"The Golden Wave has enough provisions to last this party a year," answered the captain. "We haven't anything very fine, but we have plenty of flour, dried beans, salt and smoked meats, and a good many cases of canned vegetables, as well as sugar, tea, coffee, salt, and pepper. With fresh fish and some game we'll be able to live as well here as if we were on shore,—that is, if we can find fresh water."
"We have all the fresh water we want,—on the large island," said
Tom. "And lots of tropical fruit—cocoanuts, bananas, and the like."
"If we are going to live on the ship, we'll have to bring fresh water over from the other island in a cask," said Dick. "That will not be very handy."
"Can't we move the wreck over?" came from Tom.
"No, lad," answered Captain Blossom. "She is here to stay until her timbers rot. But if we wish, we can move some of the provisions ashore. There are the parts of a rowboat below, and I reckon I am carpenter enough to put the parts together in a day or two."
"We have a boat on the north beach," said old Jerry; "we can bring it around."
"To do that, we'll have to swim the channel again," came from Dick.
"And I must say I don't like that."
"Let us make a raft," cried Tom. "There must be plenty of material on board of the schooner for that."
"There certainly is," answered Captain Blossom. "Come, we can make a raft in less than an hour."
All set to work, and in a short space of time they had the material together. Ropes and spikes were there a-plenty, and as Captain Blossom laid out one stick and another, the boys and old Jerry either nailed or tied them together. A board flooring was placed on top of the spars and then the whole affair was dumped into the bay with a loud splash. It floated very well, with the flooring a good ten inches above the surface of the water, and as the raft was nearly twenty feet long by ten wide, it was capable of carrying considerable weight.