CHAPTER IX
ALONE ON AN ISLAND
Of course our hero’s position was not to be compared with that of one left on a lonely island in the Pacific, but it was not agreeable. He was only three miles from the mainland, but there was no chance to cross this brief distance. He had no boat, and though he could swim a little, he would inevitably have been drowned had he undertaken to swim to shore.
Robert had read “Robinson Crusoe,” and he naturally thought of that famous mariner on finding himself in a similar position.
He had never been on Egg Island before and he knew it only as he had seen it from the mainland or from a boat.
“That’s a mean trick of Uncle John,” said Robert to himself. “If I had suspected what he was after I wouldn’t have got out of the boat.”
Just then he saw the boat turn, the fisherman pulling for the island.
Robert felt relieved. He was not to be left on the island after all. He sat still and waited for the boat to approach.
“Well, how do you like it?” asked Trafton when he was within a few rods.
“Not very well,” answered our hero.