FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91  
92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   >>   >|  
whaling, or discovering the North Pole. Every kid does that." "They do, eh?" said Charlie, evidently quite unimpressed. "_I_ never did." "That's because you've about as much imagination as a turnip in that head of yours," I broke in, in defence of my young Apollo. "Maybe, if you're so smart," continued Charlie, paying no attention to me, "you can navigate us through the North Bight?" "Maybe!" answered our youngster pertly, with an odd little smile. He had evidently recovered his nerve, and seemed to take pleasure in piquing Charlie's bearish suspicions. CHAPTER V _In Which We Enter the Wilderness._ Andros, as no other of the islands, is surrounded by a ring of reefs stretching all around its coasts. The waters inside this ring are seldom more than a fathom or two deep, and, spreading out for miles and miles above a level coral floor, give something of the effect of a vast natural swimming-bath. Frequently there is no more than four or five feet of water, and in calm weather it would be almost possible to walk for miles across this strange sea-bottom. Darker and solider grew the point on which our eyes were set, till at length we were up with a thick-set, little scrub-covered island which, compared with the low level of the line of coast stretching dimly behind it, rose high and rocky out of the water. Hence its name, "High Cay," and its importance along a coast where such definite landmarks are few. We were now inside the breakwater of the reefs, and the rolling swell of ocean gave way at once to a millpond calmness. Through this we sped along for some ten miles or so, following a low, barren coast-line till at length, to our right, the water began to spread out inland like a lake. We were at the entrance of North Bight, one of the three bights which, dotted with numerous low-lying cays, breaks up Andros Island in the middle, and allows a passage through a mazelike archipelago direct to the northwest end of Cuba. Here on the northwest shore is a small and very lonely settlement--one of the two or three settlements on the else-deserted island--Behring's Point. Here we dropped anchor, and Charlie, who had some business ashore, proposed our landing with him; but here again our passenger aroused his suspicions--though Heaven knows why--by preferring to remain aboard. If Charlie has a fault, it is a pig-headed determination to have his own way--but our passenger was politely obstinate. "Plea
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91  
92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Charlie

 

length

 

northwest

 
suspicions
 
stretching
 

evidently

 
Andros
 

island

 

passenger

 

inside


compared
 

importance

 

barren

 

breakwater

 

rolling

 
Through
 

calmness

 

millpond

 

landmarks

 
definite

Island

 
aroused
 

Heaven

 

business

 

ashore

 

proposed

 

landing

 
preferring
 

remain

 

politely


obstinate

 

determination

 

headed

 

aboard

 

anchor

 

dropped

 

breaks

 

middle

 

passage

 

numerous


dotted

 

inland

 

entrance

 

bights

 

mazelike

 

archipelago

 
settlements
 

settlement

 

deserted

 

Behring