strong breeze, soon," said the Indian.
"When we make the Island, what are we to do?" asked Jo.
"Who can tell, maybe Tom and Juarez have been taken along with the
Skipper, instead of being marooned."
"That's so," replied Jo, and gloom settled down upon his spirits,
heavier than the fog upon the sea.
"We will keep after them," said the never despondent Jim, "even if we
have to chase them around the world."
The boat seemed to crawl so slowly along, and the boys began to fret in
their eagerness to find out whether their comrades were on the island or
not, but they were not yet close enough to make out any object upon its
surface. Then from the West there came a breeze rippling the glassy
water.
"Up with the sail," cried Jim. "Here's where we fly."
As the breeze strengthened to a wind, they went towards the island at a
clipping gait. When they got within a half mile of the shore, they began
to look eagerly for some sign of a living being and they were
disappointed at first, but they drove their boat along as near the shore
as they dared.
"Say, did you hear that?" cried Jim in excitement. "That was a rifle
shot, or my name is Dennis."
"Three men on the shore," said the Indian, imperturbably.
"I see them," cried Jo, "on that beach yonder. I believe it is Tom and
Juarez. Hurrah for the Frontier Boys."
"It is they," declared Jim as they drew closer, "but how Tom has grown.
He looks over six feet."
"That isn't Tom," said Jo. "It's some one else. The short one is Tom."
Then he saw Jim grin and realized that he had been kidded.
"If this wasn't my busy day," said Jo, "I'd give you a punching for
being so smart."
Five minutes later, the boat had grounded on the pebbly beach and The
Frontier Boys were again united. There was a great jubilee for a while
with the Spaniard, the Indian, and the lanky shepherd on the outskirts
of the family celebration, but in a short time they were all good
friends, each according to his different nature; the Spaniard, suave and
courteous, the Indian stolid, but with his share in the general
good-will, and Jeems Howell, the shepherd, lankily humorous.
"We met our old friend Captain Broom in the channel, boys," said Jim,
"steaming along like the Devil was after him."
"I'll give him reason to think so," growled Juarez sullenly, "if I ever
get on his trail."
The Indian, Yaquis, grunted approval, for there seemed to be a bond of
sympathy between him and Juarez, as the reader can well understand.
"How far is that cave, Tom, where the old codger left you?" inquired
Jo.
"Just around the bend," said Tom. "Here's the rock where Juarez made his
famous jump."
"How did you ever get up there?" asked Jo in wonder, looking up at the
pinnacle of rock.
"You'd a done the same if those fellows had been chasing you," replied
Juarez, "but if it hadn't been for Jeems here catching me when I jumped
they would have got me after all."
"I was afeard you might have fallen on the Skipper and a hurt him. He's
a kind of a tender plant you know." The Shepherd made this remark with a
perfectly sober face, in no wise disturbed by the hilarity of the boys,
over the idea of the tenderness of the Skipper.
"Here's the cave," said Juarez, and he led the way through an arched
opening in the wall of the cliff. Picking up a lantern, he went ahead as
guide.
"This is certainly a dry cave," said Jim.
"It ought to be," said Jeems Howell. "It don't rain on this Island more
than twice a year, but I feel it in my bones that it is coming on to
storm today."
"I hope you don't feel it in _all_ your bones," remarked Jim,
quizzically, "because it is liable to be a long drawn out storm if you
do."
The lanky Shepherd gave himself over to spasms of silent mirth at Jim's
queer humor.
"Here's where we found Tom," said Juarez. "Just discovered him a couple
of hours before you discovered us."
When the Captain had made his sudden change of plans, Tom made himself
as comfortable as he could for the night, intending to search for Juarez
in the morning.
"Sometime I hope that this wretched Captain will be captured and
imprisoned right here," said the Spaniard with a cold, vindictiveness.
"If he comes snooping around here again, that is what will happen to
him," remarked Jim quietly. "I suppose, Tom, that he hid some of the
loot he took from us in this cave somewhere. I bet this is his safe
deposit vault, all right."
"He went back in there with his small satchel," said Tom, indicating the
depths of the cave as yet unexplored.
"It will keep," said Jim, "but before I leave this island for Hawaii, I
am going to search every corner of this cave and see if I cannot find
our property."
"We discovered it in a cave and perhaps we will lose our treasure in a
cave," said Juarez, who was something of a fatalist.
"Don't you believe that we won't find it," declared Jim stoutly, "but no
work for me for a while. I'm going to take a good rest."
"So say we all of us," chanted the boys.
"Gentlemen," said Jeems Howell oracularly, "If it pleases you, and
Christopher Columbus," with a wave of his hand toward Jim, "who
discovered this savage group, we will now adjourn to my castle on the
distant hillside."
"We are with you," declared those assembled in unison, and in a short
time they were making their way up the slope towards the "castle" on the
hillside, where they made themselves at home.
All the new arrivals at the island were soon fast asleep.
Later after several hours of rest, they occupied themselves according to
their different ideas of comfort.
The Spaniard amused himself thrumming on a guitar, that belonged to one
of the Mexican herders on the island. Tom got a book, and stretched out
on a rug forgetful of all his recent troubles, while Jim and Juarez
borrowed a couple of guns and went for an hour's hunting, in the woods
which at that time covered the mountain ridges of the island.
That evening they were all gathered in the cabin before the blazing fire
on the stone hearth, while outside raged the Easterly storm that Jeems
Howell had predicted, with rush of wind and sweep of rain. But the slab
cabin was storm proof and comfortable. It is a good place to leave the
boys after their days of trial and bitter hardship. In our next book we
will meet "The Frontier Boys in Hawaii, or The mystery of The Hollow
Mountain." There, I feel confident they will cope with adventures as
unusual and as remarkable as they have heretofore encountered. I am sure
that the Reader will be anxious to accompany them on their journey. But
we must permit the Frontier Boys to have the last word, in this volume.
"Do you think that Captain Broom, will return here, before we get away
for Hawaii, Jim?" inquired brother Jo.
"I certainly do," replied Jim, "and we will be right here, to give him a
warm and hearty Welcome, you can rest assured of that."
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page 9, "hearn" changed to "heard" (I heard the mate)
Page 136, "wierdly" changed to "weirdly" (almost weirdly beautiful)
Page 148, "ever" changed to "over" (hanging over the)
Page 158, "besiide" changed to "beside" (got ready beside)
Page 170, text was both missing and repeated in the original. The
original read:
on even terms until in the last hundred yards Cal-
iente forged ahead by half a length.
"Hold on boys," yelled Jo in warning. +"Don't
on even terms until in the last hundred yards Cal-
horses up.+ There was Jo sitting quietly on his horse.
The words between the ++ were removed to try to improve readability.
Page 172, "supose" changed to "suppose" (I suppose you do)
Page 213, "aint" changed to "ain't" (I ain't got)
Page 231, "scycamore" changed to "sycamore" (sycamore tree, when)
Page 232, "hestitation" changed to "hestitation" (without hesitation we)
End of Project Gutenberg's Frontier Boys on the Coast, by Capt. Wyn Roosevelt