“I suppose he would know the shoals and tides better than we do,” said Luke.
“I’ve got the newest chart,” declared Neale. “And we will have a care in getting near the islands. Now, don’t say anything to scare the girls.”
“How will you scare them?” Luke wanted to know. “Agnes will always take a chance, and Ruth really isn’t much afraid of anything. As for the kids——”
“Well, then,” Neale added, grinning, “say nothing to Mr. Howbridge or he will want to send up to the hotel for Hedden. And Hedden, you know, would want to serve afternoon tea at five, even if we were wrecked on a desert island.”
They laughed over the possibilities of catastrophe, without considering that anything may happen upon a voyage like this, and in these tropical but treacherous seas.
The day was gloriously fair, and the motor at first acted as though charmed. The craft, named Isobel, made the circuit of the island long before evening. They had kept well off shore and were then in sight of the string of pearl-like islets that extended farther than they could see into the southeast. Palm-fronded, edged with white ruffles of water, and in the distance hazed in blue, they made an entrancing picture.
“We must see them all,” Ruth declared. “Doesn’t your chart tell you where there is a cove, or bay, where we can spend the night in safety, Neale?”
“Of course. And we can get there before nightfall,” declared Neale.
“What do you say, Mr. Howbridge?” Ruth asked their guardian.
“It seems quite safe to venture,” the lawyer returned. “Is the engine acting all right, boys?”