Read Online Voyage of the Dolphin by Gilbert L. Morris - Free Book Online Page A

it.”
    â€œAnd we won't either.”
    They both turned to see Reb, Dave, and Jake armed with heavy sticks.
    â€œAll right,” Daybright said. “Get close together here. Form a line. Whatever that thing is, he's trouble.”
    It was a dog, Josh saw, a shaggy creature at least six feet high at the shoulder, rushing at them. The very size of him was awesome.
    â€œCareful now. Maybe we can scare him off.”
    The dog drew up, baring his fangs and making a rumbling in his throat. He was brownish, short-haired, with huge feet and enormous teeth. But he seemed puzzled by what was in front of him.
    â€œEasy,” Daybright said. “I don't think he's seen anything like us before.”
    The dog hesitated, then leaped forward, jaws open, uttering a roar.
    Daybright swung his stick as if he were a baseball player. It whistled through the air and struck the dog onthe nose with a satisfying thump. At the same time, Josh's stick struck the animal over the eye, and the other boys fell to clubbing him fiercely, yelling with all their might.
    The dog uttered a sharp, piercing yelp and backed up, shaking his head.
    â€œCome on, get him!” Reb yelled.
    They charged the beast, and the dog, for all his size, turned tail and ran, uttering shrill yelps.
    â€œWe done 'er!” Reb yelled. “By george, by jingo, we showed him who's boss!”
    There was much exultation as Daybright and the boys went back to where the three girls were still in the tree.
    They climbed down slowly, and Dawn came to stand beside the captain. “That was very brave of you,” she said. “He could have killed you.”
    Daybright flushed but shrugged his shoulders. “I hope he doesn't come back with some bigger friends,” he said. “If that's a sample of what's on this island, we're going to have to be more careful.”
    The wind was still blowing, and before long the skies would be darkening.
    â€œWhat'll we do, Captain? Camp for the night?” Josh asked, coming up.
    â€œI guess so. You think you can quick make another fire, Wash, while there's still sun?”
    â€œSure can. I've got the hang of it now.” He began at once to scrounge for dry wood with some of the boys helping him.
    â€œCome on, girls, we'll see if we can find some more berries or maybe some nuts. We're going to be mighty hungry,” Daybright said.
    They searched the woods and did manage to find more berries. They were not as tasty as the first, having arather bitter tang, but they took all they could carry back to where Wash had gotten a tiny fire started.
    Daybright said, “We'd better pull up enough wood to last us through the night. Maybe we can dry out the rest of our clothes—have everything dry by morning.”
    Everybody was scurrying around, looking for branches to make racks to dry their clothes, when all of a sudden Wash said in alarm, “What's that?”
    Daybright turned from where he was picking up a chunk of firewood and followed the direction of the boy's gesture. He squinted through the falling darkness and at first could not believe what he was seeing. He blinked, and then Dawn uttered a short cry of fear. He saw that the Sleepers were all staring. He turned his own gaze back and stared with them.
    What he saw was what appeared to be a tall shadow moving.
    But it's too big to be anything alive, Daybright thought It must be a dust cloud.
    But then a final ray of fading sun broke through the clouds, and he saw what he had never dreamed—nor could any of the others.
    An enormous man was striding along what seemed to be an invisible road. He was at least two hundred yards away and apparently had not seen them. But even at that distance, Daybright saw it was indeed a living being.
    â€œA—a giant!”
    The words escaped Josh's lips. He licked them and said, “Look at him—he must be fifty feet tall.”
    Sarah gripped Josh's hand. Her voice was thin as she strained to see