"Not likely," corrected Ben, "and besides if we'd hit land the ship
would be ashore."

"Then what can we be on?" demanded Frank.

"Give it up," said Billy.

"Anybody got a match?" asked Frank.

Luckily there were no lack of these and as the boys carried them in
the waterproof boxes they had used on their previous expeditions they
were dry. Some were soon struck and a bonfire built of the brush and
wood they found about them.

It was a strange tropical scene the glare illuminated. All about were
palm trees and tropic growth of various kinds; many of the plants
bearing fruits unfamiliar to the boys. Some large birds, scared by the
light, flapped screaming out of the boughs above them as the bonfire
blazed up. They could now see that they had been pitched out of the
ship onto a muddy beach, the ooze of which stuck to their clothes like
clay. The spot in which they stood was a few feet above the sea level.

"Well, there's no use trying to do anything till daylight," said
Frank, "we had better sleep as well as we can and start out to try and
find a house of some sort in the morning."

All agreed this was a good plan and soon they were wrapped in slumber.
Frank's sleep was restless and broken, however, and once or twice he
had an uneasy feeling that something or somebody was prowling about
the "camp." Once he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes, like two