e. She had vanished, leaving not a trace
behind her, save a few planks remaining of the stock from which I had
built the boat; these, upon looking more carefully about me, I saw
floating in a little bunch near the middle of the lagoon. My clothes
had dried upon me during my sleep, and I was feeling just a trifle
chilled, but the air was already warming up, and a brisk walk along the
edge of the water and back again soon restored my circulation.

I climbed aboard the boat and, barefooted, padded softly along the deck
until I reached the cockpit, into which I dropped softly; then, peering
in under the deck, I looked to see whether any of the occupants were
stirring. They all appeared to be asleep except the boy, who, as soon
as my eyes became accustomed to the obscurity, I saw was sitting up,
rubbing his eyes and yawning. He presently saw me and was evidently
about to speak, but I silenced him with a gesture, and beckoned him to
come to me in the cockpit. He obeyed, and when he was standing beside
me, staring round him in wonderment, I pointed out the floating planks
to him and said:

"It has just occurred to me, Julius, that one of those planks, or
rather, a small portion of one of them, will be exceedingly useful to
us. I am therefore going to swim off and fetch one; and I want you to
stand here and keep watch while I am gone. If anyone wakes and wants to
come out from below, just tell them that I am having a swim, and that I
shall be much obliged if they will stay below until I return and am
dressed. My clothes are dry now, and I don't want to wet them again, so
I shall strip. You understand?"

"Sure! I get you all right," answered the lad. "I won't let any of
them out until you are ready to be seen again. Better `git' as quickly
as you can, hadn't you?"

I nodded, and, springing up on the deck, quickly threw off my clothes,
spread them in the sun so that any lingering moisture might be dried out
of them during my absence, and, dropping lightly to the sand, dashed
into the water and struck out. I was gone about half an hour, and it
was not until I was returning with my captured plank that the thought of
possible sharks occurred to me. However, I saw none, and got safely
back to the bank, where, having hauled up my plank, I at once proceeded
to dress in my now thoroughly dry clothes. The swim had greatly
refreshed me and I felt in excellent form for a good hearty breakfast.
But alas! I remembered our