Ensign Holt and his party returned at dark with an ample supply of food, and by this time all the huts for which they had materials were erected, and the shipwrecked people, thankful that their lives had been spared, prepared to pass their first night on shore, no one knowing how many more they might have to spend on the island before they could make their escape.
The storm continued blowing, but the rain held off. Harry and his men went about renewing the fires, so as to keep the poor women and children as warm as possible. The chief annoyance arose from the noise made by the mutineers. They had been seen wandering about, and appeared to have hauled something on shore. Not long afterwards they began to sing, and shout, and shriek out in the wildest fashion. At last the sounds died away, and their fire alone, smouldering in the distance, showed where they were.
Captain Westerway took but little rest; he seemed dreadfully cast down at the loss of his ship, in spite of the consolation which Charles, Mr Paget, and Harry tried to give him.
“I had thought, when I came in here, to get the leaks stopped, and continue the voyage to New Zealand,” he said, sighing deeply.
“We do not know what can be done yet,” said Harry. “At all events, we may build a new vessel out of the old one; and though she cannot carry all the people, she may give notice of our condition, and a larger one may be sent from New Zealand to our relief. So you see, Captain Westerway, your loss is our gain; for had you not come in, months or years might have passed before we could have made our escape, and the anxiety of our friends have been relieved.”