Part 40 (1/2)
He had been on board the _Harriet_, as I had believed, froe had told me, and had escaped fro voyage, and suffered dreadfully,Guam, for which they had steered, just as we had done, and been driven south The other men died, one and then another, till at last only Captain Barber and he had been left
The captain was in a dying state when the boat was driven on the reef, and Jack could not tell how he had ed to reach the shore He found himself at last in the very bay where we had landed He had just strength enough to crawl up to the palround, and th
He looked about for the old captain, but could nowhere find him, and supposed that he was drohen the boat went to pieces He didn't want to die, he said, so he got soht soht fro's” Island, and after a few days he ed to make a fire and cooked the shell-fish He found soht be poisonous
It was very ether he scarcely knehat he was about At last, however, came a furious stor towards the island He knew that there were reefs all around it, so he feared that she would be knocked to pieces and bring no help to him
His fears proved true; the shi+p struck at a distance from where he was
He made his way down to the nearest point to where she was, hoping that soht reach the shore alive, but the only thing of any size which had coratings and so to one to pieces before they could finish it, and the raft had been driven on shore by itself He secured the hen-coop and fowls, most of which were alive, and carried them up to where he had built a hut for hi three canoes full of wild-looking natives co near the shore, he collected all his fowls and carried theht up to the spot where he had built his present hut He there lay concealed, as he was afraid of falling into the hands of the natives after the way in which he had seen his shi+pes would treat him in the same way This idea seemed to have upset his mind He was nearly starved, for he would not kill any of his fowls because they were the only living beings that seemed to care for hi-place, and, creeping cautiously on, saw the savages sailing away in their canoes They had nearly stripped the trees of cocoanuts, and found his hut and pulled it to pieces Why they had gone so suddenly he could not tell, but on looking towards the burningout fire and shtened at it Hishis hut and the hen-roosts, where his fowls ht be safe froht be in the island He had seen wild cats at some of those he had touched at, and knew that if they found out his fowl they would soon put an end to theot shell-fish and berries, roots and cocoanuts, and watched what they seemed to like best They soon became so tame that they would come and sit on his shoulders and knees and run about between his feet What seees soh they pursued him they didn't discover his hen-roost or hut, but after that he was always fancying they would coht wedown to have a look at us, though it was so long since he had heard a word of English spoken he didn't understand as said Fortunately, Miles Soper had passed close to the place where he was hiding At length, when he heard his own name shouted in a voice which he recollected, he came out, and at once knew his old rown into a big fellow, and had coh he told Miles Soper that he should know me at once if I were like what I had been when he went to sea When Miles told hientlemen father had put on board their shi+p at the ti_--he seerees, with Miles speaking soothingly to hiradually to be restored He still found, however, a great difficulty in speaking; he had been so long without uttering a word except when he talked to his poultry He was alhts when Mr Griffiths and the doctor and the otherJack, and all shook him warmly by the hand The doctor and Mr Griffiths told hi lad, first going to sea, little thinking that fro about the world far away from home He looked very shy and reserved, and seemed inclined to keep close to Miles Soper and me, but in other respects he was as much in his senses as any of us The doctor had found several roots and fruits, which he said holesome, and would serve us as food, and Jack offered to catch asthat ouldn't touch his poultry
The doctor promised that they should not be molested while we remained on the island, but said to me--
”You must persuade your brother to let us have theo away; they will afford us sufficient provisions to enable us to reach the 'Pellew' Islands or Manilla, with the help of the birds and fish we o away, Jack asked that Miles Soper and I o down to the boat the next reed, and Soper and I reone Jack said--
”I haven't food for all the party, but I can give you a good supper,”
and he showed us his store-room at the back of the hut, in which he had several cocoanuts, sos
He showed us a sort of trap he used for catching the birds without frightening the rest He quickly got a fire fro in the way I have before described, and with the help of soood meal He had a supply of ed us up a place for sleeping in when it was time to lie down
I felt happier than I had been for a long tireat as to return hoot for the moment that ere on a remote island, and that we had only a sot up the nextJack seemed more refreshed and better able to talk than on the previous evening As soon as we had had breakfast, which was very much like supper, we set off to join the rest of the party at the bay We found the the boat, others in splitting a tree to form planks
We fortunately had a couple of axes with us, which were of great service, and while Soper and I lent a hand Jack went down to collect shell-fish, which he didwell accustomed to it
The weather was so fine that we required only a very slight hut, which we forhs and stems of small trees
Jack showed us a way up to the top of the cliff, and here Mr Griffiths erected a flagstaff with a whift, which we had in the boat, increased in size by a couple of handkerchiefs This was large enough to attract the attention of any vessel passing near the island, but Mr Griffiths said that he believed, owing to the surrounding reefs, none would intentionally approach
We were all anxious to get the boat finished as soon as possible and co in a hurry, though we ether, but the burning ain burst forth and overwhele numbers and either kill us or make us prisoners, for as we had only two muskets and a scanty supply of ammunition, we could scarcely hope to beat them off should they prove hostile Mr Griffiths and the doctor talked theis certain,” observed the mate, ”the sooner we're ahile the fine weather lasts the better, but at the same tihly for sea We have a long trip before us, and if we're caught in a gale we shall have reason to regret it if we don't take the trouble to fit our boat in the best e can”
It took a long time, first with our axes to split up the planks, and then to smooth them with our knives We had next to shape out additional tithen the boat, as to which also to fix the planks to We likewise decked over the fore and aft parts, both to keep out the sea and to prevent our provisions fro wet The doctor searched everywhere for soht serve to caulk our boat
He at last found soht answer, but as we had only a so without our soup or our hot water till the pot was again thoroughly cleaned out It answered the purpose, however, better than we had expected, and with rass we made up a substance which served instead of oakum Jack worked as hard as any of us, and was very useful in catching a number of birds, which he salted and dried in the sun
At length one day, when nearly all our preparations were concluded, theyour poultry-yard down We shall not have room for all the fowl, in the boat but I think we can cut down and repair the old hen-coop to hold a good many, and we must kill and salt the rest”
”What I kill my fowl--my old companions!” said Jack ”What! Cannot we let them live? They'll soon find food for themselves; they do that pretty well already, and I couldn't bear to see their necks wrung”