Then he turned and tottered with trembling limbs towards the canoe. He tried to speak, but no words came, and his face was pallid and horror-stricken.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE ISLE OF SKELETONS.
Believing that some terrible danger threatened, Forbes was in readiness to push the canoe back into the lake, but Guy stopped him with a wave of the hand.
"I'll be all right in a moment. My nerves went back on me; that's all."
He glanced toward the shore with a shudder, and then filled the palm of his hand with water and drank it.
"Come on," he said bravely; "don't be alarmed. It's nothing that can harm us."
His companions followed him timidly up the sandy slope. The torch threw a bright light on the scene, and every one of them shuddered as Guy stopped and pointed before him.
On a flat, rocky plateau, three or four feet above the level of the lake, lay a gleaming mass of bones, all dried and whitened by age.
"Human skeletons, by gracious!" burst from the colonel, and it was easy to see that he spoke the truth.