“Let’s take some home for him!” proposed Sue, going toward them.
Before Bunny could answer there was a rustling in the bushes near the children. At first they thought it was just another cocoanut falling from a tree, for this often happened. But a moment later Sue, looking up, saw something that made her cry out:
“Look, Bunny! The wild man!”
Bunny glanced up and saw, thrusting itself out of the bushes, the head and face of the strange creature with his matted hair and long, straggly beard.
Sue was just going to run and Bunny was going to follow her when the wild man spoke. In a very gentle voice he said:
“Don’t be afraid, children! I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. I’m not half as wild as I look. I’m only a poor, shipwrecked sailor. I live in the little wooden house. There is some one in my house now, and that’s why I ran away from it. But don’t be afraid of me. I won’t harm you.”
“I—now—I’m not afraid,” declared Bunny.
“That’s right, my little chap—don’t be afraid! I wouldn’t hurt any one,” went on the man. “I have been very sick, and I guess I must have been out of my head. That’s why I ran away when I first saw you. But now I’m right again. I want to get off this island. Have you folks a boat? If you have we can sail away in her. Oh, I have been so lonesome here! I want to get away. Have you a boat?”
“My father has a boat,” said Bunny. “But we came off a steamer and it’s coming back for us.”
“That’s good!” cried the man, no longer wild. He dropped the club he carried and walked slowly toward Bunny and Sue.