CHAPTER XXIII.
THE VOYAGE OF THE "APHRODITE."
Saturday dawned soft and warm. After breakfast the boys cooked the few provisions that remained, intending to eat their mid-day meal in the boat, as a mere luncheon, and to satisfy their appetites with better food of Maum Sally's preparing, when they should arrive at Bluffton.
They filled the coffee-pot with drinking water—for the water kegs of the Red Bird had been lost in that boat's mishap,—and bestowed their other scant belongings on board. The moment that the outgoing tide grew slack they began their homeward voyage, giving the old camp three lusty, farewell cheers, and parting with their old associations there with a touch of real regret.
For the first mile or two Ned and Jack were at the oars. Then Charley relieved Ned, as the boat drew out from among the low-lying marsh islands into a broad stretch of water.
The wind was blowing in from the sea, not strongly, but steadily, and after an hour's rowing Jack saw that Ned was rather uneasily watching some light, low-flying banks of mist which were scudding along overhead.
"What is it, Ned?" he asked.
"Nothing of importance—or at least I hope so."
"Well, what is it? Do those little clouds mean rain?"
"I wish they did," said Ned; "but they're not clouds, at least in the usual sense, and I'm afraid they don't mean rain."