It was a great undertaking to convey the bodies so far, but all three of the boys believed they were fully warranted in such an expenditure of strength and energy, because of the relief of mind which would be theirs when the corpses were so far from the camp that even the burial-place could not be seen.
It was considerably past noon when they arrived at the opposite shore, and then it was necessary to dig the grave.
Owing to the fact that the deposit of sand on the coral foundation of the island was shallow, this was not a long nor a difficult task, and the boys felt a decided sense of relief when the canvas shrouds were hidden from view.
Both murderers, and both murdered, they shared a common grave where their bones might at any time be disturbed by the action of the waves, and there was little doubt but that during the next severe storm the bodies would be disinterred.
There was nothing the boys could do to prevent this unless they had been willing to bury them in the center of the island overlooking their camp, which would be in the highest degree disagreeable.
The spot selected was where Ned had been landed, and there was a certain poetic justice in thus leaving the two where they had left the boy who had been so unfortunate as to have heard their guilty secret.
“It’s lucky for me they concluded that I must be marooned,” Ned said as they retraced their steps over the hot, shimmering sand. “If they hadn’t done that most likely I’d been taken in the boat with them to prevent my telling the men what I’d heard, an’ in that case where would I be now?”
“Overboard, I reckon,” Roy replied in a tone of awe. “It must have been a terrible fight before the first man died, and you would have been forced over the side while they were leaping around trying to kill each other. Spider Key has used you mighty well, according to my way of thinking.”
“That’s a fact, and I’m expecting to have yet better luck here. When we get back to camp I’m goin’ to open up a scheme to you fellows, an’ I hope you’ll see things in the same light I do.”
“What’s in the wind now?”