“Yes, and I am sure we are going toward the water.  If we had a bit of daylight I could convince you, but it is as dark as a pocket here.  I never saw trees grow so thick.”

Jack had his way, for Percival had confidence in him and at length the boy paused and said: 

“Listen, Dick!  There are the parrots again.  They won’t talk if it is dark and all we have to do is to follow the sound and we will shortly come out into the light.”

“I guess you’re right,” laughed the other.  “I know we always used to cover our bird with a dark cloth when it got to chattering too much, and it stopped in an instant.  But I don’t hear them.”

“Listen!” said Jack, pressing forward by the light of his pocket torch.

“I hear them now,” said Percival.  “They are using as bad language as ever.  Those are educated parrots, although their education has not been of the best.”

In a short time they heard the parrots much plainer than before and then it grew lighter and still lighter till at length they were able to see the sky overhead through the branches and finally the sun itself, by which time they were right among the parrots, who were making a tremendous chattering.

“Well, we are obliged to you at any rate, even if you are a noisy lot,” laughed Percival.  “You frightened us first and then you showed us the way to the light.  Still, are we in the right direction, Jack?”

“Certainly,” and pushing on, Jack led the way into more open ground and in a short time they came in sight of the inner bay where the vessel lay at anchor.

“We are not so far out of our way, Dick,” said Jack.  “The boat lies just on the other side of that clump of trees and we can reach it in a few minutes.”

He proved to be correct and, getting in, the boys rowed back to the yacht, where they amused and interested a party of their companions by telling of their adventures.

“Well, it is certainly not safe to go far away from the vessel,” declared Billy Manners, “and I think if I do I will be sure to take Jack along as a guide.”

“Not very complimentary to me,” said Percival dryly.

“Oh, you want your own way too much.”

“H’m! if I had had it we would have been lost yet, so I guess you are out there, William.”

“Well, that only proves what I said in the first place,” said Billy with a chuckle.

CHAPTER XII

ADVENTURES IN THE WOODS

One day not so long afterwards the boys returned to shore, but at a different place than they had been before, and set out on a walk through the woods toward the hill, which they had never managed to get to before, although they had tried it more than once.

They took the axe along, not knowing but they might want it, and set out in high spirits.

Hearing voices ahead of them they pushed on, and soon came across the old sailor, Ben Bowline, and the acting head cook, Bucephalus, discussing some knotty point.