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16. Shipwrecked Mariners

Ample proof of Rob's careless and restless nature having been frankly

placed before the reader in these pages, you will doubtless be surprised

when I relate that during the next few hours our young gentleman

suffered from a severe attack of homesickness, becoming as gloomy and

unhappy in its duration as ever a homesick boy could be.

It may have been because he was just then cut off from all his fellow-

creatures and even from the world itself; it may have been because he

was satiated with marvels and with the almost absolute control over the

powers which the Demon had conferred upon him; or it may have been

because he was born and reared a hearty, healthy American boy, with a

disposition to battle openly with the world and take his chances equally

with his fellows, rather than be placed in such an exclusive position that

no one could hope successfully to oppose him.

Perhaps he himself did not know what gave him this horrible attack of

the blues," but the truth is he took out his handkerchief and cried like a

baby from very loneliness and misery.

There was no one to see him, thank goodness! and the tears gave him

considerable relief. He dried his eyes, made an honest struggle to regain

his cheerfulness, and then muttered to himself:

If I stay up here, like an air-bubble in the sky, I shall certainly go crazy.

I suppose there's nothing but water to look at down below, but if I could

only sight a ship, or even see a fish jump, it would do me no end of

good."

Thereupon he descended until, as the ocean's surface same nearer and

nearer, he discovered a tiny island lying almost directly underneath him.

It was hardly big enough to make a dot on the biggest map, but a clump

of trees grew in the central portion, while around the edges were jagged

rocks protecting a sandy beach and a stretch of flower-strewn upland

leading to the trees.

It looked beautiful from Rob's elevated position, and his spirits

brightened at once.

I'll drop down and pick a bouquet," he exclaimed, and a few moments

later his feet touched the firm earth of the island.

The Master Key