“Put them somewhere in the shade I say,” exclaimed Fred. “Take out that cask of water, too. Those things have been broiling in the sun too long already.”
“Let’s take everything out except the oars,” said Grant. “We’ll probably be here for a couple of days and we might as well do it now as any time. I don’t believe we’ll be picked up before then; at least there is a good chance that we won’t.”
“All right,” agreed George. “Take everything out then. As soon as that’s done though, I’m going to see what the other side of this island looks like.”
“We all will,” said John. “Let’s do this first though.”
They all fell to work with a will and soon had the the boat unloaded. The contents were placed under a sheltering grove of mangrove trees a short distance away. The boat was hauled a little farther up on shore and then the boys prepared to start on their tour of inspection. Sam followed as a matter of course.
“Say, this is a pretty fine island,” exclaimed George as they started out.
“Pineapples,” cried Grant, excitedly. “What do you think of that?”
“Are they ripe?” demanded George as the little band swooped down upon the cluster of plants.
“They certainly are,” said Grant, who quickly produced his jackknife and cut off the top of one of the pineapples. “Watch me eat it,” and he began to eat the juicy fruit with great relish. He was not far ahead of the others, however, for soon they were all busily engaged in the same way.
At last they had their fill of pineapples and moved on. Banana trees were discovered, standing in rows as if they had been planted.