The Three Admirals Part 19

"No, thank you," answered the doctor; "I am content with this stew."

Billy very reluctantly felt himself called upon to offer an egg to Tom and Desmond; but they both declined.

"Then I suppose I must eat them myself," said Billy, beginning to break the sh.e.l.l. He went on until the operation was performed, when he clapped the end into his mouth.

"Horrible!" he exclaimed, spitting the contents out. "If I haven't bitten off a bird's head!"

"Try the other, Billy," said Desmond; "that may not be so mature."

Billy, not suspecting a trick, commenced on the second egg, when Desmond, running into the hut, produced the rest they had brought, which Peter slipped under the ashes. Billy looked several times at the second egg; he was going to put it into his mouth when he bethought him of his knife. No sooner had he cut into it, than he threw it away, exclaiming--

"I do believe, Desmond, that you brought those on purpose; you have almost spoilt my appet.i.te."

"Then I have done more than anything else has ever accomplished,"

answered Desmond, laughing. "Never mind, Billy, you shall have the freshest of those eggs cooking under the ashes if you can regain your appet.i.te."

"I think I shall be able to do that, but I think I will take some stew in the mean time."

The rest of the eggs were fresh, but the doctor advised that they should collect a supply at once, before the birds had sat too long on them, as probably the greater number had by this time done laying.

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 employed hitherto, but he, having set each man to work, started at the same time in search of vegetables. He came back with a bag filled with small green leaves.

"I have found nothing except the cocoa-nuts very palatable, but until our garden seeds come up this will prove of greater value than any roots likely to be discovered. I was not aware that it was to be found in so low a lat.i.tude. It is a species of sorrel; it seems placed here by Providence for the especial use of seamen, as it is most efficacious in preventing 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 forming the proposed garden close to the hut, that the seeds might be put in without delay. They again went to work the following morning before daybreak, and in a short time a sufficient s.p.a.ce 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 Desmond, "and I hope by the time the crop of vegetables 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 Sh.o.r.e--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--Pa.s.s A REEF--A WRECK SEEN--VISITED--SUPPOSED TO BE THE DRAGON--NO ONE FOUND ON Sh.o.r.e--BELLONA REACHES HONG-KONG--JULL DISAPPEARS--CAPTAIN ROGERS a.s.sUMES COMMAND OF THE EMPRESS.

The midshipmen and doctor had been somewhat over sanguine in regard to the rapidity with which the proposed craft could be built. They had not taken into account the damage the tools would receive from unskilful hands. They were constantly striking 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 some hours, as the fish caught on one day were unfit for food on the next. Several of the ribs, from being unscientifically shaped, had to be taken down and reformed. Two or three were split so as to render them useless. Tom and the doctor, who were 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 months in a dockyard, he would gain a knowledge which would be useful under our circ.u.mstances, 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 improved too, and, Gerald declared, "would have got 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 some large chisels; but they found smoothing down with these was a very slow process.

The doctor was constantly charging Jerry and Tim to be careful when using 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 himself.

One day, however, as he was working away, a crack was heard, the auger refused to advance. He drew it out; the tip had broken. Examining it with a look of dismay, he sighed deeply, "Our shipbuilding must come to an end, I fear, unless we can replace this simple instrument."

"We will try, however, and see what we can accomplish in the forge,"

said Tom.

"You forget 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 Tom; "a day or two won't make much difference, and we can go on with the other parts of the vessel in the mean time."

Tom was not disappointed; after repeated experiments he and the doctor succeeded in putting a head to the auger, 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.

Neither Tom nor Desmond were made of stuff which could easily be defeated.

"We must try again," said Tom. "I have heard of a missionary in the South Seas who built a vessel entirely by himself, without a single white man to help him, in the course of three or four months. He had to begin without tools, and with only a ship's anchor and chain cable, and trees still growing in the forest. He set up a forge, manufactured tools, saws, and axes, then taught the natives to use them. They cut down trees, which they sawed up. He made ropes out of fibre, and sails from matting; and the necessary iron-work, of which there was very little in the whole craft, was formed from the remainder of the old anchor; yet that vessel performed long voyages and during several years visited numerous islands in the Pacific. Surely if one man can accomplish such a work, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves if, with materials all ready to our hands, we cannot build such a craft as we want."

"Yes, my friend; but the missionary you speak of--the late lamented Williams, who was murdered not far off to the west of us--was a practical mechanic. He had studied blacksmith's work before he left England, and must have possessed a large amount of mechanical talent, such as none of us can boast of."

Encouraged by Tom, the doctor recovered his spirits, and once more their shipbuilding progressed at fair speed. The main beams had been fixed up, and the skeleton was almost complete, but as yet not a plank had been fixed on. This, however, appeared to them comparatively easy work, and no one entertained a doubt of the success of their undertaking.

Regular discipline had been maintained all the time. At daybreak Tom or Desmond visited the hill, hoisted the flag, and took a look round. In the evening, when the flag was hauled down, generally two went up, in case a distant sail might escape the observation of one, and be discovered by the other, when they intended to light the beacon fire, in the hopes of attracting her attention.

Billy Blueblazes, who had got a sharp pair of eyes, whatever might be said about his wits, had one evening accompanied Desmond. They stood for some minutes scanning the horizon, but not a speck was visible in the blue sky except here and there, where a sea-fowl was winging its way towards the sh.o.r.e.

"It would save us a great deal of trouble if a vessel would come,"

observed Billy. "If we could build a steamer it would be very well; but we may be becalmed for days together, and I should not like to go through what we had to endure in the boat--mashed yams and oil. Bah!

I've not got the taste out of my mouth yet."

"You've put a good many things into it, though, since then," said Desmond. "For my part, after we have done so much, I should be almost disappointed if we were to be taken off before our craft was finished.

I should not exactly wish to go round Cape Horn in her, but I would go anywhere else. I hope Rogers will decide on sailing for Hong-kong."

"At all events, I wish she was finished, for I am tired of that sawing work," cried Billy.

"Well, Billy, we will haul down the flag, as there appears to be nothing in sight; but before we go, just swarm up the flag-staff, and take another look round; the horizon is remarkably clear, and you might see a ship's royals, even though they were but just above it."

Billy did as Desmond asked him to do. Presently he took off his cap, and waving it, shouted--

"A sail! a sail! to the eastward!"

"Are you certain of it?" asked Desmond.

"As sure as if I had it in my hand," answered Billy. "A ship's royals, I am certain of it. I think, too, she is standing this way."

"Come down, then," said Desmond, "and I'll have a look out through the gla.s.s." He had a telescope slung at his back. He swarmed up until he reached the head of the shrouds, when, securing himself, he brought his gla.s.s to bear in the direction Billy had pointed.

"You are right, Billy," he exclaimed, after taking a steady look through it. "I can make out the fore, main, and the head of the mizzen royals.

A large ship too, and, as you say, she is standing this way, with the wind from the eastward. She will not pa.s.s far from this either."

Having taken another steady glance through the gla.s.s, Desmond descended; indeed, the thickening gloom by this time almost shut out the sail from sight. He and Billy hurried back to the camp.

"Hurrah! hurrah!" they shouted out in one breath. "There is a ship coming to take us off!"

The rest of the party were incredulous until Desmond fully described the appearance of the sail. "And now let us get the beacon fire alight," he exclaimed.

"No great hurry for that," said Tom.