They were dressed in sailor fashion, but their clothing was reduced to
rags and scarcely clung to their brown, skinny bodies. As they advanced
they waved their arms wildly in the air and cried in joyful tones:
"A boat! a boat!"
Rob stared at them wonderingly, and had much ado to prevent the poor
fellows from hugging him outright, so great was their joy at his
appearance. One of them rolled upon the ground, laughing and crying
by turns, while the other danced and cut capers until he became so
exhausted that he sank down breathless beside his comrade.
"How came you here?" then inquired the boy, in pitying tones.
"We're shipwrecked American sailors from the bark 'Cynthia Jane,'
which went down near here over a month ago," answered the smallest and
thinnest of the two. "We escaped by clinging to a bit of wreckage and
floated to this island, where we have nearly starved to death.
Indeed, we now have eaten everything on the island that was eatable,
and had your boat arrived a few days later you'd have found us lying
dead upon the beach!"
Rob listened to this sad tale with real sympathy.
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