GABRIEL'S LITTLE DRAMA 101 



darting off at right angles. It was no use — Ga- 

 briel slewed his tiller and the boat came swishing 

 round upon me. I had played the game out to 

 the last and I was beaten — that was all. I caught 

 the gunwale near the bow and pulled myself into 

 the boat. 



" You make dam good swim, my boy," said old 

 Gabriel, smiling at me as he brought the boat 

 around and headed back for the ship. 



I had made a good swim. I was fully a mile 

 from the brig. I was not much over a half mile 

 from shore. I looked across the sunlit, dancing 

 blue water to the land. How easy it would have 

 been to swim it! How easy it would have been 

 after I had crawled out upon the sands to hide 

 in the nearby mountains and live on wild fruit 

 until the ship started for the north and all dan- 

 ger of capture was past. 



No land could have seemed more beautiful. 

 Groves of banana, orange, and cocoanut trees 

 held out their fruit to me. Forests swept to the 

 summits of the mountains. Flowers were in riot- 

 ous bloom everywhere. I could almost count the 

 ribs in the glossy fronds of the palms. I could 



