Part 9 (2/2)
”Wait until that time comes,” answered Tom ”We have now laid a course for Guam, and Guam I hope we shall reach soreat, increased by the glare froold Having a second suit of sails, Toot higher, served to shelter their heads, and to prevent the risk of a sunstroke The awning, however, could only be kept up as long as it reh so to fatigue his crew, thinking it better to husband their strength for any eht occur At the usual hour To as possible Toreat difficulty was to find occupation for all hands Unfortunately they had no books except the nautical al is very well in the evening when o on all day either as listeners or narrators Even singing songs becomes somewhat ers have already trolled theain Their chief a-fish which rose every now and then frolittering in the sun Occasionally a whale spouted forth a jet of vapour and spray with a loud noise like that eine; while albicores, bonitos; and dolphins, with various other fish, could be seen here and there, sporting and tu a circle of wavelets extending far and wide around Sea birds also flew through the blue ether, their wings appearing of snohiteness as they caught the rays of the sun in their rapid flight
Jerry Bird proposed getting out the oars ”Maybe, sir, if we pull on for a few hours we h we e in our boat, we et a glass of grog”
”Or slice of plu, or pot of jans of a breeze springing up, Toot out, Billy taking one of theot tired Heavily laden, however, as the boat was, they could scarcely send her ahead at the rate of two knots an hour; but even that was soht and day, thirtythe four and twenty
Jerry, to keep up the spirits of his co, when Tim and Pat followed him; and thus they continued until Tom piped to dinner They indeed see As soon as dinner was over they again took to the oars, and pulled on steadily until dark; but no land was seen, nor was a sail in sight
Indeed, so limited was their horizon, that they were likely to pass low islands without observing theht was as calm as the day; but, as theWhen the sun rose the nextit shone on the same polished surface as on the previous day
”Not an air in the heavens,” said Jerry, in answer to To-place in the stern sheets; ”and, to my mind, there won't be”
”Webath by ju overboard
”Be careful, sir, and look out for sharks,” observed Jerry ”I would not, if I were you, go far from the boat”
”I will follow your advice Keep the oars splashi+ng, and that will frighten the in, the midshi+pmen swam round and round the boat several ti of opinion that he was likely to prove a teed Jerry to help hi dressed themselves, theabout round the beat, when Pat shouted out--
”Bear a hand; get on board,fellow not twenty fathos, if we don't look sharp”
The midshi+pmen stood ready to help in the men, for they also had seen the ominous black fin Jerry, who had an especial dread of sharks, quickly threw hiunwale, with the assistance of Tom, while Desht hold of the bobstay and was hoisting himself on board by the jibboom, when a cry of dismay escaped him
”He nearly had me, the baste; for I felt his jaws touch ination was proved by the blood running froh fortunately not the teeth of the monster, had struck him A second later, and Pat's foot would have been off to a certainty The shark was directly afterwards seen swi a malicious leer at those on board
”It will be a lesson to us in future not to say from the side,”
observed Too overboard at all,” said Billy
”_I've_ no fancy to becoht passed Tom found at noon the next day that, instead of thirty, they had not ood twentyat all; at others only two oars were going, when not more than one , they had to exert themselves to ress was being made They should in tiht venture on shore without fear of being killed and eaten, as would certainly be their lot on any of the islands further to the south-west Rowing all day under a burning sun is not conducive to health, and though none of the party were actually ill, they began to long for a breeze, which would send them more rapidly on their course; while their spirits, which had hitherto been kept up, also flagged considerably Each day, too, they n that their strength was so They had hitherto had an ample supply of food
The salt junk found on board the wreck had been kept to be used only in case of necessity Of their turtle, one had been killed, and they had feasted on it for a couple of days, until the rerew bad, and they were co Pat, who had taken charge of the ani the night, and that unless it was quickly eaten it would be lost This proved to be the case, especially to Billy's regret, who saw the te morsels sed by the shark, which had, since its first appearance, followed the boat The stillannouncement was that several of their ha bad Soh others, which were only slightly tainted, were kept until the continued heat rendered them uneatable Pat could not make it out, but it was discovered on examination that neither the smoke nor salt had penetrated to any depth, and that they would have done better to have cut the meat in thin strips and attempted thus to preserve it
”Well, we shall have fish enough and roots, before we attack the junk; we s,” observed Toly put all hands on an allowance It ith no srieved to find emitted far from a pleasant odour; still, as it was at present eatable, he continued to serve it out
”It is not often I have known a cal as this,” exclaimed Jerry, when a whole week had passed, and not a breath of air had filled their sails ”We would have been better off on shore had we knoas coot upwards of a hundred miles to the southward; when a breeze does come we shall have so much less distance to make”
”But the food and the water, sir?” exclaiht and obtain a fresh supply,” was the answer