Masterman Ready Part 4

"He goes ash.o.r.e straight enough," said Ready, who, with Mr. Seagrave and William, was watching the animal; but a minute afterwards, Ready exclaimed: "I thought as much - we've lost him!"

"How?" replied Mr. Seagrave.

"D'ye see that black thing above water pus.h.i.+ng so fast to the animal? - that's the back fin of a shark, and he will have the poor thing - there, he's got him!" said Ready, as the pig disappeared under the water with a heavy splash. "Well, he's gone; better the pig than your little children, Mr. Seagrave."

"Yes, indeed, G.o.d be praised! - that monster might have been close to them at the time that Juno took them into the water."

"He was not far off; I reckon," replied Ready. "We'll go down now and tie the legs of the other four pigs, and bring them up; with what's already in the boat they will be a good load."

As soon as the pigs were in the boat, Ready sculled it on sh.o.r.e, while Mr. Seagrave and William brought up the goats and sheep ready for the next trip. Ready soon returned. "Now this will be our last trip for to-day, and, if I am any judge of the weather, our last trip for some days; it is banking up very thick in the offing. This trip we'll be able to put into the boat a bag of corn for the creatures, in case we require it, and then we may say good-bye to the s.h.i.+p for a day or two at least."

They then all got into the boat, which was very deeply laden, for the corn was heavy, but they got safe on sh.o.r.e, although they leaked very much. Having landed the goats and sheep, William led them up to the tent, where they remained very quietly; the pigs had run away, and so had the fowls.

"That's what I call a good day's work, Mr. Seagrave," said Ready; "the little boat has done its duty well; but we must not venture in her again until I have put her into a little better condition."

They were not at all sorry, after their hard day's work, to find that Juno had prepared coffee for them; and while they were drinking it, they narrated to Mrs. Seagrave the tragically death of the poor pig by the shark. Poor Juno appeared quite frightened at the danger which the children had been in, even now that it was all over.

"We shall have plenty to do here to-morrow," observed Mr. Seagrave, "in getting things into their places."

"We shall have plenty to do for some time, I expect," replied Ready. "In two months, or thereabouts, we shall have the rainy season come on, and we must be under cover before that time, if we possibly can."

"What's the first thing we must do, Ready?" inquired Mr. Seagrave.

"To-morrow we had better fix up another tent or two, to stow away all the articles we have brought on sh.o.r.e: that will be one good day's work; we shall then know where to lay our hands upon everything, and see what we want."

"That's very true; and what shall we do then?"

"Why then, sir, I think we must make a little expedition to explore the island, and find out where we must build our house."

"Can we build a house?" said William.

"Oh, yes, sir, and with more ease than you would think. There's no tree so valuable as the cocoa-nut tree; and the wood is so light that we can easily move it about."

"Why, what are the great merits of the cocoa-nut tree?" said Mrs. Seagrave.

"I'll tell you, madam: in the first place, you have the wood to build the house with; then you have the bark with which you can make ropes and lines, and fis.h.i.+ng-nets if you please; then you have the leaves for thatching your house; then you have the fruit, which, as a nut, is good to eat, and very useful in cooking; and in the young nut is the milk, which is also very wholesome; then you have the oil to burn, and the sh.e.l.l to make cups of, if you haven't any, and then you can draw toddy from the tree, which is very pleasant to drink when fresh, but will make you tipsy if it is kept too long. There is no tree which yields so many useful things to man, for it supplies him with almost everything."

"At all events, we've plenty of them," said William.

"Yes, William, there's no want of them; and I am glad of it, for had there been but few, I should not have liked to destroy them. People might be wrecked here, as well as ourselves, and without the good fortune that we have had in getting so many necessaries on sh.o.r.e; and they might be obliged to depend wholly upon the cocoa-nut trees for their support."

Chapter XIII.

When breakfast was over the next morning, Ready observed, "Now, Mr. Seagrave, we must hold a council of war, and decide upon an exploring party for to-morrow; and, when we have settled that, we will find some useful way of employing ourselves for the rest of the day. The first question is, of whom is the party to consist? - and upon that I wish to hear your opinion."

"Why, Ready," replied Mr. Seagrave, "it appears to me that you and I should go."

"Surely not both of you, my dear," interrupted Mrs. Seagrave. "You can do without my husband, can you not, Ready?"

"I certainly should have liked to have Mr. Seagrave to advise with, ma'am," replied Ready; "but still I have thought upon it, and do not think that William would be quite sufficient protection for you; or, at all events, you would not feel that he was, which is much the same thing; and so, if Mr. Seagrave has no objection, it would perhaps be better that he remained with you."

"Would you go alone, then, Ready?" said Mr. Seagrave.

"No, sir, I do not think that would be right either, - some accident might happen; there is no saying what might happen, although there is every appearance of safety. I should like, therefore, to have some one with me; the question is, whether it be William or Juno?"

"Take me," said Tommy.

"Take you, Tommy!" said Ready, laughing; "then I must take Juno to take care of you. No; I think they cannot spare you. Your mamma will want you when we are gone; you are so useful in gathering wood for the fire, and taking care of your little sister and brother, that your mother cannot part with you; so I must have either Juno or William."

"And which would you prefer, Ready?" said Mrs. Seagrave.

"William, certainly, ma'am, if you will let him go with me, as you could ill spare the girl."

"Indeed, I do not like it; I would rather lose Juno for a time," replied Mrs. Seagrave.

"My dear wife," said Mr. Seagrave, "recollect how Providence has preserved us in such awful dangers - how we are landed in safety. And now, will you not put trust in that Providence, when the dangers are, as I trust, only imaginary?"

"I was wrong, my dear husband; but sickness and suffering have made me, I fear, not only nervous and frightened, but selfish: I must and will shake it off. Hitherto I have only been a clog and an inc.u.mbrance to you; but I trust I shall soon behave better, and make myself useful. If you think, then, that it would be better that you should go instead of William, I am quite content. Go, then, with Ready, and may Heaven protect you both!"

"No, ma'am," replied Ready, "William will do just as well. Indeed, I would go by myself with pleasure; but we know not what the day may bring forth. I might be taken ill - I might hurt myself - I am an old man, you know; and then I was thinking that if any accident was to happen to me, you might miss me - that's all."

"Pardon me," replied Mrs Seagrave; "a mother is foolish at times."

"Over-anxious, ma'am, perhaps, but not foolish," replied Ready.

"Well, then, William shall go with you, Ready; - that point's settled," observed Mr. Seagrave: "what is the next?"

"The next is to prepare for our journey. We must take some provisions and water with us, a gun and some ammunition, a large axe for me, and one of the hatchets for William; and, if you please, Romulus and Remus had better come with us. Juno, put a piece of beef and a piece of pork into the pot. William, will you fill four quart bottles with water, while I sew up a knapsack out of canvas for each of us?"

"And what shall I do, Ready?" said Mr. Seagrave.

"Why, sir, if you will sharpen the axe and the hatchet on the grindstone, it would be of great service, and Tommy can turn it, he is so fond of work."

Tommy jumped up directly; he was quite strong enough to turn the grindstone, but he was much fonder of play than work; but as Ready had said that he was fond of it, he wished to prove that such was the case, and worked very hard. Before they went to prayers and retired for the night, the axe was sharpened, the knapsacks made, and everything else ready.

"When do you intend to start, Ready?" said Mr. Seagrave.

"Why, sir, I should like to get off at the dawn of day, when the heat is not so great."

"And when do you intend to come back?" said Mrs. Seagrave.

"Why, madam, we have provisions enough for three days: if we start to-morrow morning, which is Wednesday, I hope to be back some time on Friday evening; but I won't be later than Sat.u.r.day morning if I can help it."

"Good-night - and good-bye, mother," said William, "for I shall not see you to-morrow!"

"G.o.d bless and protect you, my dear child!" replied Mrs. Seagrave. "Take care of him, Ready, and good-bye to you till we meet."

Mrs. Seagrave went into the tent to hide the tears which she could not suppress.

Chapter XIV.

Ready was up before the sun had appeared, and he awakened William. The knapsacks had been already packed, with two bottles of water in each, wrapped round with cocoa-nut leaves, to prevent their breaking, and the beef and pork divided between each knapsack. Ready's, which was larger than William's, held the biscuit and several other things which Ready had prepared in case they might require them.

As soon as the knapsacks were on, Ready took the axe and gun, and asked William if he thought he could carry a small spade on his shoulder, which they had brought on sh.o.r.e along with the shovels. William replied that he could; and the dogs, who appeared to know they were going, were all ready standing by them. Then, just as the sun rose, they turned into the cocoa-nut grove, and were soon out of sight of the tents.

"Now, William, do you know," said Ready, stopping after they had walked twenty yards, "by what means we may find our way back again; for you see this forest of trees is rather puzzling, and there is no path to guide us?"

"No, I am sure I cannot tell; I was thinking of the very same thing when you spoke; and of Tom Thumb, who strewed peas to find his way back, but could not do it, because the birds picked them all up."

"Well, Tom Thumb did not manage well, and we must try to do better; we must do as the Americans always do in their woods, - we must blaze the trees."

"Blaze them! what, set fire to them?" replied William.

"No, no, William. Blaze is a term they use when they cut a slice of the bark off the trunk of a tree, just with one blow of a sharp axe, as a mark to find their way back again. They do not blaze every tree, but about every tenth tree as they go along, first one to the right, and then one to the left, which is quite sufficient; and it is very little trouble, - they do it as they walk along, without stopping. So now we'll begin: you take the other side, it will be more handy for you to have your hatchet in your right hand; I can use my left. See now - just a slice off the bark - the weight of the axe does it almost."

"What an excellent plan!" observed William.

"But I have another friend in my pocket," replied Ready, "and I must use him soon."

"What is that?"

"Poor Captain Osborn's pocket-compa.s.s. You see, William, the blazing will direct us how to go back again; but it will not tell us what course we are now to steer. At present, I know we are going right, as I can see through the wood behind us; but by and by we shall not be able, and then I must make use of the compa.s.s."

"I understand that very well; but tell me, Ready, why do you bring the spade with us - what will be the use of it? You did not say yesterday that you were going to bring me."

"No, William, I did not, as I did not like to make your mother anxious; but the fact is, I am very anxious myself as to whether there is any water on this island; if there is not, we shall have to quit it sooner or later, for although we may get water by digging in the sand, it would be too brackish to use for any time, and would make us all ill. Very often there will be water if you dig for it, although it does not show above-ground; and therefore I brought the spade."

"You think of everything, Ready."

"No, I do not, William; but, in our present situation, I think of more things than perhaps your father and mother would: they have never known what it is to be put to their s.h.i.+fts; but a man like me, who has been all his life at sea, and who has been wrecked, and suffered hards.h.i.+ps and difficulties, and has been obliged to think or die, has a greater knowledge, not only from his own sufferings, but by hearing how others have acted when they were in distress. Necessity sharpens a man's wits; and it is very curious what people do contrive when they are compelled to do so, especially seamen."

"And where are we going to now, Ready?"

"Right to the leeward side of the island."

"Why do you call it the leeward side of the island?"

"Because among these islands the winds almost always blow one way; we landed on the windward side; the wind is at our back; now put up your finger, and you will feel it even among the trees."

"No, I cannot," replied William, as he held up his finger.

"Then wet your finger, and try again."

William wet his finger, and held it up again. "Yes, I feel it now," said he; "but why is that?"

"Because the wind blows against the wet, and you feel the cold."

As Ready said this the dogs growled, then started forward and barked.

"What can be there?" cried William.

"Stand still, William," replied Ready, c.o.c.king his gun, "and I will go forward to see." Ready advanced cautiously with the gun to his hip. The dogs barked more furiously; and at last, out of a heap of cocoa-nut leaves collected together, burst all the pigs which had been brought on sh.o.r.e, grunting and galloping away as fast as they could, with the dogs in pursuit of them.

"It's only the pigs," said Ready, smiling; "I never thought I should be half-frightened by a tame pig. Here, Romulus! here, Remus! come back!" continued Ready, calling to the dogs. "Well, William, this is our first adventure."

"I hope we shall not meet with any one more dangerous," replied William, laughing; "but I must say that I was alarmed."

"No wonder; for, although not likely, it is possible there may be wild animals on this island, or even savages; but being alarmed is one thing, and being afraid is another: a man may be alarmed, and stand his ground; but a man that is afraid will run away."

"I do not think I shall ever run away and leave you, Ready, if there is danger."

"I'm sure you will not; but still you must not be rash; and now we will go on again, as soon as I have unc.o.c.ked my gun. I have seen more accidents happen from people c.o.c.king their guns, and forgetting to unc.o.c.k them afterwards, than you can have any idea of. Recollect, also, until you want to fire, never c.o.c.k your gun."

Ready and William continued their way through the cocoa-nut grove for more than an hour longer, marking the trees as they went along; they then sat down to take their breakfast.

"Don't give the dogs any water, William, nor any of the salt meat; give them biscuit only."

"But they are very thirsty; may not I give them a little?"

"No: we shall want it all ourselves, in the first place; and, in the next, I wish them to be thirsty. And, William, take my advice, and only drink a small quant.i.ty of water at a time. The more you drink, the more you want."

"Then I should not eat so much salt meat."

"Very true; the less you eat the better, unless we find water, and fill our bottles again."

"But we have our axes, and can always cut down a cocoa-nut, and get the milk from the young nuts."

"Very true; and fortunate it is that we have that to resort to; but still we could not do very well on cocoa-nut milk alone, even if it were to be procured all the year round. Now we will go on if you do not feel tired."

"Not in the least; I am tired of seeing nothing but the stems of cocoa-nut trees, and shall be glad when we are through the wood."

"Then the faster we walk the better," said Ready; "as far as I can judge, we must be about half-way across now."