depressing ones was that there was a good stove in the cottage, and plenty of old boards lying around outside. And, as mentioned above, there was a good sharp axe waiting to be put to work.

B, who I am sorry to say is much given to growling, spent the first two or three hours of the vigil in going over the situation and summing up its gloomy possibilities. The weather would probably get worse instead of better. They might be marooned for a week or even longer. How foolish they had been to make the trip at all!. What “A” knew about weather signs could be put down on a postage stamp and there would still be some room left for other things. There were no ducks on Boughton Island, anyway, or anywhere else for that matter. How could he shave in the morning, having no razor or how could anyone sleep with his clothes on?

A, the sponsor of the trip, seeking to justify himself, professed to take things differently. What was the good of philosophy if it didn’t outlast one night of discomfort? The wind was bound to go down in the morning. It always does. And, even if they had to stay on the Island a week, what of it?

There were plenty of worse places in the world and a lot of good people had spent their lives there without complaining. In any case, there was no danger of their going hungry, for there were plenty of gulls, rock lobsters, and the most luscious mussels in the world. There must be something radically wrong with a man who could not live on such fare for a week or even two weeks.

In brief, there were so many good things to consider that it was foolish and wicked to talk about the little inconveniences. And, best of all, he wouldn’t have to shave in the morning. To hear him tell it, one of the best things that can happen to any man is to get marooned on an abandoned Island.

C had only one regret. He had not brought along a package of tea—bags. A man can go a long time without food or sleep so long as he has plenty of tea to keep his spirits up.

(More about this trip next Tuesday.

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