CHAPTER XIII
THE CRUSOES OF SEVEN ISLANDS
All on board of the rowboat watched the thin trail of smoke withinterest.
"I believe it is going away from us," said Dora.
"No, it is coming closer," said Nellie.
"It is certainly moving to the northward," put in Sam.
A quarter of an hour went by and the smoke came only a little nearer.
"She is a big steamer," said Captain Jerry. "But she aint comin' jestthis way."
"You are sure?" cried Tom.
"Yes, lad. It's too bad, but it can't be helped."
The old sailor was right; half an hour later the smoke had shifted,and after that it faded gradually from sight.
It was a heavy blow, after their expectations had been raised sohigh, and tears stood in the eyes of all of the girls, while the boyslooked unusually sober.
What was to do next? All asked that question, yet it was only CaptainJerry who answered it.
"Let us pull southward," said he.
And they did so, although with hearts that were as heavy as lead intheir bosoms.
Slowly the night came on. Shortly after the sun set the moon showeditself and the sky became studded with stars, the Southern Crossstanding out boldly among them. The pale light made the bosom of theocean glisten like silver.
"A beautiful night," said Dora. "But who can enjoy it when we do notknow what to-morrow will bring forth," and she sighed deeply.
The boys and old Jerry continued to take turns at rowing, while thegirls sank into fitful slumber.
Presently the old sailor raised his head.
"Listen!" he said, and they did so, and far away heard a strange booming.
"What's that?" questioned Sam.
"It's breakers!" cried Tom. "We must be near some coast!"
"The lad is right," came from Captain Jerry. "We are near an island,after all!"
Dick stood on a seat, and, as the boat rode to the top of a wave,took a look around.
"An island!" he cried. "Dead ahead!"
"Hurrah! We are saved!" ejaculated Sam. "What is the matter?" questionedDora, rousing up, followed by the other girls.
"There is an island ahead."
"We must be careful how we approach the shore, lads," cautioned Jerry."If we strike the rocks, it may cost us our lives. Perhaps we hadbetter hold off until daylight."
"I see a stretch of sand!" came from Tom, who was standing up. "Ifwe can reach that, we'll be all right."
Old Jerry took a careful look. The sand was there, true enough, butthere were dangerous breakers between the boat and that shore.
"If you say so, we can run our chances," he said. "The young ladiesmust hold tight, and not mind a good ducking."
The force of the waves was now carrying them closer and closer tothe breakers. Under old Jerry's directions the boys took a short,sharp stroke, keeping the rowboat straight up to the waves. The noisewas like thunder, and soon the spray was flying all over them.
"Now pull!" cried Captain Jerry. "One, two, three! Hold tight, girls!"And away they went into the breakers. One wave dashed over the craft,but it was not swamped, and before another could hit them they dartedup a swell and onto a long, sandy beach.
In a twinkle the old sailor was out, along with Dick, and, aided byanother wave, they ran the boat well up the beach, out of the harmof the waves. It was a hard struggle, and when it was over Dick sankdown almost exhausted.
"Saved!" murmured Dora, as she leaped out on shore. "Thank Heaven!"And all of the others echoed the sentiment.
The empty boat was pulled up out of harm's way and chained fast toa palm tree growing near, and then the party of seven sat down torest and to talk over the new condition of affairs. They were on awild, tropical coast, with a long, sandy beach running to the ocean,and back of this a dense mass of tropical vegetation, including palms,plantains, cocoanuts, and date trees. Back of the heavy growth wasa distant hill, standing out dimly in the moonlight.
"This looks like a regular Crusoe-like island," said Dora, as shegazed around. "There is not a sign of a habitation anywhere."
"A good many of the South Sea islands are not inhabited," said Dick."The natives won't live on them because they are subject to volcanoeruptions, earthquakes, and tidal waves."
"Well, I hope we don't have any of those things while we stay here," camefrom Nellie. "An earthquake would scare me almost to death."
"I do not see that we can do better than to stay right here for therest of the night," said Tom. "I am too tired out to walk very, far."
It was decided to follow Tom's advice, and all made themselves ascomfortable as circumstances permitted. They had some matches in awaterproof safe, and soon a camp-fire was started, at which theydried some of their garments. Then, after eating some of the provisionsthat were left, they laid down to rest. Strange as it may seem allslept soundly until sunrise, and nothing came to disturb them.
When the girls arose they found the boys and Captain Jerry alreadypreparing breakfast. On the shore Tom, had found some oysters andshell-fish, and these were baking. Among the provisions were a littletea and coffee, and old Jerry had made a pot of coffee, which didone good to smell. Sam had brought down some cocoanuts from a nearbytree, and also found some ripe bananas.
"We won't starve' to death here, that's certain," said Dick, whenthey all sat down to eat. "The island is full of good things. If Ihad a gun I could bring down lots of birds, and monkeys, too."
"I don't think I'd care to eat a monkey," said Grace. "But I wouldn'tmind eating birds."
"There must be plenty of fish here, too," said Tom. "In fact I sawsome sporting in the waters of a little bay up the coast."
"Shall we go up and down the coast after breakfast?" asked Sam.
"My advice is to climb yonder hill and take a squint around," camefrom Captain Jerry.
"That's a splendid idea, providing we can get to the tap," said Dick.
"There is no use of all of us going, lad. You can go with me whilethe rest stay here."
"What shall we do in the meantime?" asked Sam.
"Better try your hand at fishin', lad, and see if you can knock somebirds over with sticks and stones. If ye get anything, let the girlscook us somethin', for we'll be powerful hungry by the time we get back."
Half an hour later Captain Jerry and Dick set out. Each carried afew ship's biscuits and also a heavy stick which had been cut in thethickets. Each wished he had a gun or a pistol, but those articleswere not to be had.
The climb up the hill was by no means an easy one. The rocks wererough and in many spots the jungle of brush and vines was so thickthat to get through was next to impossible. It was very warm, andthey had to stop often to cool off and catch their breath.
"I don't wonder that people in hot countries move slowly," said Dick."I feel more like resting than doing anything else."
It was almost noon when they came in sight of the top of the hill.There were still some rough rocks to climb, and these they had toascend by means of some vines that grew handy.
"What a magnificent view!" cried Dick.
It certainly was magnificent. Looking back in the direction they hadcome they could see the Pacific Ocean, glittering in the brightsun-light and stretching miles and miles out of sight.
The island they were on looked to be about half a mile in diameter.Northward, eastward, and westward was the ocean, but to the southwardwas a circlet of six islands, having a stretch of calm water betweenthem. Between some of the islands the water was very shallow, whileelsewhere it looked deep.
"Seven islands in all," said old Jerry. "And not a sign of a houseor hut anywhere."
"We are the Crusoes of Seven Islands," said Dick. "But do you reallybelieve they are uninhabited?"
"Do ye see any signs of life, lad?"
"I must say I do not. It's queer, too, for I rather imagined one atleast of the other boats had reached this place."
"I thought the same. But it looks now as if they all went to Dav
yJones's locker, eh?"
"It certainly does look that way."
From the top of the hill they took a careful survey of the situation.The elevation was in the very center of the island. Down toward theother islands the slope was more abrupt than it was in the directionfrom which they had come.
"We can take a look at those other islands later on," said old Jerry."Reckon as how we have done enough for one day. If we don't git backsoon, they'll become anxious about us."
"I wish we had a flag," said Dick. "Here is a tall tree. We couldchop away the top branches and hang up a signal of distress. If wedid that, perhaps some ship would come this way and rescue us."
"Right ye are, lad, but it aint many ships come this way. They areafraid o' the rocks we run on."
Having looked around once more, to "git the lay o' the land," asCaptain Jerry expressed it, they started to descend the hill. Thisproved as difficult as climbing up had been.
Dick went in advance, and was half-way down when he stepped on aloose stick and went rolling into a perfect network of vines andbrushwood.
"Are ye hurt?" sang out old Jerry.
"No--not much!" answered the eldest Rover. "But my wind--Oh, goodnessgracious!"
Dick broke off short, and small wonder. As 'he arose from the holeinto which he had tumbled, a hissing sound caught his ears. Then upcame the head of a snake at least eight feet long, and in a twinklethe reptile had wound itself around the boy's lower limbs!