King o' the Beach: A Tropic Tale

The weather was glorious, and the days glided by in what would have been a luxurious life had it not been for the busy, investigating spirit which kept them active.

"I'd a deal rather we'd kep' together, sir," he said; "but I dessay he knows best. So we've got to wait six hours--six hours' watch, and we mustn't go very far away. Well, it's...

The doctor was for the moment in command of the vessel, and the captain obeyed without a word, forming all who came up into a wide circle, and then impatiently returning to the...

"Yes, wasn't it horrid?" said Carey. "I felt better directly, and, do you know, I don't think we have half so much to fear now from the blacks. I don't feel a bit afraid of them...

The trio rested at the top of the peak for a couple of hours, and then started back, the doctor taking the lead again so as to vary the way of descent, and gain an acquaintance...

For Carey was lying in his berth with his head turned so that he could gaze through the open port-hole at the glorious, glistening sea, and as the doctor very softly pushed the...

"Tchah! A little brass pop-shot, to make signals with. The skipper had got some charges for her, and a few boxes o' cartridges in a locker; but I don't believe there's even the...

"Nay, sir, I aren't trifling; I mean it. You've got the whip hand o' they niggers, and they 'bout worships you. Just you bounce about a bit and let 'em see what you're made of,...

As Carey landed he glanced at the now enormous stack of pearl shells and at the tubs once more well filled with oysters, for the beachcomber had not let his men be idle. But the...

Carey opened his eyes just at sunrise, feeling, as a healthy lad should, light-hearted and happy; for he was perfectly unconscious of all that had taken place overnight till he...

There was not much time for examination before darkness set in, but enough to prove to the two seekers that there was not the slightest cause for anxiety respecting provisions;...

"Can't you?" said the boy, plaintively. "Oh, do try. I heard the captain say one day to one of the passengers that you were one of the cleverest surgeons he ever knew."

The old sailor was right--fine weather it was: and after a heavy meal and providing themselves with another in a basket, they stepped down on to the raft, where Bostock had rigg...

The dreary hours crawled along, and it seemed to Carey that he was suffering from a long-drawn weary nightmare, made up of his own pain, a sigh or two at times from the doctor a...

Twice over Doctor Kingsmead heard that appeal, but he could not move to respond to it, for Nature would have her way. He had sat watching his patient's berth till he could watch...

The doctor made no opposition and showed no sign of resentment, for he was biding his time. The beachcomber asked questions and he answered them, about the lading of the vessel;...

He set the example, still bearing the insensible boy, and the next minute they had reached the comparative security of the saloon, where the water was now washing to and fro, co...

Carey was rather restless when he went to bed, the thought of the coming change and the idea of gliding over the smooth waters of the lagoon producing in his still weak state en...

"Up yonder in the open forest under one of the trees, not far from the river. There are plenty of them about, and so tame that I felt satisfied that there were no blacks near."

Poor Bob Bostock's head had seemed as much swollen mentally as it had been externally, but these words on the part of Carey gave a fillip to his power of thinking, and he stared...

They were in total darkness, but Bostock took out his match-box and struck a light to apply to the lamp, which he coolly proceeded to regulate, and then turned to wait for the d...

To Carey's rage and discomfiture he found that their captor treated him as the ship's boy, following Bostock to the store-room and ordering him to carry the most solid of the pr...

The proximity of the evil-smelling serpent to Carey's legs doubtless had something to do with the speed of his movements in quitting the canoe and climbing the side; and on reac...

It was on board the great steamer _Chusan_, outward bound from the port of London for Rockhampton, Moreton Bay, and Sydney, by the north route, with a heavy cargo of assorted go...

The party which had been out with the canoe reached the vessel with a goodly supply of beautiful fish just at the same time as the whale-boat with the treasured-up pearls, over...

The sun was sinking low as the doctor and his companion reached the deck and then ascended to the bridge to have a hasty glance round before the brief tropical evening should gi...

Meanwhile, after he had ineffectually tried everything possible to bring the steamer's head to wind by means of the sails, the captain had to give up and let her drift, rolling...