He did not have an opportunity to finish the sentence, for at this point the boys literally roared with laughter, and he turned away indignantly, refusing to speak again until some one from the deck shouted:
“The key is in sight. If you boys want to get the first glimpse of the shipwrecked sailors, it is time you were tumbling up here.”
Gil and Nelse, who had expected to see an island of fair proportions, were considerably disappointed on reaching the deck at the scene before them.
A long, low stretch of sand, hardly rising above the level of the ocean, could be distinguished directly ahead, and was about as uninviting a place as one could find. Toward the eastward the surf broke with considerable violence, and this it was, rather than the key itself, which attracted attention to the spot.
Already preparations were being made to lower one of the boats, and Gil asked his father:
“It isn’t safe to venture very far across. It is all shoal water to the westward of us, and I shall hold the schooner off about a mile.”
“The smoke is enough to show they’re keeping a pretty sharp lookout,” and Captain Mansfield pointed to a thin thread of blue, which had been unnoticed by the boys until this moment. “That is a signal which they started the moment we hove in sight; but it’s dying down, now we’ve shown our intention of running toward them.”
Ten minutes later the boys could distinguish, by aid of the glass, a number of figures on the beach, and Nelse said, with a laugh:
“Andy will be more certain than ever that the voudoos have had a hand in this business when he finds out how many extra men he is obliged to cook for. It looks to me as if there were at least a dozen.”
“Fully as many as that,” Captain Mansfield added, “and we shall be crowded uncomfortably for a while; but, fortunately, Nassau isn’t so far away that we need worry very much about lack of room.”
At this moment the old darkey came on deck, and Gil shouted:
“There’s a whole crowd of them! The voudoos have sent us lots of company.”
Andy looked from the captain to the key in a sort of bewilderment, and one of the sailors, who stood near him, said:
“You’ll have your hands full now, cookee, for we’re likely to add twelve or fifteen to this schooner’s crew.” Andy raised his arms above his head, as if in despair, and then turning suddenly, ran below to the galley, from which place he did not emerge again until it was time to serve dinner.