lo Three Young Crusoe s 



It was not long before the shore line made a sharp 

 curve inward and they found themselves on the edge 

 of a circular pool of deep-blue water, which went 

 round and round like a whirlpool. It was very 

 warm and seemed very deep and queer, being con- 

 nected with the ocean by only a narrow opening. 

 Edna said it looked like a big tub of bluing water; 

 and Henry thought it would be fine to bathe in if it 

 were not so scary looking. 



After this the walking was easy and without de- 

 tours until they came to the first line of foothills 

 stretching from the mountains toward the sea. Here 

 was a big surprise. Instead of ashes, they found 

 dark-colored lava, which had run down the moun- 

 tain side and overflowed everything until it reached 

 the water and hardened. The surface was wrinkled 

 and cracked and looked somewhat like old tar. 

 Large rocks and charred trunks of trees had been 

 carried along in the heavy, slow-moving stream, 

 from which wisps of smoke still curled. The sur- 

 face was hard, at least near the water, but it was 

 some time before the children could summon enough 

 courage to walk over it. The idea of sinking into 

 a mass of molten lava was too horrible to think 

 about. Here and there, they had to jump over deep 

 cracks from which came smoke and the smell of sul- 



