“You did not think so in the cabin of the ship,� she laughed, and giving me no time to answer, for I am not quick at speech on some occasions, as you who read must have noticed, she ran on, pointing to the barrier reef as she spoke, and staring at the breakers smashing against it, “but shoemaking and dressmaking are small things after what you did out there.�
“It was nothing,� said I.
“I watched you. I was not too frightened to do that, and there is not another man on earth who could have brought me over the fearful maelstrom of water to safety here.�
Well, that is true, why not admit it? I thought.
“Not many white men,� I replied, glad for her praise, “but natives in their canoes aplenty.�
“But a canoe is light and easily managed, not like this heavy boat.�
“No, I admit there is a difference�—as indeed there was—“but now we must think on the future,� I added.
“And what is to be done next?� she asked.
The next thing to be done, I decided, was to overhaul the boat. I pulled the plug out, drained the water from her, hauled her up on the sand above high water mark, my lady helping me as if she had been a man. I remonstrated with her about it, I begged her not to do it, finally I even ventured on a command to which she paid not the least heed.
The precious powder and shot we found dry and safe in the flasks in the air-tight lockers. From the same safe place, we got some hard bread, some cold salt beef, and with water from a brook that gushed out from under the rocky wall and ran across the beach we broke our fast again on this plain rough fare. It was not yet near noon, but we had gone through much since that early breakfast, and were healthily hungry again—and so we made our meal. Dry, hard eating to be sure, but we were thankful to God that we had it.