"How is it. Jack?" asked Sam, in a whisper.
Jack took the lantern, thrust his head into the opening, and, after a hurried survey of the interior, replied: "All right! Nobody's been here!"
"Jump ashore, then," continued Sam. "Be lively, fur we don't want to keep this light out here much longer. Somebody might be on the watch."
The crew of the yawl sprang out, and one by one squeezed themselves through the opening; and Sam, who was the last one to enter, pulled the board back to its place.
Almost every boy who is able to read at all has read Robinson Crusoe, and probably nine out of ten have been foolish enough to wish they had been in his place. Perhaps they would not be willing to undergo the dangers of a shipwreck that they might be cast upon a desert island, for it is by no means certain they would be so fortunate as to escape, or that the winds would be accommodating enough to blow the wreck close in to the shore so that they might visit her, and bring away such articles as they needed to enable them to go to housekeeping. What we mean to say is, that there are restless, discontented boys in the world who are never satisfied, and who believe that if they could only hit upon a plan to transport themselves to some out-of-the-way part of the world, and could surround themselves with all the comforts Crusoe is said to have possessed, they would be supremely happy. Some boys content themselves with _playing_ Robinson Crusoe. A shed built in the back yard answers the purpose of cave and tent, and there they spend hour after hour, living over Crusoe-life as it is related in the story. Imaginary foot-prints are discovered, a make-believe man Friday is rescued from blood-thirsty cannibals, and numerous attacks of savages are repulsed with terrible slaughter. Then come the finding of the Spaniard and Friday's father, the release of the English captain, and the recovery of the vessel that is to take Robinson from the island, and there the game ends; for, by the time all these things are done, the day is generally far spent, and some of the young actors are obliged to return to their homes. We do not suppose that any of these make-believe hermits ever thought seriously of hunting up an uninhabited island in the ocean and living Crusoe-life in sober earnest? There was one boy, however, who was bold enough to conceive of such an idea, and that was Sam Barton. He had read the story, believed every word of it, and was so well pleased with it that he decided to become a Crusoe himself.