Evening star., 1942-10-11
CHAPTER XIV.

chief"
It was Tony who spoke suddenly.
With food in his stomach and plenty
of water, Tony had become livelier
member of our crew. He was taking
a healthy interest in our progress
now.
Near land? What do you mean,
Tony?" I asked.
Look at that junk" he said,
sweeping his hand around to indi-
cate the gentle sweils that rose and
fell about us in regular motion, like
a sleeper's breast.
Bits of debris floated on the hot,
blue waves, wet sticks glinting.
From my calculations. which I was
keeping with care. I judged that we
still had far to go, but the presence
of driftwood was at least hope
full sign.
THAT stuff floats long way-it
can 60 clear to the coast" I said.
] preferred to be pessimistic today.
We'll, we never saw any before y
Gene argued.
That's right" I admitted. I was
deliberately letting the boys think
they were swinging me to their own
viewpoint. 1t helped their morale.
Suddenly. 1 took more interest.
Say. some of that stuff may be
useful said. Keep a sharp look
out on that debris for anything we
can use!"
I, It occurred to me that my mind
must be getting dull in the heat
and hunger and conf1enment, or I
should have thought of this the
minute Tony called my attention
to the driftwood. In fact. 1 was
little iritated that had not seen
it first.
Tony and Gene talked volubly be-
tween themselves. pointing to this
and that bit of material floating out
of reach, specializing on what it
might be. and where it came from.
Stems in Sunshine.
I merely sat, SteWing miSerably
in the equa torial sun. 1t was be-
coming hotter every day as We
moved southwark The relentless
heat, intensified by the glaring
water, was sapping our strength,
There was no escape from this heat,
this burning light that struck our
eyehalls from whichever direction
we turned. And the salt was Itch
ing in my beard.
As my watch came on I stirred
and wet my hands in the sea to
wash my face. Rising and taking
my position on the forward thwart
I stretched and flexed my limbs
which now were cramped great
deal of the time in our tiny space
Put your head in the bottom and
you can get some shade" 1 told the
boys.
Trying thus to take advantage of
q few inches of shade was like drink
ing from a stream whose banks are
just too high to let you lean down
and suck up water without falling
tn. We decided 1t wasn't worth the
trouble
Finally we caught something from
the flotsam close to the raft that
looked as If it might be useful. 1t
was piece of coconut stem that
obviously had been cut and used as
a paddle by some South Sea island
native. He had evidently taken it
from its parent tree with a machete,
whacked it off cleanly with one
blow. 1t was about feet long and
made a very passable canoe paddle.
Many New Birds.
Such an implement would have
been very welcome to us in the
;calms that were to come. but this
one had been in the water too long
It was rotten and too far gone to
be Of service to us. We tried to use
1t. but few strokes broke it. How
ever, we kept it for any possibilities
1t might offer in the future We
finally lost it when we tipped over.
Wonder where that was used?"
Gene pondered.
The coconut stem paddle at least
gave us meat for hopeful specula-
ton. 1t was comforting to come
upon evidence of human life in this
waste.
AS we progressed to the south and
east, down through this area, we
saw many new varieties of birds and
fish, leading us to believe that we
were nearer some reefs, at least
where shallow water made good
breeding grounds for the fish. Reefs
always furnish excellent feeding for
Ash and marine birds. When these
appear in such abundance as we
encountered now, it is a pretty good
indication of reefs. AS practically
all the reefs in the South Pacific
bulge up into small islands, we had
hopes Of sighting land at almost any
time.
:, Suppose we do hit an island
might be desert island" Tony sug-
gested.
"A desert island would be better
than no island at ALL Gene an
swered him.
We discussed the possibilities and
devised plan.
What We had In mind, in case we
reached q small island. was to stop
UVCI UIl ~, lCCOlile Oll bliC CkkS lIUIu
nesting birds, which were sure to be
plentiful; shellflsh, and such other
fare as the island might offer. Then.
when our strength was restored and
we were back to normal, we would
stock the raft as well as we could
and push on, south and west, with
the first favorable winds.
Watches Raft Closely.
OF course, right from the begin
ming, our ultimate goal was an in
habited island Of one of the larger
groups to the south. With this end
In view, it was our constant en-
deavor to husband our all-too-
lneager supply Of tools and clothing,
and to maintain our fragile boat in
the best condition possible. For this
reason I kept constantly examining
the fabric for worn spots, and touch
Ing UP those I found with sparing
use OF our rubber cement.
As the fish become more plentiful,
We we're learning the facts of marine
life. Several varieties of large fish
soon appeared, preying on the
smaller ones, which seemed drawn
"a olIY raft. The big fellows Wollld