was very warm and the water felt pleasant.
If he had only had an idea of where he was, Bob would not have
minded his position so very much.

It was just getting light when, happening to let his legs down for
an instant to rest them, he felt his feet touch something. At
first he had an unreasoning terror that it might be a big fish--a
whale or a shark--that had come up under him. Then he felt
whatever it was under his feet to be firm and hard. A dim shape
loomed up before him.

"It's land!" exclaimed Bob. "I've struck land! It must be one of
those islands the captain told about and that is the sandy beach my
feet arc touching."

He swam on a little further, and again let down his feet. To his
delight he could stand upright, the water coming to his chest.
Then, as it grew lighter, he could make out a low, sandy shore
lying stretched out before him.

"Land! Land!" exclaimed the boy. "I'm on land! But where are the
others?"

CHAPTER XIX

FINDING MR. TARBILL

Bob hurried forward as fast as he could through the water, no
longer swimming, but wading. Soon he reached the beach and saw,
beyond it, that the land was covered with green grass, while trees,
which he easily recognized as the kind found in warm countries,
grew to a great height.

"I'm on a tropical island," thought the castaway. "Just like
Robinson Crusoe, only I haven't any of the things he had and the
wreck of the _Eagle_ isn't near enough for me to get anything from
the ship. Still I ought to be thankful I'm not drowned or eaten by
a shark."

Bob was tired after his long swim and stretched out under the trees
on the grass to rest. It was already beginning to get much warmer,
though the sun was only just peeping up, seemingly from beneath the
ocean.

"Wonder if I'm going to find anything to eat here," the boy
thought. "Doesn't look as if any one lived here. I'll have to
take a look around. It's going to be very lonesome here. I wonder
if any ships ever pass this place?"

There were so many questions that needed answering he did not know
where to stop asking them of himself. But he decided the first and
best thing to do would be to get off his wet clothes. Not that he
was afraid of taking cold, but he knew he would be more comfortable
in dry garments.

So, taking everything out of his pockets, which was no small
operation by the way, as Bob was a typical boy, he stripped himself
of his heavier garments and hung them on tr