ON THE BLUFF
Sybil clapped her hands gleefully and looked at Orissa in triumph.
"The rubber is mine!" she cried. "You now owe me sixteen boxes of
chocolates, nine of caramels and twelve of mixed bonbons--enough to
stock a candy store. Tell you what I'll do, Commodore Columbus; I'll
pit my desert island and my man Friday against your fleet of galleys
and the favor of Queen Isabella, and it shall be the best three out of
five games. Are _you_ game, my dear Discoverer?"
Orissa laughed.
"You ought to give me odds, Crusoe, for you are the more skillful
checker player," she replied. "But I won't play any more to-day. This
heat is dreadfully oppressive and from the looks of the sky I'm afraid
a storm is brewing."
"What? A rain storm?" asked Sybil, jumping up to go outside the tent
and examine the sky.
"Rain, hail, thunder, lightning and tornadoes; anything is likely to
follow a storm in this latitude," declared Orissa, following her. "I
think, Sybil, we ought to make all as safe and secure as possible, in
case of emergency, while we have the time."
"What can we do?" asked Sybil. "I won't mind the storm very much, if it
doesn't have lightning. That's the only thing I'm afraid of."
Orissa examined the sky critically.
"I predict high winds," she presently said, "and high winds might
endanger our property. Let us get to the beach, first, and see what may
be done to protect the Aircraft."
They found the flying-machine fairly well protected by the walls of the
ravine in which it lay, but as the big upper plane offered a tempting
surface to the wind Orissa set to work and removed it, a task that
consumed two full hours. Then she wired the framework to a big rock,
for additional security, and carrying the canvas from the plane between
them, the girls returned to their tent.
"Will our house stand much of a wind?" asked Sybil.
"It is rather exposed, on this bluff," replied Orissa, doubtfully. "I
think it will be wise for us to pile more rocks upon the edges. The
wire will hold, I'm sure, for it is nickel-steel, and if we close the
ends of the tents securely we may escape damage."
"All right; I'm glad to have something to do," cried Sybil, picking up
a rock. "We'll build a regular parapet, if you say so."
This was exactly what they did. In spite of the oppressive heat the two
girls worked faithfully piling the rocks around the tent, until they
had raised a parapet nearly half its height. They were inspired to take
this precaution by the glowering aspect of the sky, which grew more
threatening as the afternoon waned.
Finally Orissa wiped the perspiration from her brow and exclaimed:
"That'll do, I'm sure, Syb. And now I'm ready for dinner. What's to
eat?"
Sybil made a grimace.
"Bananas and jelly," she replied. "Could you conceive a more horrible
combination?"
"Meat all gone?"
"We've part of a baked crab; that's all."
"And the lettuce. I shall have crab salad, with bananas for dessert."
"A salad without lemon or vinegar is the limit," declared Sybil. "I
shall stick to bananas and jelly."
Their appetites were still good and Orissa really enjoyed her salad,
which she seasoned with salt which they had obtained by evaporating
seawater. The bananas were getting to be a trifle irksome to the
palate, but as food they were nourishing and satisfying. Neither of the
castaways grumbled much at the lack of ordinary food, being grateful at
heart that they were able to escape starvation.
The storm burst upon them just after dark and its violence increased
hour by hour. There was little rain, and no lightning at all, but the
wind held high revel and fluttered the canvas of the tent so powerfully
that the girls, huddled anxiously in bed, feared the frail shelter
would be torn to shreds.
But the plane-cloth used by Stephen Kane was wonderfully strong and had
been sized with a composition that prevented the wind from penetrating
it. Therefore it resisted the gale nobly, and after a time the fears
of the two girls subsided to such a degree that they dozed at times
and toward morning, when the wind subsided, sank into deep sleep. The
hooting of the owls no longer had power to keep them awake, and on this
night the owls were less in evidence than usual, perhaps deterred from
leaving their nests by the storm.
Weather changes are abrupt in the semi-tropics. The morning dawned
cool and delightful and the sun shone brilliantly. There was a slight
breeze remaining, but not more than enough to flutter Orissa's locks
as she unfastened the flap of the tent and walked out upon the bluff to
discover if the Aircraft was still safe.
It lay at the bottom of the ravine, in plain sight from where she
stood, and seemed quite undisturbed. Orissa turned her eyes toward the
distant island, let them sweep the tumbling waves of the ocean and
finally allowed them to rest upon the bay at the east, where they had
first landed. Then she uttered an involuntary cry that echoed shrilly
among the crags.
A ship lay stranded upon the shelving beach--fully half its length upon
dry land!
The cry aroused Sybil, who came running from the tent rubbing her eyes
and with an anxious face.
"What's up, Ris?" she demanded.
Orissa pointed a trembling finger across the rock-strewn plain to the
bay, and Sybil looked and gave a gasp of delight.
"Oh, Orissa, we're saved--we're saved!" she murmured. Then, sinking
upon the sand, she covered her face with her hands and began to cry.
But the air-maid was too interested to weep; she was looking hard at
the boat.
"Isn't it Madeline Dentry's yacht?" she asked. "Yes; I'm sure it is.
Then they've been searching for us and the storm has wrecked them.
Sybil, your father and Steve may be on that ship, alive or--or----"
Sybil sprang up.
"Do you see anyone?" she asked eagerly.
"No; it's too far away, and the sun interferes. I'll get the glasses."
She was quite composed now and her quiet demeanor did much to restore
Sybil's self-possession. Orissa brought the binoculars, looked through
them for a time and then handed the glasses to her chum.
"Not a soul in sight, that I can see," she remarked. "Try it yourself."
Sybil had no better luck.
"Can they all be drowned?" she inquired in horrified tones.
"I think not. They may have abandoned the wreck, during the storm, or
they may be hidden from us by the side of the boat, which lies keeled
over in the opposite direction from us."
"Can't we go there, Orissa, and find out?"
"Yes, dear; at once. The tide is out, and although there is quite a sea
left from last night's hurricane I think we can manage the trip, by way
of the sands, with perfect safety."
Each tore a couple of bananas from the bunch and then they ran down
the incline to the beach. Knowing every turn in the coast and every
difficult place, they were able to scorn the waves that occasionally
swept over their feet, as if longing to draw them into their moist
embraces.