Ned was the first to rise to his feet and step outside the camp.
“See here, fellows,” he said after gazing toward the place where such a terrible sight had been seen, and noted the fact that the fragments of the boat were drifting past the island, “we mustn’t allow ourselves to be such fools. It was the swirl of the water that made those bodies swim around in that fashion.”
“Of course it was; but how horrible they looked!” Roy replied.
“That’s a fact; but we’ve got to brace up and get them out of the way. Most likely they’ll stay inside the reef until a storm throws them ashore, unless we do something.”
“What do you mean?”
“We are bound to bury them.”
“I wouldn’t go within fifty yards of where they are,” Vance said tremblingly. “It seemed as if they were trying to catch us.”
“Now you are talking nonsense. We have got to stay here, that’s certain, and it won’t do to have a place that we’re afraid of. It would be mighty disagreeable to see those corpses every time we were forced to pass there, and our only course is to get them under the sand as soon as possible. It won’t be so bad if we do the work now as if we waited and imagined all sorts of horrible things.”
“Ned is right,” Roy said as he stepped to the door of the tent, trying unsuccessfully to appear brave. “It will be a disagreeable job, and therefore should be finished at once.”
“And we’ve got to have their graves where we must look at them every day? It is horrible!” and again Vance covered his face to shut out the pictures conjured up by imagination.