Page:Under Dewey at Manila.djvu/150

126 Captain Ponsberry's part, the whole party laughed, and on they went again in improved humor. Larry and Striker were slightly in advance, and seeing the end of the elevation just ahead, the boy made a dash to reach it first.

"Here we are, and well worth the climb!" he exclaimed, as he gazed around. "What a beautiful view! I wish one of us had borrowed the captain's spyglass."

A grand panorama was spread before and around them. On the opposite side of the elevation the slope was more gradual, and here tall grass, wild flowers, and shrubs grew in endless profusion, the flowers in all the gorgeous colors of the rainbow, and giving forth such a rich scent that it was almost sickening. Half way down the hill a large spring gushed from under a heavy rock, forming a tiny stream leading into the ocean beyond. On the left and the right were thick forests, principally of teak wood, ending in a series of coral reefs stretching forth from the island proper for the distance of quarter of a mile.

"Don't see any natives," remarked Vincent, who had followed Larry and Striker. "Do you?"

Striker was staring at a small clearing to the