"Something has gone wrong with the boys!" he shouted; and Bob rushed on deck in the greatest excitement as he asked, impatiently:
"What's the matter? Have you seen anything?"
"No; but listen to that yelling. It isn't possible they have found human beings on the key, and unless they're in trouble I don't see why there should be such an uproar."
There was but little time for speculation. Almost before Joe ceased speaking the boys came from the underbrush at full speed and leaped into the boat after launching her, Jim and Walter pulling energetically at the oars while Harry waved some small object above his head.
CHAPTER XVIII.
A SINGULAR DOCUMENT.
In order to better understand the cause of the boys' excitement it will be well to follow them from the time they stepped ashore on the little key in search of water; otherwise it might require the reader more time than it did Bob and Joe to learn all the details of the story.
The novelty of standing on the solid earth once more, after having been tossed about by the sea, was very pleasant, and the boys enjoyed it hugely. The sun had not yet heated the cool night-air which lingered among the underbrush, and they plunged through the dense portions of the thicket as if the very contact of the foliage was a luxury.
The oddly-shaped leaves, unfamiliar trees and wire-like grass claimed their attention for fully half an hour to the exclusion of everything else, and it is barely possible that the purpose for which they landed might have been forgotten if Jim had not reminded them of the fact by saying: