Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/191

 abashed, "but one of my legs got over the end of the raft somehow, and was trailing in the water."

"Hallo! I say, look there, Sam!" said Robin, with sudden animation, pointing to the horizon straight ahead of them; "is that the big raft or a ship?"

"Neither, Robin," replied Sam, after a prolonged and earnest gaze; "it must be an island. What do you think, Slagg?"

The incident of the shark was almost totally forgotten in the excitement caused by this new discovery. For some time Slagg and all the others gazed intently without uttering a word. Then Slagg looked round with a deep sigh.

"Yes, it's a island," he said; "no doubt about that."

"What a blessing!" exclaimed Robin, with heartfelt emotion.

"Well, that depends," said Sam, with a shake of the head. "Islands in the China seas are not always places of refuge—at least for honest people."

"By no means," added Slagg; "I 've heard say that the pirates there are about the wust set o' cutthroats goin'—though I don't myself believe there 's much difference atween one set and another."

The light wind which had carried the raft slowly over the sea, while they were asleep, now freshened into a stiff breeze, and tested the qualities of their craft severely; but, with a little strengthening—an extra turn of a rope or an additional nail—here and