“Well, we must stop dreamin’, and git ashore as fast as we can. I think there’s dry land all the way to the beach; if not, it’ll only be a short swim. Whether it’s an island or what, I don’t know; but let’s be thankful, boy, that it looks big enough to hold us. Come, cheer up!”
To this Billy replied that he was quite jolly, and ready for anything; and, by way of proving his fitness for exertion, began to crawl over the rocks like a snail!
“That’ll never do,” said Gaff with a short laugh; “come, wrestle with me, youngster.”
The Bu’ster accepted the challenge at once by throwing his arms round his father’s waist, and endeavouring to throw him. Gaff resisted, and the result was that, in ten minutes or so, they were comparatively warm, and capable of active exertion.
Then they clambered over the rocks, traversed the neck of sand, and quickly gained the shore.
Ascending the cliffs with eager haste, they reached the summit just as the sun rose and tinged the topmost pinnacles with a golden hue. Pushing on towards an elevated ridge of rock, they climbed to the top of a mound, from which they could obtain a view of the surrounding country, and then they discovered that their place of refuge was a small solitary island, in the midst of the boundless sea.