And coming from the lips of the boatswain, who was always so confident, the words had exceptional significance.
But they would not make the walls of the prison fall down, to allow the prisoners to escape!
Next morning the weather, though no longer thundery, was still unsettled, and the north wind continued to sweep the plateau fiercely.
Their first business was to see whether the sea-weeds piled up along the bastion had been spared by the fire. They had been partially. The men brought back in their arms enough to last for a week, exclusive of what the tides would bring up every day.
While the wind continued to blow from the north these floating masses would, of course, be carried to sea.
But as soon as it veered round to the south again, the harvest could be gathered more abundantly.
Nevertheless, Captain Gould pointed out that some precautions would have to be taken for the future.
“Quite right, captain,” John Block answered; “it would be a good plan to put what is left of the sea-weed under cover, in case we have to winter here.”
“Why not store it in the second cave that we have just discovered?” Fritz suggested.
That seemed to be expressly indicated, and that day, before noon, Fritz resolved to go back into the cave, in order to examine its nature and arrangements inside. Provided with a candle, he crept through the narrow opening communicating between the two caves. Who could say if the second one had not some means of egress beyond the mass of rock?