Part 15 (2/2)

His advice was followed

”We et on board and shove off,” cried To fully as eager as he was

The doctor was below; he presently appeared with his medicine chest and instru off without a chart or nautical instruence by seeing the doctor's cases

He and Desmond returned on board and found the chart, sextant, and chronometer, which the boatswain had fortunately not carried off

”The raft is as fully laden as she should be,” observed Tos to heave overboard, if it comes on to blow and she cannot carry them all”

”The doctor's physic, cases, and instruments, I should say,” answered Desmond; ”however, I hope we shall not have to do that The weather looks pro As the wind is fair, we may soon reach the land”

These re on board the raft To out the oars and paddles, the raft began to move away from the wreck The foresail was now set, then theoar, the raft glided rapidly and se was thus far well co their late adventure in the boat, and how narrowly they had escaped perishi+ng froh they had been so well supplied with provisions when they started While Tom steered, Billy remained aft to tend the main-sheet, and Desmond, with Jerry, stood forward to keep a look-out for any reefs which ht not have sufficient water on theers, however, as yet appeared ahead They were apparently in the centre of a large circular reef, of which the island they hoped to gain forht run the raft, and land their cargo without difficulty They were, however, too far off as yet to ascertain its character Of its existence they could only tell by seeing the cocoa-nut trees growing on it It was evidently very low

Of its extent they were unable to form an opinion

”My fear is that we shall find no water on it, and in that case we et the

”We should very soon exhaust that,” answered the doctor, in a gloomy tone

”But we don't know yet that we shall not find water,” answered Des a couple of her than we at first supposed, we should not see it even yet”

”If any volcanic agency has been at work, wea little; ”but I confess that I cannot see the land”

The doctor, however, was near-sighted The question next arose whether there were any inhabitants, and if so, whether they were likely to prove friendly

”I should say that if white kidnappers from your colonies have visited the but friendly, and we shall probably have to fight for our lives,” said the doctor

”But, my dear sir, we don't knohether there are any inhabitants,”

said Dess we have escaped with our lives, and have abundance of provisions Why should we make ourselves more unhappy than is necessary?”

The wind occasionally dropped, when the oars and paddles were put in motion, and the raft continued its course steadily towards the land

Even when the wind blew the freshest shetime it appeared as if she would not reach the shore before dark

As they looked astern, however, they found that they had sunk the wreck alone down, as he could not distinguish her The wind, however, again freshened, and Jerry asserted that the raft was going at the rate of three knots an hour

At length the land was clearly seen in some places, at the further side of the island especially, rising to a considerable height in ridges and hillocks

”No fear now, doctor, about not finding water,” observed Desency in to see low trees or shrubs It h not a very picturesque one, I grant”

”If it affords us rest to our feet, and vegetable productions to keep scurvy at a distance, with an ample supply of water, we shall have reason to be thankful,” said the doctor, whose spirits rose as he was persuaded that his worst anticipations would not be fulfilled

The sun was now getting low, and it would be dark before they could reach the shore Desn of breakers, and just before the sun dipped beneath the horizon his rays shone on a white sandy beach, which pro-place On one point, however, the doctor's mind was not satisfied ”What if the island is inhabited by savages? And if it supplies food and water, it is very likely to be the case,” he observed