"That"s a good name for it, I think," remarked Nan.
"And now to see if we can find Jack!" went on Nan"s twin.
"Let"s all holler!" suddenly said Freddie. "Let"s all holler as loud as we can!"
"What for?" asked Cousin Jasper, smiling at the little boy. "Why do you want to halloo, Freddie?"
"So maybe Jack can hear us, and he"ll know we"re here. Whenever me or Flossie gets lost we always holler; don"t we?" he asked his little sister.
"Yes," she answered.
"And when Bert or Nan, or our father or mother is looking for us, even if we don"t know we"re lost, they always holler; don"t you, Bert?"
"Yes, and sometimes I have to "holler" a lot before you answer," said Nan"s brother.
"Well, perhaps it would be a good thing to call now," agreed Mr.
Bobbsey. "Shall we, Cousin Jasper?"
"Yes," he answered. So the men, with the children to help them, began to shout.
"Jack! Jack! Where are you, Jack?"
The woods and the orange trees echoed the sound, but that was all.
Was the missing boy still on the island?
CHAPTER XXI
LOOKING FOR JACK
Again and again the Bobbseys and the others called the name of Jack, but the children"s voices sounding loud, clear and shrill above the others.
But, as at first, only the echoes answered.
"That"s the way we always holler when we"re lost," said Freddie.
"But I guess Jack doesn"t hear us," added Flossie.
"No, I guess not," said Cousin Jasper, in rather a sad voice.
"Are you sure this is the right island?" asked Mrs. Bobbsey, looking about the place where they had landed from the _Swallow_.
"Oh, yes, this is the island where I was shipwrecked," said Mr. Dent, "though Jack and I did not land just here. It was on the other side, and when we go there I can show you the wreck of my motor boat--that is, if the storms have not washed it all away."
"Well, then maybe Jack is on the other side of the island," said Bert.
"And he couldn"t hear us."
"Yes, that might be so," agreed Cousin Jasper. "We"ll go around there.
But as it will take us some little time, and as we want to get some things ash.o.r.e from the ship, we had better wait until later in the day, or, perhaps, until to-morrow, to look. Though I want to find Jack as soon as I can."
"Maybe he"ll find us before we find him," suggested Mr. Bobbsey. "I should think he would be on the lookout, every day, for a ship to which he could signal to be taken off."
"Perhaps he is," said Cousin Jasper. "Well, I hope he comes walking along and finds us. He"ll be very glad to be taken away from this place, I guess."
"And yet it is lovely here," said Mrs. Bobbsey. "I never thought we would find oranges growing in such a place."
"I forgot to speak about them," said Cousin Jasper. "In fact I was so ill and so miserable after the wreck, that I did not take much notice of what was on the island. But there are many orange trees. It must have, at some time, been quite a grove."
"I was thinking maybe we"d find cocoanuts," said Freddie.
"But oranges are just as nice," put in his little sister.
"Nicer," Freddie declared. "I like oranges. May we eat some, Mother?"
"Why, yes, I guess so," answered Mrs. Bobbsey slowly. "Will it be all right, Cousin Jasper?"
"Oh, yes, the oranges are for whomsoever wants them. Help yourselves, children, while we get the things on sh.o.r.e that we need from the motor boat."
"Oh, goody!" shouted Flossie.
"Are we going to sleep here at night?" asked Bert.
"Well, I did think we might camp out here for a week or so, after we got here and found that Jack was all right," answered Cousin Jasper. "But if he is ill, and needs a doctor, we shall have to go right back to Florida. However, until we are sure of that, we will get ready to camp out."
"Oh, what fun!" cried Nan.
"It"ll be as nice as on Blueberry Island!" Flossie exclaimed, clapping her fat little hands.
"But there weren"t any oranges on Blueberry Island," added Freddie.
"Still the blueberries made nice pies."
"Mother made the pies," said Flossie.
"Well, the blueberries helped her," Freddie said, with a laugh.
The Bobbsey twins gathered oranges from the trees and ate them. The men folks then began to bring things from the _Swallow_, which was anch.o.r.ed in a little bay, not far from sh.o.r.e.
Two tents were to be set up, and though the crew would stay on the boat with Captain Crane, to take care of the vessel if a sudden storm came up, the Bobbseys and Cousin Jasper would camp out on Orange Island.
In a little while one tent was put up, an oil-stove brought from the boat so that cooking could be done without the uncertain waiting for a campfire, and boxes and baskets of food were set out.
"I want to put up the other tent," said Freddie. "I know just how it ought to be done."
"All right, Freddie, you can help," was the answer from Bert. "Only, you had better not try to pound any of the pegs in the ground with the hatchet, or you may pound your fingers."
"Ho! I guess I"m just as good a carpenter as you are, Bert Bobbsey!"