so 



I N A G U A 



nothing more appropriate. Feeling a little foolish I stepped up 

 the beach and yelled "Hey!" at the green mangroves. No an- 

 swer. Once again I called but received no response. "I say 

 there, where are you?" I called again. For a moment nothing 

 stirred and then with slow hesitating steps two small boys 

 stepped from between some palmettos where they had been 

 hiding. 



I looked at them curiously. They were as inky black as it 

 was possible for two human beings to be and they were nearly 

 as ragged as I was. One youngster lacked pants but I soon dis- 

 covered that he was carrying them tucked in a small grass 

 basket slung to his back. The pair seemed quite frightened and 

 appeared ready to bolt at the slightest move. 



"I won't hurt you," I told them. 



This seemed to reassure them a little, for the perplexed ex- 

 pressions on their faces slowly eased and they began to regard 

 me with a little less fear. The boy minus the pants suddenly 

 became conscious of his condition and hurriedly put on his 

 trousers. I smiled at his embarrassment whereupon the pair 

 broke out into broad grins. 



"Could you tell me what island I am on?" I asked. 



Instantly the grins vanished and the boys appeared ready to 

 flee again. No doubt to them it was the most ridiculous ques- 

 tion in the world. They looked at each other and then at me as 

 if doubting my sanity. 



"Don't run," I quickly told them. "You see, our boat was 

 wrecked on the reef up yonder," and I indicated the direction 

 from which I had come. "We were wrecked yesterday morn- 

 ing in the dark." 



An expression of sorrow came over the two black faces and 

 the larger boy broke out with, "Oh, suh, I berry berry sorry 

 foh yo, suh, I feel berry hard foh yo." 



Soon they became very voluble and told me that they had 



