Whenever a gust bore down upon them that caused the boat to move he would hurry inside, and give Thad a look of mute appeal that was very forceful. It meant that Bumpus wanted the leader to give the word to disembark. Though the island presented but a dismal prospect for the castaways, anything was better than running the risk of being blown adrift again. And Bumpus did want to feel solid ground under his feet again more than words could say.
Thad, however, did not mean to desert their comfortable quarters so easily, and had made up his mind to wait until the danger became more real and apparent. This must all depend upon the force and direction of the wind, which, however, all of them could see was steadily veering toward the northwest.
CHAPTER XIV.
STILL SURROUNDED BY PERILS.
“We’re lucky to be here and not out there on that water,” Thad said, in the ear of the stout scout, as he came upon him standing in the lee of the cabin, and looking across the river, which seemed very wide at this point, though probably extremely shallow despite the flood.
“I should say we were,” admitted Bumpus, shaking his head. “Looks ugly, doesn’t it, with the wind flaws rushing over the water every little way, and making a dark streak with each squall? But don’t you think she’s still rising, Thad?”
“No doubt about it,” he was told. “When I came out here a while ago it stood six inches below that black mark on the rock you can see there, and look what it is now.”
“Not more’n three,” muttered Bumpus apprehensively; “but, Thad, you don’t really think she’s going to keep on rising, and that some time the whole island’ll be covered, do you?”
Seeing what had been worrying Bumpus, Thad did not do as was Giraffe’s usual habit, add to his fears by portentous suggestions. On the contrary he sought to dissipate all such uneasy thoughts by plain common sense.
“That could hardly happen, Bumpus,” he told the other plainly; “if you use your eyes you’ll see the land keeps on rising as it leaves the water, so that it stands to reason there’s quite an elevation about the middle of the island. And as the rain has stopped, with signs of the clouds breaking over in the northwest, I figure that while the river may continue to rise all day, the increase will get less and less, so that by another morning it ought to be back in its regular banks again.”
“Well, I’m sure glad to hear you say that, Thad, because, you know, I’m not near as spry as Davy about climbing trees. He’s a born monkey, if ever there was one, and likes nothing better than to hang by his toes from a limb fifty feet up. Now, I’d look nice doing that, wouldn’t I? So what you tell me eases my mind a whole lot.”