[Illustration: Cover art] [Frontispiece: "The boat was suddenly caught up by a huge wave, and hurled into a chaos of broken water."--Page 222.] _Two Sailor Lads._ A STORY OF STIRRING ADVENTURES ON SEA AND LAND BY GORDON STABLES, M.D., C.M. (_Surgeon, Royal Navy_), AUTHOR OF "FOR ENGLAND, HOME, AND BEAUTY;" "IN THE DASHING DAYS OF OLD;" "ON TO THE RESCUE;" ETC. ETC. "The story of my life, Even from my boyish days To the very moment that he bade me tell it." NEW EDITION. JOHN F. SHAW AND CO., LTD., _Publishers,_ 3, PILGRIM STREET, LONDON, E.C. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. "Hush! Do you Hear that Cry? What can it be?" II. "But Looking Back, Boys, it is all Like a Dream" III. An Aimless Life--Peace at Last IV. Sitting up to Think--The Dignity of Labour V. At the Fisherman's Cave--Fred's Aquarium VI. Taking Tea inside a Whale--The strange Story of the Stranded Leviathan VII. "Five Years Ago this very Night" VIII. Pleasant Surprises--Frank's Yacht--The Launch of the "Water-Baby" IX. Playing at Being Pirates--A Storm at Sea--The Wreck X. On the Desert Island--Toddie's Adventure on the Cliff--the Bonfire XI. "Friends for Life"--Round the Camp Fire XII. That Awful Night at Sea--A Ride for Precious Life XIII. "A Strange, Strange Story," said Frank. "I Wonder how it will all End" XIV. "Duty, Lad, Duty. Stick to it through Thick and Thin" XV. The Good Ship "San Salvador."--A Mystery of the Southern Seas XVI. Deakin and Co. and the Lost Brig "Resolute" XVII. Southward Ho! to the Sea of Ice XVIII. Señor Sarpinto XIX. A Fairy Isle--The Lost Boat XX. "What their Fate was to be they could not even Guess" XXI. "A Land flowing with Cocoanut-milk and Honey" XXII. A Terrible Apparition XXIII. A Swim for Dear Life--Pursued by Sharks XXIV. Stingaree XXV. "Row, Brothers, Row"--Quambo's Shark Story--Fast to a Sword-fish XXVI. "What was the Mystery surrounding that Strange Vessel?" XXVII. Frank gazed Aghast XXVIII. Could he be----Dead? XXIX. The Arrival of Savages XXX. "There is no going Back now," Frank said XXXI. In Cannibal Islands XXXII. The whole Beach was lined with Yelling Savages XXXIII. South and South sailed the good Barque XXXIV. Fighting in Earnest XXXV. "Would she see their Signals?" TWO SAILOR LADS. CHAPTER I. "HUSH! DO YOU HEAR THAT CRY? WHAT CAN IT BE?" There is no more beautiful bay than that of Methlin on all the wild west shores of Scotland; there is no quainter or more old-fashioned little town than the fishing village that clusters around its shores, its wee little whitewashed cottages half hidden in the green of waving elders and drooping silver birch trees. Behind the village is a wealth of woodland, stretching for miles away up the valley, between hills so high that at sunrise they cast their darkling shadows far across the sea.