Part 23 (1/2)

CHAPTER XXIV

ROB MAKES A DISCOVERY

Rob, disconsolate and ht, and rose early As his captors were still asleep and had, apparently, uard him, he decided to , he was by nothe truth when he said that the place was uninhabited; and again he thought that soated the place thoroughly

So the lad tiptoed out of the ca the precaution to fill his pockets with food He headed straight into the woods, planning to coain when he had traveled a safe distance fro his way through the brush for a ti on a strip of white beach that see, keeping a bright lookout, but saw nothing that would further his prospects of getting away All at once, though, as he came around the other side of the little spot of land, he saw another island lying at no great distance off And on the beach of this island was a boat

A ht could not have presented itself to the boy's eyes just then It meant that there was solad to help out a lad in his predicaet over there?”like a h swimmer to buck it”

Then another idea occurred to hi into the water from the end of this, he would be soain, and the current, would, therefore, carry hiht the boy; ”it wouldn't takethat would suit his requires didn't seem very plentiful in that vicinity In his search, he reentered the woods, and after looking about a bit succeeded in finding one that would just suit his purpose

Stooping down, he lifted it, and then jue black snake had been coiled under the log, and now it struck at hi its vicious fangs!

Before Rob could avoid the creature's attack, it had wrapped itself around his ars into his sleeve

[Illustration: HE TOPPLED BACKWARD OVER THE BRINK AND PLUNGED DOWN INTO THE SWIFTLY FLOWING CURRENT BENEATH]

Rob battled desperately with the reptile, which lashed its tail and hissed with vicious intonations The feel of the creature's grip was loathsos had not penetrated his tough khaki coat, they ht do so at any moment

In the battle Rob backed out of the woods, striving all the time to free himself, and unconsciously stepped nearer and nearer to the water's edge Before he realized his position he toppled backward over the brink and plunged down into the swiftly flowing current beneath

Down he went until it seemed he must strike the bottoood effect The snake was not gripping his ar for its life, but being carried away fro was the case with Rob The grip of the water drew him far from the island he had just vacated in such an unceremonious manner, and hurried hi out with all his ht the current so as to reach the other island before the water hurried hiht even for a powerful swimmer like Rob His clothes encumbered him cruelly, too; but at last, almost exhausted, he touched botto but lie there gasping Had his life depended on it, he could not have th his youthful vitality came to his aid and he rose to his feet to look about him

The current had landed him on a part of the beach from which the boat he had spied was not visible But he knehich direction it lay, and started out for it As he rounded a small pro old thing, but still a boat

Rob in his present situation would have taken anything that would float

”I'll exaain with hiht

With this intention he approached the craft, and the next instant received one of the cruellest shocks of his life

The boat was a e and exposure to the hot sun It must have been years since she had been used, and Rob's experienced eye saw that she would have sunk like a stone the instant she was put in the water It was a bitter blow to the lad, and for a time he sank down on the sand, completely knocked out

But after a time he rallied his spirits