As soon as daylight began to dawn Joe was awake, and pulling open the flap of the tent, he glanced anxiously around. "Hurrah! a pleasant day," he exclaimed under his breath.

"Boys, wake up, and let's have a row. The water is smooth, and we'll have a jolly pull all by ourselves before the other fellows are stirring. Don't make a noise."

The four boys threw off their blankets, and dressed as hurriedly and quietly as possible, and ran down to the beach, where the boat was fastened, high and dry above high-water mark.

"Whew!" whistled Ben, looking with dismay at the long stretch of beach, down which they must drag or push the boat before it could float. "The tide doesn't favour us in this job, does it?"

"No, but the boat isn't heavy. We have pushed it down many a time," said Joe courageously.

"Never, with only four pairs of hands," added Dave, not quite so enthusiastic as his friend.

"Oh, come on. If we wait for the tide to come up, we shall have a whole posse of boys crowding in."

"All right; a long pull and a strong pull and a pull all together."

"There she goes."

    "'She starts, she moves, she seems to feel
    The thrill of life along her keel,'"

said Dave in declamatory style.

"Well may she feel it, grating over these stones," said Ben, laughing and pushing with all his strength.

"Whew! Now! There, all together again."

[Illustration: "Now! All together!" (missing from book)]

If was a hard push, but the boat was launched at last, and the four boys in. Each took an oar and pulled hard and fast.

"Let's go over to 'Gull Rock,'" said Joe. "We are headed that way, and it will make just a good trip before breakfast."

"Which is Gull Rock?" asked Ralph, looking over his shoulder as he rowed.

"That long line of dark off there just to the left of that brig."

"Joe Chester! are you crazy?"

"We can do it, and be back in time for breakfast. I know we can."

"All right; go ahead! let's try it," said Ben. "This is my first and last row this vacation, and I'm ready to put in my best stroke. When I invested in this boat I expected to get my money's worth of fun out of it; but--

    'The best-laid schemes o' mice and men
    Gang aft agley.'"
    

"Especially when you have a scapegrace for a chum," said Ralph soberly. "If it hadn't been for me you would have been here through it all. I declare it is too bad, Ben."

"Nonsense! I haven't grumbled, have I? Wait till I do, old chap. I reckon I needed the lesson I got as much as you did, and I'm not sorry that I had to learn it. Now, don't let's groan," and Ben began to sing,--

    "'I never was on the dull, tame shore,
    But I loved the great sea more and more.'"
    

"But how was it when you were on the great sea in a fog-storm?" interrupted Ralph laughingly.

"Oh, go away. This is poetry; that wasn't."

"Not by any manner of means. You are right there."

"There's Jonas going to market to get fish for breakfast," said Joe, as he saw Jonas and Friday coming down the rocks with basket and fishing-rods.

"You ought to be phosphorescent enough to be useful as matches, if you have been having fish morning, noon, and night for a fortnight," suggested Ben.

"Very likely we are. The nights have been so bright we haven't needed to light candles, so we haven't had any use for matches; but I imagine we would all throw out a faint light if we got where it was dark enough."

"We'll have two more chances to add to our stock of phosphorus. Fish for breakfast and fish for dinner! I see the gulls on the rocks now. We must be two-thirds across, boys," said Dave. "I tell you we are doing strong pulling."

"Yes, but nothing fancy about it," laughed Ben. "I reckon an amateur boat-crew would hoot us."

"Who cares for style? I go in for speed. I can feather my oar every stroke if I want to," said Dave.

They pulled steadily, and Gull Rock was readied at last.

"Shall we land?"

"Yes, if we find a good place. Let's row along-shore and see what the chances are."

"There!" exclaimed Joe, "there's a fine chance up in that cove. There are lots of nests there; see the gulls fly up! We'll carry back some eggs, or the boys won't believe we've been so far."

"All right; in she goes," said Ben, lifting his dripping oar.

Dave did the same, and the two oars on the other side brought the boat quickly around, so Ben could seize the rock and jump ashore with the rope. Before he had fastened it the other boys had leaped ashore also, and were hunting for gulls' eggs.

"Oh, here they are by the hatful!" cried Joe. "We can get all we want and take only one egg from a nest, so the old birds won't be discouraged," he said, taking his round cap off, and going from nest to nest until he had filled it.

The others did the same, and after taking a hasty run over the island, they jumped into the boat again, pulled in the rope, and were homeward bound. The pull back was more leisurely; and, as Ben said, "they paid more attention to style." The other boys were at the landing when the boat arrived with its bare-headed crew, and the caps were speedily emptied of the eggs, which were eagerly taken by the crowd to keep as mementoes of the vacation. Af............