bank of sand in a waste of water; a prison-house rather
than a pleasure-ground. Eunice began to shiver, Mrs Bryce felt certain
that the grass was damp, and the professor was full of anxiety about his
_fiancee_. One and all they were thankful for the occupation of
erecting the flagstaff, and Arthur had no lack of assistants in his
task. The hole was dug out to the proper depth with the assistance of
such motley tools as the ferrules of sticks and parasols, and the stones
which were scattered along the beach, while the cloth was sewed to the
stick by the careful Esther, who never by any chance travelled about
without a needle full of cotton in her pocket, in company with such
other usefuls as sticking-plaster, hair-pins, and camphor pills. The
camphor pills were brought forth now, and received a very different
welcome from that which would have been afforded them an hour before.
Even Peggy took her turn with the rest, and though the men drew the line
at such an exhibition of weakness, they hinted that an additional cup of
tea would be acceptable in its stead.

"We have done all we can, so now let us go back to our meal, and be as
jolly as we can," said Arthur.

"We will brew a fresh lot of tea and drown our sorrows in the bowl; and
if the viands give out, Mellicent can get us bread from the bread-trees
and milk from the cocoanuts. Rob can climb up and bring one down, as he
is accustomed to savage regions. Where _is_ Rob, by the bye? He was
here ten minutes ago."

"He walked over to the other end of the island. I'll go round and give
him a call," Hector said; and in default of anything better to do his
companions followed in a long, straggling line, but no sign of Rob did
they find, only a little heap of clothing on the shore--a pair of boots,
a coat, and waistcoat, and a sailor hat, which told their own tale
plainly enough, even without the sight of the dark head which could
presently be observed bobbing up and down between the waves. Rob had
swum off to try to recover the boat, and was risking his life in the
effort!--For a moment horror held his friends dumb, then the men broke
into a chorus of denunciations.

"He'll never do it! He had no right to go off like that without
consulting us--without saying a word to a soul! A foolhardy trick!"

"He knew we would not let him try it. He is a capital swimmer, but it's
a stiff pull, and he can't catch her up, for she will drift with the
tide further and furthe