these
here seas! First place, that 'ere sand on the island will be hotter'n
blazes. Then if ye go wadin' around ye'll get poisoned wi' coral, or
ye'll step on little crabs ye can't see, but they'll get under your
skin, like; or else ye'll find animiles what'll bore little round holes
in your flesh, an' them kind o' things. It ain't safe, young gem'men."

At first the boys thought he was joking, but a glance at old Borden
showed that Yorke had been in earnest.

"Don't ye do it," added that soft-voiced seaman, who was so much like
Jerry in his ways. "Yorke's tellin' ye true, lads. Things ain't so nice
as they looks on these islands, you can take your davy to that!"

At this juncture Daily and Birch also paused to rest. The boys had
desisted from their object, and Birch spoke up, his one eye flaming
queerly.

"Beggin' your pardon, young sirs, but be you a-goin' to hunt tigers wi'
the cap'n?" At the question all four men looked aft at the boys.

"Sure," rejoined Bob happily.

"Not right away, though," added Mart, wondering at the looks and the
question. "We're goin' to see the diving first. Later on we'll go ashore
after a tiger."

"Give way, there," ordered Borden quietly, but as the four oars dipped
Mart caught an odd glance exchanged among the men. He wondered idly what
they were thinking of, but they were close on the island now and he was
too eager to be ashore to waste any time in vain speculation.

At length the boat ran up on the clean white sand, all leaped out, and
she was at once pulled up. Dailey volunteered to stay with her, and the
other three men started off to wander on their own account, while the
two boys, arranging to be back in an hour or so, started across to the
seaward side. The brief ride in the hot sun had quite cured Bob of his
romantic notions regarding the rifle, which he now left in the boat, for
it was a heavy weight and he had lost his desire to shoot when Mart
suggested that it would only alarm those aboard the yacht.

It was ebb tide, and as they gained the opposite side of the narrow
island and came out upon the long reaches of white sand, the wild
delight of the boys was unrestrained. They were in a new world. Even the
trees were crimson, there was no lack of wonderful but ill-smelling
flowers, and among the bushes and trees fluttered butterflies of
gorgeous hues. But out on the sands they forgot all this.

They found shells by the score, such shells as they had never seen, of