Roy J. Snell

“ She turned to look up the beach and encountered the gaze of her cousin Marion.
"Look!" she said, a wild gleam of terror in her eyes; "they are more cruel now than in those other days. They used to put them ashore with clothes and food, but now they throw them into the sea and allow them to save themselves if they can."
"What utter nonsense!" exclaimed Marion. "What in the world are you talking about?"
For answer, Lucile pointed toward the boat. ”

“ That night, before she fell asleep beside her cousin in their tent, Lucile pondered long about the stranger who had come into their camp. The island they were on was her father's island; the boat they had come in, her boat. It was her party. She, more than the others, was responsible for the boy. If an attempt was being made to smuggle him into the country, and the attempt was rendered successful through their actions, she could blame no one but herself. ”

“ Never a mist nor a cloud obscured the vision, yet not a sail nor coil of smoke of nearby craft. "What's more important is—we've got to help him," he said, seizing the oars and rowing vigorously. Booth, having hung the shrimp-trap across the bow, drew a second pair of oars from beneath the seats and joined his cousin in sending the clumsy craft toward the brown spot still bobbing in the water. ”

“ Always did like roaming about in an unexplored wilderness. Look at that fallen yellow pine, eight feet through if it is an inch—and the ferns are almost tall enough to hide it; and look at those black knights, the tamaracks, down in that gully. ”

“ The girls had wandered a long way from camp. Arriving there finally, quite out of breath, they found the boat drawn up on the beach. Hugh was adding fuel to the open fire, over which a kettle was already beginning to steam. Booth was hastily plucking the feathers from a Chinese pheasant, while the stranger lay rolled in a blanket with his face to the fire.
"Going to make him some broth," explained Booth, tossing a handful of feathers to the wind; "must be mighty weak. He swam a long way from somewhere, I'd say."
Lucile stole a glance at the stranger's face. She started. ”

“ They were on a deserted island with, perhaps, two weeks' provisions. Fish and game might lengthen this out a bit. They were to have remained here a month; buying provisions at a fishing-town fifteen miles away. Now what was to be done?
"We'd better go down the beach with our rifles, you and I," said Booth to Hugh. "They might have engine trouble, or something, and be obliged to land; then perhaps we could catch them off their guard."
"It's the only thing we can do," said Hugh. "It's a good thing we had the rifles in our tent, and the grub too, or they'd have stripped us clean." ”