frank stared uncomprehendingly toward the slowly-heaving waters of the bay.
“i can’t believe it!” he exclaimed. “the gull must be somewhere else. we’re at the wrong place.”
“i only wish we were,” spoke andy dubiously. “but you can see for yourself that this is where we camped. here is where our small boat was pulled up on shore, where we slept under it, and, if you want any better evidence—here’s grub! grub, frank do you hear? we shan’t starve, even if we are marooned!”
he raced to a clump of scrub bushes some distance up on shore and began pulling out boxes and tins.
“good!” shouted frank. “i never was so hungry before in my life. now if we could only make a fire!”
but that was out of the question. every bit of driftwood, of which there was a big supply, was soaking wet. the boys had plenty of matches, in waterproof boxes, but they would be useless until some dry fuel was available.
“well, it can’t be helped,” said andy, as he proceeded to open a tin of corned beef. “we ought to be thankful for this. open that tin box of crackers. luckily they’re not wet. we can make a meal off this, and we’ll have a cooked dinner. i wonder—why—blub—ugh—that man—um—lum—didn’t—”
“oh, don’t try to talk and eat at the same time,” requested frank with a laugh—the first since their adventure in the cave. “take your time.” for andy was fairly devouring the corned beef.
“hum! i guess you can’t be very hungry, or you wouldn’t take your time,” retorted the younger lad. “hurry up with those crackers. and there’s some jam, somewhere. oh, for a cup of hot coffee.”
“cheese it!” cried frank sharply. “do you want to make me throw something at you? but what were you trying to say when you had your mouth full a while ago?”
“i said it was a wonder that man didn’t take this grub with him when he took our boat and the gull!”
“i don’t know. maybe he couldn’t find the food. but what makes you think he took our boats?”
“they’re gone; aren’t they?”
“yes, but i think the tide carried away the small boat. the waves came up unusually high, as you can see by the marks in the sand. we didn’t pull the skiff up far enough.”
“what about the gull?”
“well, i admit he might have taken that, though there is a possibility that it dragged the anchor. we’ll take a look all around the island after we get things in shape. if we’ve got to stay here a while we might as well be comfortable.”
“i don’t believe we’ll stay very long.”
“why not?”
“because dad will start out and search for us if we don’t get home pretty soon, and the first place he’ll head for will be this island.”
“guess you’re right. pass the jam. my! but this tastes good!”
“good! i should say so!” agreed andy.
they made a rude but substantial breakfast, washing it down with plenty of spring water which they found a little way inland. then they talked matters over.
the first thing to do, they agreed, was to look for the gull, and to this end they once more ascended the cliff and looked all about. she was not in sight, nor was there any other craft on the waters that now sparkled in the sunlight, for the storm had passed away.
“the next thing to do is to make another circuit of the island,” went on frank. “we’ll do it as quickly as we can, and perhaps we can come upon our boat. it may have drifted ashore.”
together they started off. they planned to keep up the search all day, taking their lunch with them, and camping out at night, as they had done before.
“but first we’ll hoist a distress signal, in case dad comes for us, and we’ll leave a note saying where we have gone and that we’ll come back,” suggested frank.
this was done. they tied one of their coats to a tall tree well up on the cliff, where it could be seen by a boat coming from the direction of harbor view. then, leaving a note, written on a piece of paper from a cracker box, they set out.
up to noon they had found nothing, but an hour later andy, who was in the lead, suddenly uttered a cry as he turned a little promontory and started down a level stretch of beach.
“there’s our man!” he cried. “he’s just come ashore, and the wrecked motor boat is there too! it must have drifted away and he went after it. he has a man with him!”
frank saw what his brother indicated. disembarking from a large rowboat were two men—one the mysterious stranger who had imprisoned them in the cave. the other seemed to be a boatman, or fisherman. the two were pulling up on the beach the battered hull of the wrecked motor boat, now more dilapidated than ever.
“what shall we do?” asked andy.
“let’s go right up to him,” proposed frank. “he ought to be afraid of us now, and he may play right into our hands.”
they started forward, but were suddenly stopped by loud voices between the two men, neither of whom had yet noticed the approach of our heroes.
“i want my pay now!” they heard the boatman declare.
“and you won’t get it until i’m ready to give it to you,” retorted the mysterious man angrily. “now you help me get this boat farther up on the sand.”
“i won’t do another thing! i’m done with you. give me my money!”
“no!”
“then take that!”
with a quick motion the boatman drew back his fist and sent it with all his force into the face of the mysterious man. the latter reeled under the blow, staggered for a second, and then toppled over backward on the sand, falling heavily.
“try to cheat me, will you!” shouted the man. then he caught sight of the boys. a change seemed to come over him. he shoved out the big rowboat, ran out after it, holding to the stern and then leaped in. the next moment he was pulling away lustily.
the mysterious man lay motionless on the sands.
“now’s our chance!” cried frank. “that was a lucky quarrel for us. we can capture him. that boatman saved us a hard job. come on, andy!”
together the brothers ran forward.
