“Hurray!” cried Joe, as he stretched himself. “Just the day for a launching. And the breeze is in the right direction too, if I’m any judge. We’ll fetch some island now. I’m sure of it, though why we haven’t done so before is a mystery to me.”
“That’s so—and we haven’t even sighted a ship,” added Abe. “I never heard tell of such a thing—drifting about in this part of the ocean as long as we have, and never a sight of the thousand and one islands that are scattered around here. It’s fair strange. But we’ll soon be all right.”
Mr. Skeel sat dejected and alone, some distance from the others, and they did not speak to him. Their hearts were too bitter against him. The scanty breakfast was served, Jackie alone getting a full ration, though naturally he did not eat much. There was plenty of water, however, but of food they must be sparing, for there was no telling how long their voyage might yet last.
“Well, what’s to be done about him?” asked Abe, when they had collected their scanty belongings in the lifeboat, and were about ready for the launching.
“That’s a problem,” declared Joe.
“We can’t leave him here, that’s certain,” decided Tom. “We have got to take him with us.”
“But he’s got to be told some plain facts,” insisted Abe. “He’s got to be made to understand that another treacherous move and overboard he goes!”
“Well, something like that,” admitted Tom. “But I guess he’s had his lesson.”