"Oh, cheer up, Cal! What's the matter with you? The skipper's sure to be here in a day or two, and is probably on his way to us at this very minute. And we've got lots to do before he comes, I can tell you. We must hoist a signal of distress on the very highest place we can find, and explore the island so as to discover its resources, and fortify our camp against—well, against anything, you know, and all sorts of things. Besides, we've got to cook dinner, and I think we'd better start in on that the very first thing."
With their gloom a little brightened by the prospect of immediate action, the Rangers set to work to prepare the first meal that they had ever undertaken all by themselves. They were somewhat dismayed to discover what serious inroads had been made in their stock of provisions; for only a portion of what was originally placed on board the sloop had been rescued from the inflowing water when she was wrecked, and in anticipation of her speedy return this had been used with the utmost freedom, not to say recklessness. But this was a trifling cause for anxiety when compared with the startling announcement that the contents of their largest water-barrel had leaked away until it was empty. Only one small cask of water remained to them; and, upon learning this, every Ranger immediately imagined that he was suffering from a burning thirst.
About cooking they really knew very little, though each member thought he knew enough to prepare a pretty fair meal for people who were not particular. So they all tried their hands at getting up that dinner, and a sadder culinary failure was never made. Everything was smoked, burned, underdone, or in some other way made uneatable, and they finally partook of a most unsatisfactory meal of dry crackers and smoked herring, which made them so very thirsty that but for the firmness of their young captain they would have drained the small cask then and there.
The cooking of succeeding meals was equally unsatisfactory, and by nightfall of the second day after the departure of their friends our Rangers had not only expended most of their provisions and drunk up all their water, but were thoroughly alarmed at their situation. The whole of that day had been spent on the highest point of the island, gazing with strained eyes over the surrounding waters in the hope of sighting some approaching sail. With the coming of darkness they sadly returned to camp, and flinging themselves gloomily down on their blankets, sought forgetfulness of their unhappy situation in troubled sleep.
Some hours later Will Rogers was awakened by little Cal Moody, who said, in a terrified whisper: "Oh, Will, there are pirates on the island, and they are swearing dreadfully, and I know we're all going to be murdered. I've been listening and watching them for a long time. See their lights down there?"
Sure enough, Will could see lights, like moving lanterns, down on the beach and out on the water, where they seemed to be passing to and fro between the land and a vessel that was dimly visible in the little harbor. He could also hear loud rough voices, and, as Cal had said, some of them were swearing.