“When the corvette gets back, and it is found that the schooner has not arrived, it will be supposed that we are all lost. Ellen will be grieving for me, poor girl, and what would I not do to shield her from a minute’s pain or suffering?” he thought.
At length, however, he followed the example of his companions, and also, in spite of his anxiety, fell fast asleep. When morning dawned, the gale had altogether ceased. The sea was blue and shining, the lagoon calm almost as a mirror. The whole shore was strewn with pieces of the wreck and portions of the cargo. The party were soon on their feet. The place on which they had been thrown was a small islet, scarcely more than fifty yards wide, and five or six hundred long; a group of trees, a few bushes, and a sprinkling of coarse grass being the only vegetation upon it. The whole sea, as far as the eye could reach, was covered with similar islets, few of them of larger dimensions, while some were smaller, mere rocks rising out of the ocean. The difficulty of escaping from such a place was very great, as no vessels were likely to pass near so dangerous a portion of the sea, while the island afforded no means of building a boat, nor of supporting existence. As soon as the lieutenant had aroused himself, however, he directed his four companions to accompany him to the beach, that they might look for whatever had been thrown on shore. Eagerly they searched on either side. At length Bill espied a cask. They hurried towards it, and dragged it up out of the reach of the water.
“It looks as if it had beef or pork in it,” observed old Grim; “but unless we can get some biscuit and some water, it won’t do us much good, as I can tell you from experience.”
“But what do you think of this cask?” cried Bill, running on a little farther. “This is bread—I am sure of it by its looks. Maybe we shall get some water too. We have no cause to complain. See! Here’s a chest, too. It’s the carpenter’s; and if we put our hands to the work, perhaps we shall be able to build a boat, or raft of some sort, and get to the mainland.”
Numerous other articles were found and hauled up. Still no casks of water—the great want of all—had been discovered. They had been labouring for some time, having already collected a number of articles, when Tommy caught sight of several objects floating round the farther end of the island at no great distance from the shore. He shouted out to his companions, and they all ran in that direction. They were soon seen to be casks, mixed up with pieces of the wreck. The difficulty, however, was to get hold of them before they were swept away.
“If we could but make a bit of a raft, now,” said Jack, “I would not mind going out with a paddle and bringing them in.”
No sooner was the proposal made, than all hands set to work to build a light raft, for which there were ample materials. Bill volunteered to help Jack, and with the aid of a couple of roughly constructed paddles, they went off towards the casks.
“They are water-casks! No doubt about that,” cried Jack, as he got near to them; “but whether they have fresh or salt water in them remains to be proved.”
“Fresh water!” cried Bill; “let us hope so, at all events.”
Having brought some rope on their raft, they made the casks fast and towed them towards the beach. There were three. They considerably impeded the return of the raft to the shore. Still Jack and Bill persevered. It was very hard work, as there was a current against them. However, they determined to persevere as long as they should make way. The casks were too precious to be abandoned, so they kept on paddling and paddling. Sometimes Jack thought they were going farther off from the shore. “Keep on!” cried Bill. “We have gained an inch, and in another minute we shall have gained two inches. Hurrah!”