These words were hardly out of his mouth when the path suddenly widened out into a little opening or glade, and the boys stopped abruptly to get their bearings.
"Look! over there, fellows," said Bert, in an excited voice. "If I'm not very much mistaken there's a hut over there, see, by that big tree--no, no, you simps, the big one with the wild grape vine twisted all over it. See it now?"
It was easy to see that they did, for they both hurried over toward the little shack at a run, but Bert had started even before they had, and beat them to it. They could gather little information from its contents when they arrived, however. Inside were a few ragged pieces of clothing, and in one corner a bed constructed of twigs and branches. In addition to these there was a rude chair constructed of boughs of trees, and tied together with bits of string and twine. It was evident from this, however, that some civilized person had at one time inhabited the place, and at a recent date, too, for otherwise the hut would have been in a more dilapidated condition than that in which they found it.
They rummaged around, scattering the materials of which the bed was constructed to left and right. Suddenly Tom gave a yell and pounced on something that he had unearthed.
"Why don't you do as I do, pick things up and look for them afterward?" he said, excitedly.
"What is it? What did you find?" queried Bert, who was more inclined to be sure of his ground before he became enthusiastic. "It looks a good deal like any other old memorandum book, as far as I can see."
"All right, then, we'll read it and see what _is_ in it," replied Tom. "Why, it's a record of somebody's life on the island here. I suppose maybe you think that's nothing to find, huh?"
Without waiting for a reply he started to read the mildewed old book, and Bert and Dick read also, over his shoulder.
The first entry was dated about a month previous to the time of reading, and seemed to be simply a rough jotting down of the important events in the castaway's life for future reference. There were records of the man, whoever he might be, having found the spring beside which he had built the hut in which they were now standing; of his having erected the rude shelter, and a good many other details.