looked out. The ship is ashore on a reef; a total wreck; both masts
gone by the board; bulwarks carried away; decks swept, and everything
but the galley gone--and you and I are all that are left of the crew."

"Good Heavens, Billy, you surely don't mean to say that all hands except
ourselves are lost!" I exclaimed, in horrified tones.

"Yes, I do, Mr Blackburn," protested the boy; "and you wouldn't be
surprised if you had heard--as I did--the tremendous seas that swept the
ship when she first hit the reef. I shouldn't have been a bit surprised
if she had gone to pieces right then. It's no wonder that the decks
were clean swept."

"No wonder, indeed," I agreed. "You say that we are ashore on a reef,
Billy. What sort of a reef is it; just ordinary rocks, or--?"

"No," answered Billy; "it's not just jagged, seaweed-covered rocks, but
all white, almost like marble, a little bit rough and uneven, but not
like the rocks we get at home. This reef seems to be all in a piece,
like a great, tremendously thick wall--"

"Yes," I interrupted; "I think I understand. It is probably a coral
reef. How far does it extend?"

"How far?" reiterated Billy. "Why,"--pointing--"it comes from away over
there, as far as you can see, and stretches right across to as far as
you can see on the other side."

"Ay," I agreed; "a coral reef, without a doubt. And how much water is
there alongside?"

"Not more than two or three feet, at most," answered Billy. "We're
standin' a lot higher out of the water than we were when afloat. When I
first noticed it I thought it was because it happened to be low water
when I looked; but it isn't that, because it's always pretty nearly the
same. I don't think there's a difference of more than just a few inches
between high and low water."

"In that case," I commented, as much to myself as to my companion, "the
explanation probably is that when we hit the reef the sea was heaped up
by the gale considerably above its usual level, and that it has now
subsided again, leaving us nearly high and dry. Now, Billy, is there
any land in sight? If so, what does it look like?"

Billy considered for a moment or two, evidently conjuring up a mental
picture. Then he answered:

"First, about two miles off, there's a beach of very white sand. Then
there's a lot of trees--palm trees, I think they must be--growing all
along the inner edge of the beach, and, behind them, bushes and more
trees--thousands--mil