Читать книгу Pitcairn's Island. Sea Adventure Novel онлайн

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“Aye, lead on, Isaac,” said McCoy, eagerly. “We’ll no be laggin’ far behind.”

Once below the ridge they lost the breeze and sweat streamed from their half-naked bodies as they pushed their way through the tall fern into the thickets below. At length they reached the depths of the valley, where the air was moist and cool. Martin led the way, walking in the bed of a small stream. Presently he stopped and looked about him uncertainly. McCoy gave him an anxious glance. “Ye’ve not lost yer bearin’s, Isaac?”

“It’s somewhere hereabout,” said Martin.

“Curdle ye, Isaac! Don’t ye know? What like was the place where ye hid it?” said Mills.

“It was by just such a tree as this. There was a hollow by the roots and I put it there.... No, it’ll be a step farther down.”

They proceeded slowly, Martin glancing from side to side. Presently his face lighted up. “Yon’s the one,” he said, hurrying forward. A wide-spreading hibiscus tree that looked as ancient as the land itself overhung the stream, its branches filled with lemon-coloured blossoms. Martin knelt by the trunk and reached to his arm’s length among the gnarled and twisted roots. The eyes of his companions glistened as he drew out, one by one, eight bottles. He sat back on his heels, glancing triumphantly up at them.