“We may have to,” declared practical Alice.

“That is so, and we may as well face the issue,” said Russ, somewhat gravely.  “And now that we have found a sign of human beings, who can possibly tell us which way to go to find the steamer, it would be foolish to waste this chance.  If we go off by ourselves again we may get farther and farther away from the Magnolia.”

“That is so,” agreed Paul.  “I think we had better stay.”

“That’s what I say!” exclaimed Mrs. Maguire.  “It seems like company just to look at that boat and the hut, and to know that someone has been here lately, and will come back.”

“Oh, they’ll be sure to come back,” Russ said.  “That’s is too good a boat to abandon.  Why, it must be worth a thousand dollars.”

He and Paul went down to examine it, while the moving picture girls and Mrs. Maguire looked about the hut.

“It seems almost like home, after what we have been through,” remarked Ruth.

“I wish there was something to eat here,” said Alice, after a stroll about the vicinity of the hut.  “Whoever lives here must get their supplies in from day to day, and eat them all up.”

“Or they may be out after supplies now,” added Mrs. Maguire.

The shadows were lengthening, but the sun was still bright, and it would not be night for several hours.  There was a period of anxious waiting.

“I wonder if we hadn’t better shout again, and fire a few shots?” remarked Paul.  “We may be near our own steamer now, though it doesn’t seem so.  We might be in another country, for all we can tell.”

“I believe we will give a few signals,” agreed Russ.  “And I can spare a couple of cartridges.  I only wish I could see something worth eating to shoot at.  Then I could be killing two birds with one stone—­giving a signal and providing a meal.”

But there seemed no suitable mark for the weapon to be aimed at, and, after they had united their voices in a chorus of calls, Russ fired twice—­at intervals.

Then came a period of anxious waiting and silence.

“Call once more,” suggested Ruth.

“Hark!” exclaimed Alice, raising her hand to add to her injunction, for Russ had been about to speak.  “I heard something.”

They all listened intently.

“There it is again!” whispered Alice.

Unmistakably now they all heard voices calling—­voices that increased in intensity—­coming nearer.

“Oh, they’ve found us!  They’ve found us!” half sobbed Ruth.

“Call again, boys—­I—­I can’t,” faltered Alice.

Russ and Paul shouted.

Again came an unmistakable answer.  Now was heard a crashing in the underbrush that told of the approach of someone, and, a moment later there came into view, on the far side of the clearing, where stood the palm leaf hut, two girls, one with a gun over her shoulder, and the other with a brace of birds hanging from her waist.