Page:Weird Tales Volume 02 Number 2 (1937-02).djvu/79

 sat up and gazed stupidly about him. There was not the slightest vestige of a human being anywhere in sight, nor any sign of habitation. About two hundred yards from the beach clung perilously to a reef, her stern far out of the water, her bow almost submerged. During the night she had been badly buffeted and now she showed painfully the scars of her lost fight. All but one of the masts were gone, her stem was stove in, and, to judge from the position in which she lay, her rudder was lost. She appeared deserted, her ugly black hulk standing out like an obscene blot on the beauty of the morning.

Guy rose to his feet. He walked up the beach away from the water. There was a fringe of palm-grove which he decided he would explore. It was carpeted with fallen coconuts which had been blown to the ground by the storm. With the side of a jagged rock he tore away the husks and broke one open. The milk was deliciously sweet.

"To be shipwrecked on such an island," he reflected, "is certainly not a hardship. I have tumbled into Eden. If it weren't for Gloria I wouldn't mind spending a year here."

In the grove behind him he heard a great commotion as though some animal were approaching. The next moment Jolly Cauldron appeared from among the trees. He was grinning broadly.

Guy was both surprized and glad to see him. "Where did you come from?" he gasped.

Jolly Cauldron waved his hand vaguely toward the jungle of palms. "Over yonder," he said. "I'm not very familiar with the neighborhood because I only moved in yesterday. But from a casual survey of the surroundings I think I'm going to like it."

"I can't understand how you happened to be among those trees," declared Guy, "It is remarkable."

"Not at all," was the reply. "When I was washed overboard I merely swam to shore. There was nothing extraordinary in my accomplishment. It was not necessary to swim any great distance, and besides, the waves helped me. They washed me in, just as you were carried by them up on the beach like a dead fish. For a few moments after I found you I tried to awaken you from the stupor into which you had fallen, but without success. You refused to be aroused. So I thought I'd saunter about the island for a while and get a line on our chances of finding happiness."

"Have you any idea where we are?" asked Guy.

"I believe on a coral island, although those distant mountain peaks suggest a volcanic origin. How far we are from the next link in the chain I do not know. We may have to stay here a year, and then again we may be able to leave before sunset. Personally I lean toward the year. Fortunately The Poppy Pearl is lying in shallow water. With care we can wade out to her along the coral reefs without getting into water much above our waists. But we've got to be careful to stick to the reefs, because if we don't we'll be in water so deep only sharks will ever find us. Even on the reefs great care must be taken. If we cut our feet we're liable to develop sores that'll never heal, stay open festering for years. Coral is like women, sometimes very beautiful, at other times very dangerous. When we get out to the ship it'll be a very easy matter to rig up a line and tackle. On second thought, I'll go out to the ship alone. I'm more familiar with the line of work. You can remain on shore and unload the tackle. It will be a simple matter to transfer enough food and supplies to last until this island is in a flourishing state. By