Not having had guavas sufficient for anything more than the lightest kind of a light lunch, the shipwrecked youth searched among the shells for oysters. It was a laborious way of earning a dinner, since the monkeys had cleaned out the meats pretty thoroughly, and an hour’s hard work did not reward him with more than a dozen of the tiny bivalves.

His hunger was so great that he would have continued this almost futile search longer, but for the fact that the sun was sending an intense heat down upon the exposed beach, and already had he begun to feel the greatest inconvenience, and even pain. Prostration, if nothing worse, would most surely follow, unless he beat a speedy retreat.

To regain the shelter of the woods was absolutely necessary despite the desire for food; but before doing so Philip believed it of the highest importance that he should contrive some signal which might possibly attract the attention of those on board passing vessels.

The means for doing such work were limited, yet he did succeed in raising what might, perhaps, be seen half a mile away, although knowing full well[61] that no trading-vessels would venture so near the inhospitable coast.

Cutting the straightest and tallest stick of bamboo which could be found within a distance of a hundred yards, he stripped it of the leaves, and to the top fastened one of the two white handkerchiefs he had about him at the time of the shipwreck. This feeble attempt at a signal was planted firmly in the sand, and by the expenditure of considerable labor he heaped around the base a huge quantity of shells.

As far up and down the shore as the eye could reach a line of reef extended fully a quarter of a mile into the sea, and it was with a feeling of despondency that he looked at the fruits of his labor, knowing there was but little chance the fluttering cloth could bring any one to his relief.

To continue the journey around the coast would be to expose himself to the direct rays of the sun, and inasmuch as the reef precluded the possibility of a settlement in the vicinity, Philip determined to make his way directly across the island.

To that end he went straight into the underbrush toward the south, keeping careful watch on every hand lest he should be surprised by any of his former monkey acquaintances, and at the expiration of an hour was clambering up the side of a rocky elevation.

Of course it would have been possible to travel around the base of this hill, but the hope that from the summit he might obtain a good view of the odd[62] land on which he had been thrown caused him to court rather than avoid labor.

While making his way through the trees, pausing now and then to brush away the insects which rendered every movement so painful, he saw descending from a palm what he mistook for a flying-squirrel. With but little hope that he could succeed in capturing this tiny game, which would make a tempting lunch for one in his half-famished condition, he darted forward.

There was no difficulty in catching the supposed squirrel, for it proved to be anything rather than active in its movements, and as Philip’s fingers clutched the body he found to his surprise that he had seized a huge frog whose deep green skin looked, in the dim light, so much like fur.

Naturalist though he was, Philip had never before seen such a specimen as this. The toes were very long and webbed at their extremities, so that upon being expanded they presented a surface much larger than the body. The fore-legs were also bordered by a membrane, and it was evident the frog was inflated during the leap, for he shrank to one-half his previous size immediately the hunter grasped him.

There could be no mistake but that this was the veritable flying-frog of the Malay Archipelago, and Philip examined it with great interest. The back and legs were of a deep green, while the under-surface was yellow, as were also the webs of the feet, each of which covered a surface of about four[63] square inches. The extremities of the toes were formed similar to those of a tree-frog, and it is probable the membrane was intended to be used as often for swimming as for flying.

It was not a particularly dainty morsel of food, however, and after satisfying his curiosity concerning it Philip set the little fellow at liberty, he continuing on up the difficult ascent.

He expended his strength uselessly in climbing the hill, however, for when the highest point of the elevation had been gained it was not possible to see anything above the surrounding trees. His fatigue and disappointment might have caused him to give way in despair if, just at the moment when his mental troubles were greatest, he had not observed a small animal, evidently some species of deer, about two hundred yards away.

The desire for food now outweighed all other considerations, and he crept forward among the scanty foliage with his revolver in hand, hoping a chance shot might supply him with a dinner.

When it was no longer possible to approach without danger of being seen, he took careful aim over the top of a bowlder and discharged two barrels of his weapon in rapid succession.

The deer sprang into the air and then staggered forward; but instead of falling, as the hunter so ardently desired, he started down the sharp descent on the south side of the hill.

Philip forgot his fatigue and pursued, taking a course at right-angles with the one made by the animal,[64] in order to intercept him at the point of bushes which was evidently his destination.

With his eye f............