Dave, Tempest, and the Kanaka stood watching the boat glide away 206 “Who told you I’d lend it?” he asked acidly 282 Three forms emerged and moved in the direction of the _Nautilus_ 332 Tempest laughed at the Kanaka’s comical expression of disappointment 382 LOST ISLAND CHAPTER I IN WHICH DAVID HALLARD HEARS THE CALL OF THE SEA “I dare say you’ve seen a lot of strange things in the South Seas,” said Dave Hallard, a bit wistfully. “Aye, there’s queer sights in them latitudes,” agreed the old sailor, pausing in his task of slapping paint on the side of the ship and gazing thoughtfully across the sunlit harbor. “Lots an’ lots of ’em,” he added after a moment as, lighting his pipe again, he went on with his work. “I suppose you’ve never been to sea, have you?” he asked, casting a sidelong glance at the boy who for the last half-hour had been perched on the string-piece of the wharf, his legs dangling above the oily water. “Not yet,” answered Dave regretfully. “An’ I guess you’re seventeen, eh? Or maybe a bit more.” “Sixteen,” the boy replied. He was, however, tall for sixteen, and there was the promise of much strength in his broad shoulders. A keen enthusiasm for outdoor sports had developed his body and, without doubt, fostered the determination apparent in the firm mouth, the square chin, and the steady grey eyes. “Well, when I was your age,” said the mariner, “I was cabin-boy under old Captain Zebalon Pratt. He was one of your old-fashioned Yankee skippers, and no mistake, and many’s the dose of rope’s-end I got, my hearty. Barrin’ the rope’s-end, though, I liked it all well enough. It’s a hard life, but it’s the only life for me. It gets a hold over you, but it ain’t a bed of roses at any time. We’ve just finished a rough enough time this last voyage, after we left Honolulu for home, and I won’t say there wasn’t a while when I’d have given a month’s pay to feel solid land under my feet. But it’s forgotten now.” “Were you ever shipwrecked?” the boy asked. [Illustration: “Were you ever shipwrecked?” the boy asked] “Three times. Once off the coast of China, once in the Mediterranean, and once hard by New Guinea.” He paused for a moment, while allowing his memory to dwell upon those vivid moments.