"Avast!" cried the Yankee sailor, suddenly plucking the boy by the sleeve. "Get back there, out of sight, all of you, and I'll capture a prize wuth havin'!"
He motioned to the others, who came to an immediate halt. Looking ahead, they saw at the back of the sunny inlet several large turtles basking on the beach, their necks and legs stretched out to the fullest extent.
"Can you do the trick?" whispered Hobson. "I've heard tell it's got to be managed cleverly or the turtle will get away."
"Trust me—I've done it before—when I was ashore on Luzon!" answered the Yankee sailor. "Watch me, Larry; it's a trick worth knowing—in case ye are cast ashore some day with no food and no gun to bring it down with."
While the rest of the party retreated to the shelter of some nearby bushes, having by this time gotten over the greater part of the fright occasioned by the snake, Luke Striker crawled stealthily along the beach and entered the shallow waters of the inlet, pursuing a course which presently brought him up directly in front of the turtles, who still lay unconscious of their danger.
