ASHORE
All eyes were immediately turned in the direction in which John pointed.
Sure enough, and every one saw it this time, land appeared far off on
the distant horizon. It could be seen only faintly, but there was no
mistaking it. The low-lying shore and the outline of a few hills were
plainly visible.
"What do you think of that?" exclaimed Grant joyously. "It certainly
looks as if our luck had turned."
"Sho' it has," said Sam readily. "Soon as we lef' dat hard luck Finn Ah
knowed we'd be all right. Ah suttinly is glad Ah is not in de same boat
wid him."
These words of Sam threw a sudden damper upon every one in the boat. The
four boys looked at one another in consternation and much of their joy
at the sight of land was taken away by the recollection of the tragic
end of their shipmate Petersen. Sam, however, seemed entirely
unconscious of having said anything out of the way. His face was
wreathed in smiles and showed nothing but satisfaction, now that he was
separated from Petersen. If any doubt had still lingered in the boys'
minds as to Sam's sincerity that doubt was now dispelled. There was no
question at all that the negro recalled nothing of his tragic deed.
"What's de mattah wid you gentlemen?" demanded Sam, noticing the strange
behavior of the four young sailors.
"Nothing at all," said Grant quickly.
"Let's row for shore," exclaimed John, doing his best to change the
subject.
"That's what I say," agreed George, who had now picked himself up and
had taken hold of his oar once again. "I want to feel some good old
earth under my feet for a change."
"That's right," said Grant. "Let's not waste any time."
They dug their oars into the water and with renewed energy set out for
the distant shore. Now and again they turned around and looked ahead in
an effort to discover the character of the land they were approaching.
It was still far away, however, and not much idea could be had of it.
"It's an island all right," said John confidently.
"Probably," agreed Grant. "I don't think we were very near the mainland
when the _Josephine_ burned."
"Look there," cried Fred all at once. "Look back of the boat there."
Every one immediately stopped rowing and craned his neck to see what
Fred was pointing out.
"What is it, Fred?" demanded George. "What do you see?"
"Don't you see that fin?"
"Dat Finn!" exclaimed Sam. "Where dat Finn?"
"Not the one you mean," said Fred, smiling in spite of his evident
excitement. "I mean the fin of a fish."
"I see it," cried John suddenly. "What is it?"
"What is it," repeated Fred. "Don't you know?"
"A shark?"
"Of course it is," said Fred. "It must be a whopper, too."
Every one else saw the fin now and involuntarily a shiver passed over
most of those on the little boat. The great black fin sailed easily and
steadily along, just cutting the top of the water. Gruesome and
forbidding it looked and straightway recalled to the minds of the four
boys the stories they had so often heard of the hordes of man-eating
sharks that infested the waters of the West Indies.
"There's another," cried Grant suddenly.
Sure enough another fin joined the first and one ahead of the other the
sharks cruised around the waters near the life-boat.
"Zowie!" exclaimed George. "I guess I'm glad I'm not in the water just
now."
"Same here," said Fred thankfully. "I wonder what they'd do to you."
"Well, I'm not curious enough to find out," said George grimly. "They
can't touch us here in the boat, anyway."
"That's true enough," said Grant. "I say we don't waste any more time
looking at them, either. Personally, I'd rather be ashore."
Once more the oars were dipped into the water and the voyage was
continued. The sharks also came along and their fins could be seen first
on one side of the boat and then on the other; sometimes they appeared
in front and sometimes astern. Relentlessly they followed, however, all
the way to the shore.
As the boat came nearer the land the boys got more of an idea of the
place they were approaching.
"I don't see any houses," remarked John.
"Nor I," agreed Fred. "It doesn't look as if there was a human being on
the island. It looks fertile enough, though."
"Well, we'll know all about it before long," said Grant. "Where shall we
land?"
"What's the matter with that little harbor straight ahead?" said Fred.
"All right," exclaimed Grant. "Steer us in there, Sam."
"No matter what kind of a place it is I'll certainly be glad to get on
shore again," said George eagerly. "I've had about all I want of boats
for a while."
"I agree with you, Pop," said Fred. "I've had enough, too."
"I wish we'd see a steamer," sighed John.
"I wish a steamer would see us," said Grant. "I think that would be more
to the point."
"We've simply got to be picked up soon," said John. "Our food won't last
a great many days longer."
"It's good for a week, anyway," said Fred. "Some one will surely find us
by that time. We can hoist a flag on top of that hill up there. A
passing steamer would be sure to see it."
"There may be people on the island for all we know," said Grant. "We
can't see it all from here and it must be at least a mile long."
"We'll know soon, anyway," exclaimed John. "Don't run us onto any rocks
on the way in, Sam."
"No, sah," grinned Sam. "Jes' leave dat to me."
The shore of the island was low and sandy. Wide white beaches ran down
to the water's edge, while a short distance back were many palms and
other trees of which the boys did not know the names. As Fred remarked,
the island certainly looked fertile. Great excitement filled the breasts
of every member of the party as they neared the shore.
"The sharks have gone," exclaimed John suddenly.
"Sure enough," said George. "I had forgotten all about them."
"There they are out there," said Grant indicating a spot some fifty
yards astern of the boat. "They're not alone, either."
Ten or a dozen great fins could be seen weaving in and out in the place
Grant had indicated.
"It must be shallow in here," remarked Fred. "That's probably why they
don't come in any closer. Look out for going aground, Sam."
"Not de leas' dangah of dat," replied Sam confidently and whether he
knew what he was talking about or not, the fact remains that a few
moments later the bow of the boat grounded softly on the white sand,
only a few feet from the shore.
"First ashore," cried George leaping overboard and dashing up on the
beach.
"Hey, there! Wait a minute," shouted Grant. "We've got to pull this boat
up and we'll need everyone's help."
"We'd better take the provisions out," said Fred a moment later when
they had hauled the boat some distance up on the shore.
"What for?" demanded George who was always opposed to doing any more
work than was absolutely necessary.
"Put them somewhere in the shade I say," exclaimed Fred. "Take out that
cask of water, too. Those things have been broiling in the sun too long
already."
"Let's take everything out except the oars," said Grant. "We'll probably
be here for a couple of days and we might as well do it now as any time.
I don't believe we'll be picked up before then; at least there is a good
chance that we won't."
"All right," agreed George. "Take everything out then. As soon as that's
done though, I'm going to see what the other side of this island looks
like."
"We all will," said John. "Let's do this first though."
They all fell to work with a will and soon had the the boat unloaded.
The contents were placed under a sheltering grove of mangrove trees a
short distance away. The boat was hauled a little farther up on shore
and then the boys prepared to start on their tour of inspection. Sam
followed as a matter of course.
"Say, this is a pretty fine island," exclaimed George as they started
out.
"Pineapples," cried Grant, excitedly. "What do you think of that?"
"Are they ripe?" demanded George as the little band swooped down upon
the cluster of plants.
"They certainly are," said Grant, who quickly produced his jackknife and
cut off the top of one of the pineapples. "Watch me eat it," and he
began to eat the juicy fruit with great relish. He was not far ahead of
the others, however, for soon they were all busily engaged in the same
way.
At last they had their fill of pineapples and moved on. Banana trees
were discovered, standing in rows as if they had been planted.
"Somebody lives on this island, or used to anyway," remarked Grant.
"Those trees never grew wild like that."
"Of course not," said John. "It doesn't look as though they'd been
cultivated lately though."
"We'll find out before long anyway," said Fred. "If there are people
here all I hope is that they're not cannibals."
"Dey no cannibals heah," said Sam so seriously that every one laughed.
"I hope not, Sam," said Fred, smiling. "I'd hate to be eaten."
They crossed the island which was not more than a half-mile wide at this
point, and that seemed to be the average most of the way. The view was
the same as on the opposite side; not a thing to be seen but the
boundless ocean with not a speck of a sail or a bit of land within
sight. It was a little kingdom all of its own. A quarter of a mile from
shore the low rollers broke ceaselessly on a coral reef, while overhead,
the gulls swept around and around, their plaintive whistle being very
distinct at times.
In silence the boys stood and gazed at the ocean.
"Looks as if we were alone in the world, doesn't it?" said Fred at last.
"It surely does," said George. "I somehow feel as if there ought to be
some sort of a big black king sitting under one of these palm trees with
about twenty slaves standing around fanning him."
"Speaking of black," remarked John. "What has happened to Sam?"
"He went back to the boat," said Fred, but as he spoke Sam suddenly
appeared, running towards the little group at full speed. That he was
greatly excited about something could be plainly seen from his manner.
"What is it, Sam?" demanded Grant as the erstwhile cook came puffing and
blowing up to the spot where the four boys stood. "What's the matter?"
"De boat," gasped Sam. "De boat am gone."