Making sure that the hut was vacant, they all went closer and looked inside. It contained nothing except some rudely made mats of grass and leaves and some low stools made of wood. In one corner on a flat stone were some ashes of a fire.
“Some one must have lived here and cooked here,” said Mrs. Brown. “But as the hut hasn’t any chimney, I should think they would have been smoked out.”
“Perhaps they used charcoal,” said her husband. “That doesn’t smoke much and the fumes of it would go out of the cracks,” and he pointed to several openings in the walls and roof of the hut.
“I like it here,” said Bunny Brown.
“So do I,” echoed Sister Sue.
“Well, it will be the best place for us to stay, I think,” said Mrs. Brown. “Do you really think the ship will be gone all night?” she asked her husband.
“It’s hard to say,” he answered. “What happened I don’t know. But I don’t believe Captain Ward purposely went away and left us. He will be back as soon as he can and take us off. Meanwhile we must make the best of it.”
“That’s what we’ll do,” said Mrs. Brown, with a little laugh. “We’ll camp out here. I brought along some steamer rugs,” she added to her husband. “They are in the boat. I thought maybe the children might want to lie down here on the island. Now the rugs will be bed clothes for us. We have plenty of food, but I should like something hot. I don’t suppose,” she said to the sailors, “that there is anything like a teakettle in the boat or some tea? We might make a fire and have tea, if there was,” she said.
“Yes’m, there’s tea in the boat, and coffee too,” said Will.
“There is?” cried Mrs. Brown, in delight.