"I wish there was something to eat here," said Alice, after a stroll about the vicinity of the hut. "Whoever lives here must get their supplies in from day to day, and eat them all up."
"Or they may be out after supplies now," added Mrs. Maguire.
The shadows were lengthening, but the sun was still bright, and it would not be night for several hours. There was a period of anxious waiting.
"I wonder if we hadn't better shout again, and fire a few shots?" remarked Paul. "We may be near our own steamer now, though it doesn't seem so. We might be in another country, for all we can tell."
"I believe we will give a few signals," agreed Russ. "And I can spare a couple of cartridges. I only wish I could see something worth eating to shoot at. Then I could be killing two birds with one stone—giving a signal and providing a meal."
But there seemed no suitable mark for the weapon to be aimed at, and, after they had united their voices in a chorus of calls, Russ fired twice—at intervals.
Then came a period of anxious waiting and silence.
"Call once more," suggested Ruth.
"Hark!" exclaimed Alice, raising her hand to add to her injunction, for Russ had been about to speak. "I heard something."
They all listened intently.