"Maybe it"s a camp of some sort," replied Roger. "It seems to be quite a distance away."
"Shall we go and see what it is?"
"Hadn"t we better get the others first, Dave?"
"All right, if you think best."
So they continued on the way to where the rowboat had been left. They came up to find that Captain Sanders and Phil had not yet returned.
Smiley was snoring on the sand, while Billy Dill sat near by on guard.
"Find anybody?" queried the old tar, eagerly.
"We found one of the caves, and we saw a light at a distance,"
answered Dave. "We want to investigate that light, as soon as the others get back."
Dave and Roger sat down, to rest and to wait, and thus another half-hour went by. With nothing else to do, Billy Dill took a nap, and the boys allowed the old sailor to slumber on.
"It"s queer the captain and Phil don"t return," remarked Roger, presently. "They must have gone much further than we did."
"Maybe they fell into one of those caves, Roger."
"Oh, I trust not!"
Another half-hour went by and still the others did not put in an appearance. By this time Dave was getting worried.
"Let us take a walk along the sh.o.r.e and look for them," he said, and Roger agreed, and they started off.
They had covered less than a quarter of a mile when they came in sight of a campfire, well-hidden between the rough rocks back from the water"s edge. Around the campfire were huddled the forms of several men, evidently sailors.
"Perhaps those men are from the _Emma Brower_," said Dave, in a low tone.
"I don"t see anything of Captain Sanders and Phil," remarked the senator"s son.
"No. And yet they must have seen this campfire, if they came this way.
What can it mean, Dave?"
"I don"t know."
"Shall we go up to the campfire and talk to those fellows?"
"I don"t see why not. I am not afraid of them."
"Do you see anybody that looks like Jasniff or Merwell?"
"No, those fellows are all plain sailors, by their outfits."
Dave continued to advance and Roger followed, and neither halted until he was within the glow of the campfire. Then Dave called out:
"h.e.l.lo, messmates!"
At this cry the four sailors around the fire sprang to their feet. At a glance Dave and Roger saw that they were in tatters, and that they looked hungry and careworn.
"h.e.l.lo, yourself!" answered one of the tars, stepping towards the boys. "Who are you?"
"Pa.s.sengers from the _Golden Eagle_," answered Dave.
"Oh, some more of that crowd, eh?" cried the tar.
"Then you"ve seen the others,-the captain and a young fellow like ourselves?" queried Roger.
"Yes, they were here only a short while ago."
"They said they"d be back, and take us aboard an" git us something to eat," put in a second of the sailors.
"An" we need that grub putty bad, we do," added a third.
"Ain"t had no decent meal since we got wrecked," came from the fourth.
"A few fish an" birds, an" that"s all."
"You are from the _Emma Brower_?" questioned Dave, eagerly.
"You"ve struck it, messmate. She went down in the storm an" we come putty nigh goin" down with her."
"Well, you shall have all you want to eat in a little while. Tell me where the others of our crowd went."
"They went after the two chaps as ran away."
"Ran away?" cried Dave. "From where?"
"From here."
"They must have been Jasniff and Merwell!" murmured Roger.
"Who were those fellows?" asked our hero.
"Two pa.s.sengers from the bark. They came ash.o.r.e with us, and they stayed with us until your captain and the other young fellow come along. Then they up anchors and away like the old Nick was after "em,"
explained the tar who had first spoken.
"Were they young fellows like ourselves?"
"Yes,-a bit older, maybe. Named Ford and Smith."
"They must have been Jasniff and Merwell," said Dave, to his chum.
"I wonder if they managed to save the jewels," whispered the senator"s son.
"Did they have any baggage?" asked Dave of the sailors.
"Baggage? Not much! We didn"t have no time for baggage when the ship went down. It was every man fer himself. The cap"n got off in one boat with some o" the pa.s.sengers, an" the mate got off with some of the crew in another boat, an" we got off by ourselves. It was blowin" big guns, I can tell ye, an" it looks like we would be swamped most every minit. I knowed about this island an" I steered in this direction as well as I could, an" by sheer good luck we struck the sh.o.r.e-an" here we are."