When Quambo showed the savages this they roared with delight and astonishment, so much so in fact that Hurricane Bob had to put himself on the defensive.
"If there is much more of that sort of thing," Bob gave them to understand, "I'll be obliged to bring you to your senses."
"Did they ever see that man, Quambo?" asked Fred.
"Oh, yes! They say, sah," replied Quambo, "he de biggest and de cleberest debbil ob all de ten, sah."
This was conclusive enough.
It was evident, therefore, that the ten poor fellows who had landed on one of this unknown but cannibal group of islands were a portion of the crew of the lost brig Resolute, and that they still lived there as slaves.
The savages, as soon as they found out that they were to be well fed and treated, instead of being cooked and eaten, became very happy and contented indeed. As a mere matter of precaution their clumsy old dug-out was broken up and used as firewood, and after this it became quite unnecessary to set sentries of a night Hurricane Bob was sentry enough. He tolerated the savages, that was all. He never quite trusted them.
* * * * * *
And now the building of the yacht was commenced in earnest.
The first thing to be done was to erect a shed on the beach under which the keel could be laid, and the work carried on pleasantly and as coolly as possible. The dimensions of the yacht were carefully studied and planned out; she was to have a twenty-feet keel, and to be sufficiently narrow in beam to permit of her being easily towed through the gap in the reef. This did not give her quite so much breadth as Fred could have wished, and he determined, therefore, to give her a good deep keel, and a not too high free-board, though the latter must of course be consonant with safety.