“Nor have I,” said Harry.
Tom and the two boys made their way along the shore. Sometimes they had to climb over rocks, sometimes to wade through black sand. At length they reached a firmer beach, and got on better than at first.
The day was wearing on. They had had nothing to eat or drink since the previous evening. They all felt faint and hungry.
At length they caught sight of a stream of sparkling water trickling down the rocks. How eagerly they drank of it! It revived them, and they pushed on. They were anxious to fall in with natives before dark who might give them food and shelter.
The appearance of the country rapidly improved. At last, after climbing some rocks, they found themselves looking down into a beautiful bay, on the shore of which a number of women and girls were collected, who, from the way they were employed in combing their dark hair or dressing their heads with flowers, had apparently just come out of the water.
On seeing the three strangers several of the girls shrieked out. Among them was a tall, dignified-looking person, who, on observing Tom and the boys approaching, rose from the ground on which she had been seated and advanced towards them. To their surprise, she addressed them in broken English.
“Who you? where you come from?” she asked.
Tom replied that they were English, and had escaped from their ship, which had been wrecked some way along the coast.
“And, please, marm,” he added, “we are very hungry, especially these two boys, and shall be thankful if you will give us some food as soon as possible.”
“We are not more hungry than he is,” said Harry; “but he always thinks more of us than of himself.”