The current was too swift to
permit of rowing, and it was rather hard for us to keep our footing. But
we managed to reach our destination finally without any mishap. The island
was thickly wooded, except for a small clearing where we landed. The first
thing we did was to unpack our eatables, and Jack, the cook, soon had an
appetizing pan of bacon and eggs sputtering on the kerosene stove.
[Illustration: Fig. 66. Dragging the Scow over to the Island.]
Preliminary Exploration.
As no better position offered at the time we pitched our tent in the
clearing, pending a thorough search for a more suitable place elsewhere.
Around the tent we dug a trench about a foot deep to prevent water from
entering our quarters when it rained. It was about time for Uncle Ed and
Mr. Schreiner to appear with the rest of our luggage, so we did not have
time to do much exploring, but sauntered southward along the shore, always
on the lookout for their arrival. About a quarter of a mile from the tent
we came across the wreck of an old bridge, which had been washed down by
some freshet. This was a great find, and served us many purposes, as will
appear later.
While we were examining the wreck we heard a distant "halloa" from the
mainland.
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