Jim used the paddle until tired, and then Joe did the same. By this time it was high noon, and observing a small island ahead they agreed to make a landing there and take lunch. They could have done this just as well in the boat, but they had been in their cramped posture so long that they wanted to “stretch their legs.”
The island on which they landed was a small one, being no more than a hundred feet in length, and its widest portion was less than half of that. The middle was perhaps three or four feet above the level of the water, so that the patch of land resembled one of those patent door mats, which, being raised in the center, shed all the water that falls upon them.
There was not a particle of vegetation on the island—not so much even as a spear of grass. There were a few twigs and bits of limbs that had floated down and lodged against the upper point, but altogether there was not an armful.
It was of no concern to the boys that they found this strip of sand so uninviting, for they did not mean to stay there more than an hour or two at the most. The sun was hot, and they would have enjoyed the luxury of stretching beneath some shady tree; but since that was out of the question they did not bemoan it. The umbrella which they had brought answered very well as a substitute. Its long handle was jammed into the sand near the middle of the island, and its shade almost sheltered their bodies.
Protected in this fashion, they brought forth their big lunch basket, and fell to with an appetite such as I trust all of you possess.
In making their way to the camping site, as it may be called, Jim Allison carried the umbrella and lunch basket. More from habit than anything else Joe brought the rifles with him. He did not dream that any necessity would arise for their use, but had some idea that he might lie under the shade of his umbrella, and pick off something in the river or along shore.
The division of the stream, produced originally by the sandy bar or island, caused the curving water to wear away the main shores on either side, until the river at that portion took upon itself the character of a lake or lagoon. From the island to either bank was a distance of fully two hundred yards, so that it would have taken good marksmanship on the part of the boys to bring down anything on the main land.
One peculiarity had been noted by both. The region seemed to be a favorite one with alligators. They could be seen basking in the sun along the banks, with here and there a snout moving lazily over the water in quest of prey. They were not liable to disturb the boys so long as they remained in the dugout, but if by some chance they should be capsized among a school of them, it might have gone ill with our young friends.
“I think,” remarked Jim, speaking as well as he could with his mouth full of corn cake, “that after ascending a few miles further we’ll land and take to the woods.”
“Not a bad idea,” spluttered Joe, from behind the cold chicken that threatened to suffocate him; “we can build a fire and sleep in the woods to-night; then we’ll have all day to-morrow for the hunt, and can go home the next day.”