s: and after a heavy meal
and providing themselves with another in a basket, they stepped down on
to the raft, where Bostock had rigged up a mast, and pushed off from
their home, which lay looking enormous from where they stood.

The doctor had passed judgment that if Carey did not exert himself he
might do a little in the way of going about. He was bandaged still and
debarred from using one arm at all; but as he half-lay on the raft
looking round he was ready to declare that he would have liked to come
even with both arms bandaged to his sides, for it was glorious on that
sunny morning, with the air clear and soft, the sky of an intense blue,
and the water, over which they glided very slowly, looking like crystal.

The square sail had been hoisted; it filled out slowly and, obeying the
long rough oar which Bostock used as a scull, the raft behaved
splendidly, leaving the long dark hull of the steamer behind, and
steadily nearing the yellow stretch of sand backed by an enormous
cocoanut grove.

There were birds circling overhead and flock after flock flying about
the shore, which grew more beautiful each minute; but before they had
glided far over the lagoon, Carey's attention was taken up by the
shallowness of the water, and he reached out over the side to gaze in
wonder through the perfectly limpid medium at what seemed to be a garden
of flowers of the most beautiful and varied tints. There were groves,
too, of shrubs, whose branches were of delicate shades of lavender,
yellow, orange, and purple, and through the waving sea growths fishes,
gorgeous in gold, orange, scarlet, and blue, flashed in the softened
sunshine, as they were startled by the coming of the raft.

Bostock was very busy piloting their craft, but he was referred to from
time to time as a mine of knowledge to be worked, for the old sailor had
long been acquainted with the Eastern Seas, and had been fairly
observant for an uneducated man.

Hence he was able to point out the fact that there were thousands of the
great pearl-oysters clustering about the coral reefs which looked so
shrub-like below.

"Look here, doctor," cried the boy, excitedly; "it's just like a lovely
garden."

"Exactly," said the doctor; "a garden that lives and grows without a
soul to admire its beauties."

"No, we're admiring them, sir," said Carey, promptly.

"But most likely we are the first white people who ever saw them."

"Don't let the raft go so quickly, Bob," cr