It was a novel experience
for the scouts to be lying there listening to these yarns, with the
stars twinkling overhead. At last, however, their eyes became heavy
and, wrapped in their blankets, they were soon sound asleep upon the
hard ground. The captain sat for awhile before the dying embers,
smoking his clay pipe. At length, knocking the ashes out of the bowl,
he, too, stretched himself out full length near the scouts.
Rod was the last of the boys to go to sleep. His mind was busy with
the joke the captain had told, and his experiences at sea. He thought,
too, of the sweet singer, and wondered if he should ever see her again.
When he did go to sleep he had a dream of a great crowd of men landing
on the island, attacking the scouts, and carrying off a large chest of
gold.
From this dream he woke with a start, and sat up. For a moment he was
dazed, and could not imagine where he was. Then he remembered, and he
was about to lie down again when the sound of a motor-boat fell upon
his ears. He listened intently, wondering what people could be doing
on the water at that time of the night. He could hear the regular
breathing of his companions, and as his eyes became accustomed to the
darkness, he could make out the form of the captain lying not far off.
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