"All right, all right!" shouted Captain Bannister, "we hear yer.
You needn't ahoy so much."

But the voice continued to shout "Ship ahoy!" at a great rate,
until the "Hoppergrass" drew slowly ahead, and we could see what
had been hidden by the sail.

A sand-bar stuck out of the water, right in the middle of the
river. Only a few feet of it showed, and the island which it made
was very small. It was so small that the man who was sitting on it
had his legs drawn up till his knees came right under his chin, so
as to keep his feet from getting wet. He was a young man, about
twenty years old. He had on white trousers and a pink shirt, and
he was slowly waving a white canvas hat. His hair was sandy, and
very much ruffled, and his big, pale blue eyes were wide open, as
though he were surprised about something.

"Ship ahoy!" he remarked again, but in an ordinary conversational
tone, this time.

Then he climbed to his feet,--carefully, so as to keep the steep
sides of his little, sand island from giving way, and letting him
down into the water. As soon as he was standing up straight he
raised one hand in the air, as if he were in a play, and said:
"Rescued at last!"

Then he turned toward us, and remarked: "Gentlemen, I thank you."

"You better wait till you're on board," said the Captain, "before