Part 26 (1/2)

It took up the entire day to clear the cutter of everything, ballast included; and, even then, we were compelled to leave our large water-tank on board, from sheer inability to get it out of the craft without breaking up her deck, which, of course, we could not think of doing.

We succeeded, however, after a great deal of difficulty and trouble, in shoring it firmly up close to the deck beams (having first of all, of course, pumped all the water out) and this left us sufficient room to get at the ballast, though with none to spare.

With everything out of her, the cutter floated a good three feet lighter, and we at once hauled her in as close to the sh.o.r.e as she would come, so as to work at her, if need be, without the boat, simply standing in the water.

The next morning we ran our anchor the necessary distance away out to seaward, broad upon our starboard beam, brought the cable on board, and hooked it to the throat halyards, taking a good look, first of all, to our sh.o.r.e fasts.

It was easy work heaving her down for the first half-hour but as soon as we got her fairly down upon her bilge, we obtained an idea of how stiff the little craft was, even without an ounce of ballast in her.

We hove and hove until everything cracked again; and I really was afraid at one time that we should either spring the mast or carry its head away altogether, but we succeeded at last in getting her past the point of greatest resistance, without meeting with any casualty, and after that she came down pretty easily.

An hour and a half of hard work saw us, at length, with the cutter keel out, and an anxious scrutiny of her bottom immediately followed.

To our intense satisfaction, we now saw that she had struck, on both occasions, on that portion of her keel which was loaded with lead, two dints in the metal being distinctly visible. One was very trifling; the other was a jagged notch of some five inches in depth, the lead being bent upwards and outwards to starboard in a kind of lip.

Beyond these there were no other injuries even of the slightest kind visible, at least on the port side, and the copper was as unwrinkled as the day it was put on.

Half-an-hour's work with the hammer put the keel completely to rights again; and whilst I busied myself about this, Bob employed himself in diligently scouring the copper, and would not be satisfied until he had made it almost as bright as gold.

I had very great hopes that we should find the starboard side in an equally undamaged condition; but we determined, whilst we were about it, to make our overhaul complete, so, as soon as dinner was over, we swung the craft, and hove her down again, and soon had the gratification of finding our hopes confirmed.

The copper on the starboard side, of course, received its due share of scouring, for the sake of uniformity; and about an hour before sunset, the tackles were eased up, and the little craft floated on an even keel once more, with her slight damages made good, and everything in as perfect condition (the ordinary wear and tear excepted) as when she came out of the builders' hands.

The next day was devoted to a thorough cleansing of the little craft's interior, fore and aft, so favourable an opportunity not being likely to offer again until after our return to England, unless, indeed, we really should prove fortunate enough to find our treasure; but she required it even now, so we gave it her, finis.h.i.+ng off with a coat of paint.

Before leaving her for the night, we unscrewed all the dead-lights in the deck, took off the skylight-top, and left the companion wide open, so as to ensure a thorough draught through her, this answering the double purpose of drying the paint and removing its objectionable odour.

The following day saw us as busy as ever, getting things back into their places, filling up our water, etc.; but we did not strike our tents that day, a stronger smell than was quite agreeable still remaining from the new paint.

To fill up our time, therefore, we turned to upon our fire-arms, and gave them a thorough cleaning up, so that they might be in perfect order, and ready for service at a moment's notice.

We were up betimes next morning; and, after our matutinal bath and a good breakfast, dowsed the tents, got our spars on board and in their places, bent the sails, and put the few finis.h.i.+ng touches which were necessary to make the cutter all ready for sea once more.

This done, it was time to see about finding a way out from among the numerous reefs which girt the island, as we believed, entirely round.

We had come through, or, rather, over them once, it is true, but it was in a fas.h.i.+on that I should have been very sorry to see repeated; and on that occasion we had no choice; but as I had no fancy for the little craft's again _sc.r.a.ping_ such rude acquaintance with the rocks, I resolved to take the boat and make a trip in her along the western side of the island, in search of a safe channel to sea.

Accordingly, Bob and I got the light spars and sails of the boat out, rigged and stepped the former, bent the latter, and then we all sat down to an early dinner.

It was my original intention to have gone away alone, but Ella begged so hard to be allowed to come with me that I had not the heart to refuse her, especially as there was no sufficient reason for so doing. So I consented, promising her that after our exploration was over, if time permitted, she should have a ramble on sh.o.r.e, on the southern side of the mountain, when we would lay in a sea-stock of fruit at the same time.

Bob said he would accompany us, and try his luck with the fis.h.i.+ng-lines, whilst Ella and I took our proposed stroll; and to this also there seemed no objection, as the cutter was in a berth where the hardest gale that ever blew could not have endangered her safety in the slightest decree.

Accordingly, as soon as the meal was over, we shoved off, some instinct prompting me, at the last moment, to take one of our revolving rifles and a small supply of cartridges with me. We soon slid out of the cove, and shortly afterwards rounded the north-western extremity of the island.

This was the first trial of our _sliding-gunter_ mainsail upon our singularly-constructed boat; and Bob and I were thrown into perfect raptures at the truly marvellous speed with which it propelled the craft along. The _Water Lily_ was wonderfully fast; but in smooth water and light winds, her boat would have sailed round and round her.

We skimmed rapidly along the edge of the western reef, and when we had run about four miles to the southward, found a good wide break, which looked as though it led out to sea. I up with the helm at once, and away we darted almost dead before the wind, down through it.

It was rather a circ.u.mbendibus sort of affair, and somewhat narrow in places, though everywhere there was sufficient room to work the _Lily_ in; and after a run of about half an hour, we shot out between two overhanging ledges, the extremities of which showed about six feet above water, and found ourselves rising and falling on the long swell of the open ocean.