soon as they arrived at the top, William cried out, "The sea, Ready!
there's the sea!"

"Very true, William, and I'm not sorry for it."

"I thought we never should get out of that nasty wood again," said
William, as he impatiently pushed on, and at last stood clear of the
cocoa-nut grove. Ready soon joined him, and they surveyed the scene
before them in silence.



Chapter XV

"Oh! how beautiful!" exclaimed William, at last; "I'm sure mamma would
like to live here. I thought the other side of the island very pretty,
but it's nothing compared to this."

"It is very beautiful," replied Ready, thoughtfully.

A more lovely scene could scarcely be imagined. The cocoa-nut grove
terminated about a quarter of a mile from the beach, very abruptly, for
there was a rapid descent for about thirty feet from where they stood
to the land below, on which was a mixture of little grass knolls and
brushwood, to about fifty yards from the water's edge, where it was met
with dazzling white sand, occasionally divided by narrow ridges of rock
which ran inland. The water was a deep blue, except where it was broken
into white foam on the reefs, which extended for miles from the beach,
and the rocks of which now and then showed themselves above water. On
the rocks were perched crowds of gannets and men-of-war birds, while