There were nails, but they were not easy to extricate from the
planks. As to a saw, there was no hope of getting one or anything that
would answer the purpose of one.

Robert worked hard for a couple of hours and in that time he had
accomplished something. He had extricated half a dozen planks of unequal
length, secured a supply of nails, more or less rusty, and thus had
already provided the materials of a raft.

The grand difficulty remained--to fashion them into a raft which would
convey him in safety to the shore of the mainland.

I have said that he had no saw. He had a jackknife, however, and this
was of some use to him, particularly in extricating the nails. It was
slow work, but he had all day before him.

When the two hours were over he began to feel hungry. It was not far
from the time when he was accustomed to take dinner, and he set about
satisfying his hunger.

He went from bush to bush, plucking the ripe berries and eating them.
They were very good, but not quite so hearty as a plate of meat and
potatoes. However, he would have had no meat if he had been able to sit
down at home.

After dinner--if his repast of berries can be dignified by such a
name--Robert sat down to rest a while before resuming his labors on the
raft.

He finally lay down with his head in the shadow of an unusually large
bush, and, before he was fully aware of the danger, he had fallen
asleep. When he awoke he saw by the position of the sun that it must be
about the middle of the afternoon.

He jumped up hastily, and, first of all, took a hasty glance around to
see if he could anywhere descry a boat. But none was to be seen.

"I must set about making my raft," he decided. "It is getting late and I
don't know how long it may take me."

It proved to be slow and rather difficult work. Robert was pounding away
with his stone hammer when, to his great joy, he descried a boat
rounding the corner of the island.

It was rowed by a single boy. When he came near Robert recognized him as
George Randolph--the cousin of his friend Herbert.

It happened that George was very fond of rowing and had a boat of his
own, which he rowed a good deal in Boston Harbor.

He had long had an ambition to row to Egg Island and had selected this
day for the trip. He had not asked Herbert to accompany him, being
desirous of saying that he had accomplished the entire trip alone.

Though George had not seemed very friendly, Robert did not for a moment