night two years ago, in a boat that belonged to Dave Rodigrass,--I
was bringing her up from Little Duck Island, for him. It was
thicker'n burgoo, an' when I got the other side o' this pint, I
heard a feller sing out from this side that he was aground, an' he
warned me off, an' when I got here I couldn't see him, an' pretty
soon he begun shoutin' from the other side. I tell yer I thought
I'd got 'em again, or something, an' I--"

The Captain's recollections stopped that instant, for a voice--a
loud, cheerful voice--arose only a few feet from us. It came from
the other side of the sail, and that was all we could tell about
it.

"Look out there!" it shouted, "look out! Oh, I mean: ship ahoy!
ship ahoy!"

This hail came so suddenly that it made us jump, and Ed Mason, who
was standing up forward, nearly fell overboard. He grabbed the
mast to save himself, and then we all stooped to looked under the
sail. The shouting had begun again, and there was a great racket
of "Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!"





CHAPTER II

A MAN ON A DESERT ISLAND