ly, and too short a time had elapsed since breakfast for him to have
gained an appetite. He wandered at random over his small kingdom and
from the highest portion looked out to sea.

Far away he saw several sails, but there was little chance of being
rescued by any. If he were seen, it would not be supposed that he was
confined a prisoner on an island so near the mainland. Still Robert did
not feel that he was likely to be a prisoner for a long time.

There were other fishermen, besides his uncle, at Cook's Harbor, and by
next morning, at the farthest, he would be able to attract the attention
of some one of them as he cruised near the island.

But it would not be very pleasant to pass a night alone in such an
exposed spot.

Not long before a sloop had been wrecked upon the southwest corner of
the island, and though no lives were lost, the vessel itself had been so
injured that there had been no attempt to repair or remove it.

In coasting near the island Robert had often thought he would like to
examine the wreck, but he never had done so. It struck him now that he
had a capital opportunity to view it at his leisure. Of leisure,
unfortunately, he had too much on his hands.

There was a patch of sand at the corner where the sloop had run ashore
and the frame of the vessel had imbedded in it. A portion had been swept
away, but a considerable part still remained.

Robert clambered down and began to make an examination of the stranded
vessel.

"I suppose it belongs to me if I choose to claim it," he said to
himself. "At any rate, no one else is likely to dispute my claim.
Wouldn't it be jolly if I could find a keg of gold pieces hidden
somewhere about the old wreck? That would keep aunt and me for years and
we wouldn't feel any anxiety about support."

This was very pleasant to think about certainly, but kegs of gold pieces
are not often carried on sloops nowadays, as Robert very well knew.

The chief use the old wreck was likely to be to him was in affording
materials for a raft by which he might find his way to the mainland.

Our hero made a critical survey of the wreck and tried to pull it apart.
This was not easy, but finally he was enabled to detach a few planks.

"If I only had a saw, a hammer and some nails," he thought, "I could
build a raft without much difficulty. But I don't see how I am going to
get along without these."

For the hammer he soon found a substitute in a hard rock of moderate
size.