Читать книгу The Secret Chart; or, Treasure Hunting in Hayti онлайн

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“We will stay here twenty-four hours,” Captain Mansfield said, as the boat was pulled up into a narrow cove which extended some distance inland, and terminated in a veritable thicket of mangroves. “Then we’ll work our way down the bank in the night, when we sha’n’t be so nearly prostrated by the heat.”

It was a great relief to the boys to be able to stretch their legs on shore, and when a spot was cleared that all might lie down without fear of being disturbed by centipedes or similar disagreeable things, they began to think the situation was not as grave as it might have been.

A hearty meal of ship’s bread and canned meat was followed by a desire to sleep, and the entire party lay down to rest, for it was not necessary to stand watch.

Toward midnight the wind sprang up from the eastward, but only to die away again a few hours later, and Captain Mansfield said to the mate, in a tone of satisfaction, as the two arose just as day was breaking:

“If there were any vessels nearby last evening we should get a glimpse of a sail when the sun rises, for that breeze must have given them a slant toward this key.”