Page:Barbour--Lost island.djvu/376

 "Good man! All we can do is to wait for an opportunity, and then we 'll rush the citadel, so to speak. Not just now, however. It does n't look to me as though it would be exactly healthy down there at the present minute."

All day long the trio watched and waited, while the hammering and smashing on the wrecked "Hatteras" continued and the gnawing pangs of hunger grew steadily.

"I believe I could eat my shoes," Dave said desperately toward evening of the longest day he could remember.

"You 'll probably get all you want in the way of grub before morning, somehow or other," Tempest replied. "We are staking everything on this next throw, you know. If we lose and don't get hurt in the gun-play, we shall get our boat back, anyway. Flagg will be only too glad to see the back of us. If we win, we shall get our boat back just the same. So you can make up your mind to be ready for supper or a funeral."