,
the island certainly looked fertile. Great excitement filled the breasts
of every member of the party as they neared the shore.

"The sharks have gone," exclaimed John suddenly.

"Sure enough," said George. "I had forgotten all about them."

"There they are out there," said Grant indicating a spot some fifty
yards astern of the boat. "They're not alone, either."

Ten or a dozen great fins could be seen weaving in and out in the place
Grant had indicated.

"It must be shallow in here," remarked Fred. "That's probably why they
don't come in any closer. Look out for going aground, Sam."

"Not de leas' dangah of dat," replied Sam confidently and whether he
knew what he was talking about or not, the fact remains that a few
moments later the bow of the boat grounded softly on the white sand,
only a few feet from the shore.

"First ashore," cried George leaping overboard and dashing up on the
beach.

"Hey, there! Wait a minute," shouted Grant. "We've got to pull this boat
up and we'll need everyone's help."

"We'd better take the provisions out," said Fred a moment later when
they had hauled the boat some distance up on the shore.

"What for?" demanded George who was always opposed to doing any more
work than was absolutely necessary.

"Put them somewhere in the shade I say," exclaimed Fred. "Take out that
cask of water, too. Those things have been broiling in the sun too long
already."

"Let's take everything out except the oars," said Grant. "We'll probably
be here for a couple of days and we might as well do it now as any time.
I don't believe we'll be picked up before then; at least there is a good
chance that we won't."

"All right," agreed George. "Take everything out then. As soon as that's
done though, I'm going to see what the other side of this island looks
like."

"We all will," said John. "Let's do this first though."

They all fell to work with a will and soon had the the boat unloaded.
The contents were placed under a sheltering grove of mangrove trees a
short distance away. The boat was hauled a little farther up on shore
and then the boys prepared to start on their tour of inspection. Sam
followed as a matter of course.

"Say, this is a pretty fine island," exclaimed George as they started
out.

"Pineapples," cried Grant, excitedly. "What do you think of that?"

"Are they ripe?" demanded George as the little band swooped down upon
the cluster of plants.

"They certainly are," said Gr