n to hold long pessimistic discussions about their future on the
island in case rescue were indefinitely delayed. Taciturn periods
fell upon them. Frank Merrill showed only a slight seriousness. Billy
Fairfax, however, wore a look permanently sobered. Pete Murphy became
subject at regular intervals to wild rhapsodical seizures when he raved,
almost in impromptu verse, about the beauty of sea and sky. These were
followed by periods of an intense, bitter, black, Celtic melancholy.
Ralph Addington degenerated into what Honey described as "the human
sourball." He spoke as seldom as possible and then only to snarl. He
showed a tendency to disobey the few orders that Frank Merrill, who
still held his position of leader, laid upon them. Once or twice he
grazed a quarrel with Merrill. Honey Smith developed an abnormality
equal to Ralph Addington's, but in the opposite direction. His spirits
never flagged; he brimmed with joy-in-life, vitality, and optimism. It
was as if he had some secret mental solace.

"Damn you and your sunny-side-up dope!" Ralph Addington growled at him
again and again. "Shut up, will you!"

One day Frank Merrill proposed a hike across the island. Billy Fairfax
who, at the head, had set a brisk pace for the file, suddenly dropped
back to the rear and accosted Honey Smith who had lagged behind. Honey
was skipping stones over the lake from a pocketful of flat pebbles.

"Say, Honey," Billy began. The other four men were far ahead, but Billy
kept his voice low. Do you remember that dream you had about the big
bird--the time we joshed you so?

"Sure do I," Honey said cheerfully. "Only remember one thing, Billy.
That wasn't a dream any more than this is."

"All right," Billy exclaimed. "You don't have to show me. A funny
thing happened to me last night. I'm not telling the others. They won't
believe it and--well, my nerves are all on end. I know I'd get mad if
they began to jolly. I was sleeping like the dickens--a sure-for-certain
Rip Van Winkle--when all of a sudden--Did you ever have a pet cat,
Honey?"

"Nope."

"Well, I've had lots of them. I like cats. I had one once that used to
wake me up at two minutes past seven every morning as regularly as two
minutes past seven came--not an instant before, not an instant after. He
turned the trick by jumping up on the bed and looking steadily into my
face. Never touched me, you understand. Well, I waked this morning just
after sunrise with a feeling that Kilo