Though their position was dismal enough, stranded as they were on a barren beach, with their boat half full of water, the lads were now strangely happy. The strain of their recent unnerving experience had been greater than they realized, and now it was over, the sheer joy of being alive, and of knowing that death was not likely to overtake them any minute, was more than enough to compensate for the fact that they were still far from being out of the wood. The sloop was resting firmly enough on the sand, the receding tide leaving her high and dry. There remained a great deal of water to be pumped out of her bilge, but that could stay where it was for the present. No sign of any human habitation was visible on the island, but after resting a few minutes longer the boys went ashore and explored. They found nothing much to reward them. The island was little more than a barren rock, with sparse, coarse grass growing in places, and also a few low, straggling bushes. It was less than a thousand feet long, and only about two hundred feet across at its widest point. Possibly no human foot had stepped ashore there for years. Still, it offered a secure haven, and on that account the boys were thankful enough. By eating very sparingly of their slender supply of crackers they would at least be able to keep alive for the present.
“I don’t remember the geography of this part of the coast awfully well,” said Jack, after they had made a cursory examination of the place, “but if this is Lobster Island it can’t be so far off the mainland. The wind certainly isn’t quite so strong now. I believe the worst of the gale is over. I’m going to climb up to the top of that rock and see if I can spot the coast.”
The rock in question was not easy to scale, as it offered no secure foothold, but its summit was a full twenty feet above the level of the ocean, and before long the captain of the Sea-Lark was perched precariously on the top.
“Hooray!” he cried, shouting down to his chum, and pointing away to the north-west. “[We’re all right, George. I can see the coast plainly.] And there are two ships in sight—schooners, I think. That must be Bristow harbor over there.”
[“We’re all right, George. I can see the coast plainly”]
In his excitement he descended from his lofty perch a little too rapidly. Some distance from the bottom he slipped and came perilously near to breaking a bone or two as he rolled heavily to the spot where George stood. He barked his shins, and bruised one of his elbows, but was otherwise unhurt, and after rubbing the sore places for a few moments almost forgot about them, in view of the important discovery he had just made.
“If I can get that eye-bolt fixed in the top of the mast again,” he said, “we’ll be away from here within the next few hours.”
“There’s a biggish sea running,” George cautioned, his eyes roving the tumbling surface.
“It isn’t so bad,” replied the skipper. “Why, hang it! the wind isn’t half as strong as it was during the night. In another six hours or so we shall be able to slip across to Bristow in no time. You don’t want another night of it, do you?”