"Let's walk along the edge here," Captain Ole suggested. "We'll come to your end of the island about as soon that way as to go back," he added as he started to lead the way along the edge of the grove. "I reckon you were right about these being cocoanut trees," he said after they had gone a hundred feet or so. As he spoke he stooped and picked up from the ground beneath one of the trees a large nut which looked like an ordinary cocoanut except that it was much smoother.
"Break it open and see what's inside," Jack suggested.
"Just what I was going to do," the captain said throwing the nut with all his strength against a large rock.
The blow cracked the nut wide open and nearly a half pint of white milk ran out on the ground before he could pick it up.
"It's a cocoanut all right," he declared as he showed them the white meat inside. "And it has a mighty good flavor," he added as he broke off a piece and thrust it into his mouth.
They all sampled it and found it, as the captain had said, of excellent flavor.
"Maybe that was Mr. Burbank," Jack grinned as he swallowed a good sized mouthful of the meat. "He may have moved out here and is inventing a new kind of nut."
CHAPTER XI.
THEY FIND THE CAVE.
They were walking slowly along listening with all their ears and keeping their eyes turned, for the most of the time, toward the grove. The captain was in the lead with Mr. Lakewood close behind him; then came Jack followed by Pat, while Bob brought up the rear. They had just passed the last of the trees when Bob felt the swish of some object as it flew past his head and landed on the back of the first mate's head with a resounding crack. That worthy at once pitched forward and fell face down. Bob sprang and turned him over at the same time calling to the others.