tea would be acceptable in its stead. "We have done all we can, so now let us go back to our meal, and be as jolly as we can," said Arthur. "We will brew a fresh lot of tea and drown our sorrows in the bowl; and if the viands give out, Mellicent can get us bread from the bread-trees and milk from the cocoanuts. Rob can climb up and bring one down, as he is accustomed to savage regions. Where _is_ Rob, by the bye? He was here ten minutes ago." "He walked over to the other end of the island. I'll go round and give him a call," Hector said; and in default of anything better to do his companions followed in a long, straggling line, but no sign of Rob did they find, only a little heap of clothing on the shore--a pair of boots, a coat, and waistcoat, and a sailor hat, which told their own tale plainly enough, even without the sight of the dark head which could presently be observed bobbing up and down between the waves. Rob had swum off to try to recover the boat, and was risking his life in the effort!--For a moment horror held his friends dumb, then the men broke into a chorus of denunciations. "He'll never do it! He had no right to go off like that without consulting us--without saying a word to a soul! A foolhardy trick!" "He knew we would not let him try it. He is a capital swimmer, but it's a stiff pull, and he can't catch her up, for she will drift with the tide further and further away." "_Will_ she? Are you sure? Does she seem to you any further off now than she was a quarter of an hour ago? I don't think she is. I can see her just as distinctly. Ah! I believe I understand it now. She has drifted on to a sandbank, and is not moving at all. Good old Rob! He knows what he is about. If he can only hold out, he'll get her sure enough." "If--yes, but if he does not? If he gets cramped or exhausted, there is no one to help him. We should have to stand here helpless, and see him sink. It was mad--mad--he should not have risked it! I'll give him a piece of my mind when he gets back!" cried Arthur hotly, and then, "Good old Rob!" he added in another voice. "Good old Rob! Just like him to steal away without saying a word to a soul. Just like him to think of every one else before himself. Give him a cheer, boys! Give him a cheer to help him along." And what a cheer that was that burst forth in response to his words! It rang over the sea, eloquent with all the hope, and fear, and longing that were beating in eight anxious hearts; once and yet again it sounded, with Peggy's high treble ringing out over all the rest. "Bravo, Rob! Bravo! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" The dark head turned, a white arm waved in the air, and then Rob settled himself once more to his task, while his friends watched in tense anxiety. The professor drew Esther's hand through his arm and clasped it unashamed, and Arthur turned abruptly aside, putting his hands to his face.