Part 19 (1/2)
”No, thank you,” answered the doctor; ”I am content with this stew”
Billy very reluctantly felt hi to Tom and Desmond; but they both declined
”Then I suppose Ito break the shell He went on until the operation was performed, when he clapped the end into histhe contents out ”If I haven't bitten off a bird's head!”
”Try the other, Billy,” said Des a trick, co into the hut, produced the rest they had brought, which Peter slipped under the ashes Billy looked several ti to put it into his ht him of his knife No sooner had he cut into it, than he threw it away, exclaiht those on purpose; you have almost spoiltelse has ever acco ”Neverunder the ashes if you can regain your appetite”
”I think I shall be able to do that, but I think I will take sos were fresh, but the doctor advised that they should collect a supply at once, before the birds had sat too long on the
In the afternoon Pat went off in the boat a short distance, and in less than an hour caught more fish than the party could consume The doctor had been too busily e set each etables He careen leaves
”I have found nothing except the cocoa-nuts very palatable, but until our garden seeds coreater value than any roots likely to be discovered I was not aware that it was to be found in so low a latitude It is a species of sorrel; it seems placed here by Providence for the especial use of sea scurvy All sea officers should be acquainted with it, as it grows on nearly every uninhabited island”
As soon as it became too dark to work on the vessel, all hands turned to for the purpose of breaking up a plot for forht be put in without delay They again went to work the followingbefore daybreak, and in a short time a sufficient space was cleared and broken up for the intended object; as there were no animals, all that was necessary was to run a few sticks into the ground to mark the spot
”Now,” said the doctor, ”if Providence so wills it, we may live here for the next ten or twenty years, should we fail to build a craft in which we can venture to sea”
”I am not afraid about that,” said Desetables is up, that we may have our craft afloat, and ready to sail for the Sandwich Islands, or Hong-kong”
CHAPTER SIX
PROGRESS MADE IN BUILDING A VESSEL--TOOLS BREAK--SIGNAL KEPT FLYING--A SAIL SEEN--THE FLYING BEACON--A NIGHT OF SUSPENSE--SIGNAL GUNS FIRED--AN ANSWERING GUN HEARD--A MAN-OF-WAR STEAMER IN SIGHT--A BOAT COMES ON Shore--TOM AND HIS FRIENDS GET ON BOARD HMS BELLONA, CAPTAIN MURRAY, AND FIND CAPTAIN ROGERS--FALL IN WITH A DISMASTED JUNK--JONATHAN JULL AND HIS WIFE--SUSPICIOUS APPEARANCE OF JUNK--JULL AND HIS WIFE TAKEN ON BOARD THE BELLONA--THE JUNK BLOWS UP AND FOUNDERS--THE BELLONA PROCEEDS ON HER COURSE--Pass A REEF--A WRECK SEEN--VISITED--SUPPOSED TO BE THE DRAGON--NO ONE FOUND ON Shore--BELLONA REACHES HONG-KONG--JULL DISAPPEARS--CAPTAIN ROGERS assUMES COMMAND OF THE EMPRESS
The uine in regard to the rapidity hich the proposed craft could be built They had not taken into account the dae the tools would receive fro bolts and nails with their adzes and hatchets, blunting the edges One of their two augers broke, and they had reason to fear that the second was injured Tim Nolan cut himself badly, and was unable to work for several days Two of the party were obliged to go off and fish for soht on one day were unfit for food on the next Several of the ribs, fro unscientifically shaped, had to be taken down and reformed Two or three were split so as to render them useless Tom and the doctor, ere the architects, exerted all their wits, for practical skill they had none, and they often regretted the want of such training
”If every sea officer were to serve for a few e which would be useful under our circumstances, at all events,” observed the doctor
Still, by dint of sawing and chopping, they got a dozen ribs cut out and fixed in their places They iot on like a house on fire,” had not one of the adzes been totally disabled by the constant grinding which it required to restore the edge
An axe also broke, and they had now only three tools for executing the rougher work, beside so doith these was a very slow process
The doctor was constantly charging Jerry and Ti the took He was especially anxious about the auger ”If that goes we shall be brought pretty well to a standstill, for I doubt if I can replace it,” he remarked At last he determined not to let it out of his own hands, and to bore all the bolt holes hi away, a crack was heard, the auger refused to advance He drew it out; the tip had broken Exahed deeply, ”Our shi+pbuilding must come to an end, I fear, unless we can replace this simple instrument”
”We will try, however, and see e can accoet that it is steel,” observed the doctor; ”it will be difficult to soften it and afterwards to restore its temper”
”We can but try,” repeated Too on with the other parts of the vessel in the mean time”
Tom was not disappointed; after repeated experier, and their success encouraged them to repair the first which had been broken; but they found that neither worked as well as they had done before At last, however, they again broke