“Take that axe,” he told Larry, pointing to a carefully forged hunting axe that had been landed with the other things, “and collect all the wood you can before dark.”
Larry, scarcely able to stand, looked wistfully at the yacht. “The cabin is dry in there,” he suggested, “why don’t we sleep in there to-night?”
Old Martin shook his head. “I don’t dare risk it,” he said. “I am tired, and I’d sleep too soundly. I don’t think I’d wake up, no matter what happened. And something may happen to-night. The storm is still brewing, and the waves are still so high that they pound the old hull all the time. A little more hammering and she may go to pieces. We couldn’t tell from the noise whether the storm was coming up or not, because there is so much pounding all the time anyway. And wouldn’t it be a fine thing for us to find ourselves dropped into the ocean after we have just finished getting ourselves and our things safely ashore? No, you get the wood and I’ll give you a sample of the out-door suppers that we are likely to have together every night for the next few months.”
Larry picked up the axe and dragged his weary feet off to the thicker line of trees a short distance away. There was really little use for the axe, as the woods were filled with fallen trunks and branches that could be gathered for the picking up. So he spared himself the exertion of chopping and began dragging branches and small logs to the tent.
He found that the old hunter, while he was collecting the wood, had unearthed a cooking outfit, and had pots, pans, and kettles strewn about ready for use. Best of all he had hunted out two fur sleeping bags, and had placed a pile of blankets in the little tent, which looked very inviting to the weary boy.
Martin saw his wistful look and chuckled. “Too tired to eat I suppose?” he inquired.
“Well, pretty near it,” Larry confessed. “I was never half so tired in my whole life.”
“All right,” said Martin; “you’ve worked like a real man to-day. So you just crawl into those blankets and have a little snooze while I and the doggies get the supper. I’ll call you when the things are ready.”
“Don’t you ever get tired, ever, Martin?” Larry asked as he flung himself down. But if Martin answered his question he did not hear it. He was asleep the moment he touched the blankets.