"If I had but a little for the children, I should not care," observed Mrs. Seagrave; "but to see those poor things suffer - is there not a drop left, Juno, anywhere?"
Juno shook her head.
Mrs. Seagrave said she would go and examine, and went away into the house accompanied by Juno.
"This is a very bad business, Ready," observed Mr. Seagrave. "What would we give for a shower of rain now, that we might catch the falling drops!"
"There are no signs of it, sir," replied Ready; "we must, however, put our confidence in One who will not forsake us."
"I wish the savages would come on again," observed William; "for the sooner they come, the sooner the affair will be decided."
"I doubt if they will to-day; at night-time I think it very probable.
We must make preparations for it."
"Why, what can we do, Ready?"
"In the first place, sir, by nailing planks from cocoa-nut tree to cocoa-nut tree above the present stockade, we may make a great portion of it much higher, and more difficult to climb over. Some of them were nearly in, this time. If we do that, we shall not have so large a space to watch over and defend; and then we must contrive to have a large fire ready for lighting, that we may not have to fight altogether in the dark. It will give them some advantage in looking through the palisades, and seeing where we are, but they cannot well drive their spears through, so it is no great matter. We must make the fire in the centre of the stockade, and have plenty of tar in it, to make it burn bright, and we must not, of course, light it until after we are attacked. We shall then see where they are trying for an entrance, and where to aim with our muskets."
"The idea is very good, Ready," said Mr. Seagrave; "if it had not been for this unfortunate want of water, I really should be sanguine of beating them off."