"Now we'll turn in!" said Andy with a yawn. "It will be fun to sleep in our little house for the first time! Come on, girls—leave the washing-up till the morning. We are all tired out!"
Chapter 7
A Strange Discovery
The next day the children went to make sure that their sail-signal was still safely tied to the signal-tree at the top of the cliff. It was. It flapped there steadily, a signal to any passing ship that there were people on the island who needed help.
"Suppose no help comes?" said Tom. "Shall we have to stay here all winter?"
"Yes—unless you like to try and swim dozens of miles back home!" said Andy.
The children looked at one another. Stay there for the winter! It was all very well having an adventure on. an island for three or four days—but to stay there all the winter, in the bitter cold and raging storms, was not a pleasant thought.
"Don't look so gloomy," said Andy. "We may be rescued any day. I can't think that no ship ever passes these islands. After all, there were people living here not so long ago—and they must have had supplies from time to time—so the ships must come by here some-times. And maybe there are people living on one of the other islands. I think perhaps at a very low tide we could cross to the next island by that line of rocks over there—and explore that. We may find dozens of people,??? all we know!"
Every one cheered up. Of course! There seemed to??? or six islands near to their own; people would surely be living on one or other of them, especially on the bigger ones. Their own island was so small that it was a wonder anyone had ever bothered to build a house there, and tried to get a living on the rocky soil.
They went to see if their boat was still held fast between the two rocks. Yes—there it was, all on one side, the tide washing right over its decks,