sea-fans, delicate as lace-work, and showing, in striking contrast
to the pure white of the coral, the most vivid reds, greens, and
royal purple. These, and masses of feathery seaweeds, waved to and
fro in the water as though stirred by a light breeze, and among
them darted and played fish as brilliant in coloring as tropical
birds. The boat seemed suspended in midair above fairy-land, and
even the children gazed down over its sides in silence, for fear
lest by speaking they should break the charm, and cause the
wonderful picture to vanish.

By noon the heat of the sun was so great that they sought shelter
from it on a little island, or key, of about an acre in extent,
that was covered with a luxuriant vegetation, and shaded by a
group of stately cocoa-nut palms. Mr. Elmer showed Mark how to
climb one of these by means of a bit of rope fastened loosely
around his body and the smooth trunk of the tree, and the boy
succeeded in cutting off several bunches of the great nuts that
hung just below the wide-spreading crown of leaves. They came to
the ground with a crash, but the thick husk in which each was
enveloped saved them from breaking. The nuts were quite green, and
Mr. Elmer with a hatchet cut several of them open and handed them
to his wife and children. None of them contained any meat, for
that had not yet formed, but they were filled with a white, milky
fluid, which, as all of the party were very thirsty, proved a most
acceptable beverage.

After eating the luncheon they had brought with them, and
satisfying their thirst with the cocoa-nut milk, Mark and Ruth
explored the beach of the little island in search of shells, which
they found in countless numbers, of strange forms and most