"It was Cora and Jack who had the idea," said Bess, when quiet had been a little restored. "They determined to charter a motor boat and go in search of you, after we heard that the Ramona had foundered in the storm. And of course we wouldn't be left behind."
"Brave girls," murmured their mother.
"Indeed they were brave," declared Jack, patting Bess on her plump shoulder.
"We—we were afraid of being left behind," confessed Belle. "So we came."
"But what have you done since being marooned here?" Cora wanted to know. "Wasn't it awful—just awful?"
"Not so awful!" answered Mr. Robinson, with a laugh that could be jolly now. "We've had a fine time, and you should see some of the orchids I have gathered! It was worth all the hardship!"
"But, really, it hasn't been so bad," said Mrs. Kimball. "The weather was delightful, except for the two storms, and we have had enough to eat—such as it was. We have been camping out, and no more ideal place for such a life can be found than a West Indian coral island in December."
She looked back amid the palms, among which grew in a tropical luxuriousness many beautiful blossoms, with birds of brilliant plumage flitting from flower to flower.
"And you look so well," commented Cora, for indeed, aside from traces of sunburn, the refugees were pictures of health.
"We are well," declared Mrs. Robinson. "But of course we have been terribly worried about you girls, and Jack, too. How are you, Jack?" she asked, anxiously.