Page:Rover Boys on Land and Sea.djvu/172

154 Dan Baxter stood there, staring at her in open-mouthed astonishment.

"Dan Baxter!" she gasped. "Where in the world did you come from?"

For a moment the bully did not answer, so great was his amazement. Dora noted that he was dirty and unkempt, and that his clothing was almost in rags.

"Is it you, Dora Stanhope?" came slowly from the fellow's lips. "Is it really you?"

"Yes," she answered.

"How did you get here? Are you alone?" went on Baxter, coming closer. And then before she could answer, he added: "Got any thing to eat?"

At the last question she looked at him more closely, and saw that he appeared half starved. She pitied him despite his character.

"Yes, we have plenty to eat," she said.

"Then give me something at once," he cried. "Give me something at once!"

"Come with me."

There was now a crashing in the bushes back of Dan Baxter, and in a second more Jack Lesher appeared on the scene. He too was haggard and dirty, and his eyes were much blood-shot, the result of living almost entirely on liquor for several days after being wrecked on the islands.