CHAPTER EIGHT.
THE WRECK OF THE MERMAID.
At length, however, the inevitable change came; the wind died away to abreathless calm; the ocean took on the semblance of a sea of gentlyundulating glass; and the hitherto cloudless sky imperceptibly lost itsintensity of blue as a thin, streaky haze gradually veiled it, throughwhich the sun shone feebly, a rayless disc of throbbing white fire. Theheat and closeness of the atmosphere were intense, even on deck, whilethe temperature below was practically unendurable. The brig loststeerage-way about two o'clock in the afternoon; and when the sun sankbeneath the western horizon that night, looming through the haze red asblood, distorted in shape, and magnified to thrice his normaldimensions, there was little if any perceptible change in theatmospheric conditions, although the mercury in the barometer had beenfalling slowly but steadily all day.
The brig was now within the tropic of Capricorn, and not very far to theeastward of the Paumotu Archipelago, in which region night succeeds daywith such astounding rapidity that the stars become visible within tenminutes of the sun's disappearance. Yet no stars appeared on thisparticular night; on the contrary, a darkness that could be felt settleddown upon the brig almost with the suddenness of a drawn curtain. Thedarkness was as profound as that of the interior of a coal-mine; it wasliterally impossible to see one's hand held close to one's eyes; andmovement about the deck was accomplished blindly and gropingly, withhands outspread to avoid collision with the most familiar objects, whosepositions could now be only roughly guessed at. And the silence was asprofound as the darkness; for the swell had subsided with almoststartling rapidity, and the brig was so nearly motionless that there wasnone of the creaking of timbers or spars, none of the "cheeping" ofblocks and gear that is usually to be heard under such circumstances.Even the men forward were silent, as though they were waiting andlistening for something, they knew not what. So intense was the silencethat even the striking of a match to light a pipe became almoststartling; while its tiny flame burnt steadily and without a semblanceof wavering in the stagnant air.
Gradually, however, a subtle and portentous change took place. Thedarkness slowly became less intense, giving place to a lurid ruddytwilight that appeared to emanate from the clouds, for by imperceptibledegrees they grew visible and became streaked and blotched with patchesof red that suggested the idea of their being on fire within, theincandescence showing through here and there in the thinner parts. Thisred light grew and spread until the whole surface of the sky was aglowwith it; and it was an uncanny experience to stand on the stern grating,close up to the taffrail, and look forward along the brig's deck to herbows, and note every detail of the craft and her equipment showingdistinctly and black as ebony against that weird background of red-hotsky and its ruddy reflection in the polished surface of the water.
Leslie scarcely knew what to make of this lowering and portentouslyilluminated sky. He had never seen anything quite like it before; buthe instinctively felt that it foreboded mischief; and he accordinglykept a sharp eye on the barometer. It was still falling, and now withconsiderably greater rapidity than at first. At eight bells in thesecond dog-watch he came to the conclusion that the time for action hadarrived; and before allowing the watch to go below he ordered everythingto be clewed up and furled, leaving only the fore staysail standing.Then he settled himself down to wait doggedly for developments,determined not to leave the deck until a breeze had come from_somewhere_. For he had a suspicion that when it arrived, it wouldprove to be something stronger than ordinary; and he wanted to satisfyhimself as to the manner in which his jury rig would withstand such anoutburst as appeared to be impending.
Hour after hour went by, however, and nothing happened; until at lengthMiss Trevor, whose stay on deck had been unusually prolonged bycuriosity--and perhaps a dash of apprehension--bade Leslie good nightand retired to her cabin, the port of which he particularly requestedher to keep closed, despite the stifling heat. At length the strangeand alarming glow in the heavens faded as imperceptibly as it had come,until the darkness had become as intense as before; and Leslie wasbeginning to think that after all nothing was going to happen, when thewhole scene became suddenly illuminated by a vivid flash of sheetlightning that for an infinitesimal fraction of a second seemed to setthe entire visible firmament ablaze, and caused every detail of thebrig's hull and equipment to imprint a clear and perfectly distinctpicture of itself upon the retina. They all listened for thunder, butnone came. Suddenly, however, a few heavy drops of rain pattered uponthe deck, and an instant later down came a perfect deluge with the soundof millions of small shot roaring and rattling on the deck and hissinginto the sea. The rain ceased as suddenly as it had come, as suddenlyas the flow of water is stopped by the turning of a tap; and for about aquarter of an hour nothing further happened. Then the sheet lightningbegan to quiver and flicker among the clouds once more; and presentlythe pall immediately overhead was rent apart by a terrific flash ofsun-bright lightning that struck straight down and seemed to hit thewater only a few yards from the brig. Simultaneously with the flashcame a crackling crash of thunder of absolutely appalling intensity; andbefore its echoes had died away another flash, and another, and another,tore athwart the heavens; until within the space of less than a minutethe entire vault of heaven was ablaze with flickering and flashinglightnings, steel blue, baleful green, rosy red, and dazzling white,accompanied by a continuous crash and roar of thunder that was bothdeafening and terrifying. This tremendous manifestation continued forabout ten minutes, when down came the rain again, in an even fiercerdeluge than before; and in the very midst of it, while the thunder stillcrashed and boomed overhead, and the rain descended in such sheets andmasses that everybody gasped for breath, as though drowning, away camethe wind with a howling scream that in an instant drowned even the soundof the thunder. It struck the brig flat aback; and had she happened tohave had any of her square canvas set she must undoubtedly havefoundered stern first. As it was, Leslie, who happened to be the onlyman near the wheel, sprang to it and put the helm hard over, causing herto pay off as she gathered stern-way, and thus saving the craft. Buteven as he stood there, in the very act of putting the helm over, acrash reached his ears out of the midst of the terrific hubbub; he wasconscious of receiving a violent blow on the head; and then he knew nomore.
When Leslie again recovered consciousness, his first distinct sensationwas that of racking, sickening, splitting headache, accompanied by afeeling of acute soreness and smarting. He also felt dazed, confused,and harassed by a vague but intense anxiety about something, he knew notwhat. Then he became aware that he was lying recumbent on his back,with his head propped high by pillows; and presently he also becameaware that his head was heavily swathed in bandages. He stirreduneasily, and attempted to put his hand to his head; but was shocked tofind that his hand and arm felt heavy as lead, so heavy, indeed, thatafter a feeble effort he abandoned the attempt. As he did so, afluttering sigh, and a whispered "Oh, thank God; thank God!" fell uponhis ear; a handkerchief saturated with eau-de-cologne was applied to hisnostrils; and, as in a dream, he heard a voice murmur--
"Are you better, Mr Leslie? Tell me that you are feeling better."
Feeling better! Had he been ill, then? He supposed he must have been;otherwise, why was he lying there--wherever he might be--on his back,with his head bandaged and racked with pain, and with no strength inhim? Ill! of course he was; every nerve in his body bore testimony tothe fact. But where was he? what was the matter with him? and whose wasthis gentle, tender voice--that somehow seemed so familiar--thatquestioned him? Everything was vague, confused, and incomprehensible,with a dominating impression that there was pressing, urgent need forhim to be up and attending to something without an instant's delay.
As he lay there, painfully cogitating in a vain endeavour to disentanglethe threads of mingled thought that seemed to be inextricably woundtogether in his throbbing, struggling brain, two warm drops splashedupon his face, and the same low voice tha
t he had heard before, cried--
"Spare him, O God; spare him; have mercy!" and the handkerchief wasagain applied to his nostrils.
The tide of life ebbed back for a moment; he again sank into oblivion;and presently revived to the consciousness that soft arms weresupporting him--arms that quivered and shook with the violent sobbingthat fell upon his ears--while a shower of hot tears bathed his face.And then, all in an instant, recollection, vivid, intense, complete,came to him, and he opened his eyes.
For a moment he could see nothing. Then he became aware that the sunwas streaming brilliantly in through the open port-hole near the head ofhis bunk, while a soft, warm, yet refreshing breeze was playing abouthis temples; and that Miss Trevor was bending over him with streamingeyes that gazed down upon him wild with anxiety and grief.
"Why, what is this? what is the matter? and why am I lying here idlewhen I ought to be on deck looking after the ship?" he murmured,attempting at the same time to rise.
But the imprisoning arms held him firmly down; the streaming eyes methis in an intensity of gaze that seemed to devour him; and the tendervoice gain cried with indescribable fervour--
"Thank God; oh, thank God for this great mercy! You _are_ alive! Andyou will continue to live. Yes, you _must_ live; promise me that youwill. Here; drink this, quickly." And she held to his lips a tumblercontaining a liquid that, pungent to the taste, at once revived him.
"Thanks; a thousand thanks!" murmured Leslie, gratefully. "I feelbetter now. Please let me get up; I must go on deck at once."
"No; no, you must not; indeed you must not; there is no need," answeredMiss Trevor; and Leslie thought he detected a tone of sadness mingledwith relief in the accents of her voice.
"No need?" ejaculated Leslie; "but indeed there _is_ need--" and then hepaused abruptly; for it had suddenly dawned upon him that the brig had adistinct list to port, and that she was _motionless_; not with thebuoyant motionlessness of a ship afloat in a calm, but with the absoluteabsence of all movement characteristic of a ship in dry dock, or_stranded_!
"Good heavens! what has happened?" he ejaculated. "Tell me, please, atonce!" and he again attempted to rise.
But again his self-constituted nurse restrained him.
"Oh, please, _please_, do not move," she entreated. "You _must_ obeyme, now; or you will _never_ get better. I will tell you everything;but indeed you must not attempt to rise; for, as I said just now, thereis no need. The ship is quite safe; I am sure that nothing further canhappen to her, at least not for some time to come; and long ere thattime arrives you will, please God, be well again, and in a fit state todo whatever seems best to you."
"Nevertheless," answered Leslie, "I should like to see the carpenter, ifyou will have the goodness to call him to me. I perceive that the brigis ashore--though _where_, I have not the remotest notion; and he willbe able to tell me, far more clearly than you can, exactly what hashappened."
The girl leaned over Leslie, and looked down at him with eyes full oftrouble.
"Mr Leslie," she said, the tears welling up into her eyes again, "Imust ask you to prepare yourself to hear bad news--very bad and very_sad_ news. I cannot bring the carpenter to you; I cannot bring him, orany other of the crew to you; for, my poor friend, you and I--andSailor--are the only living beings left on board this most unfortunateship!"
"You and I--the only people left aboard?" gasped Leslie. "Then, inHeaven's name, what has become of the real?"
"I cannot tell you--I do not know," answered the girl. "But if you willlet me tell my story in my own way, I have no doubt that your knowledgeof seafaring matters will enable you to judge with sufficient accuracyjust what has happened.
"You will remember, perhaps, that on the night before last there was aterribly violent storm of lightning and thunder--"
"The night _before last_?" interrupted Leslie. "You mean _last_ night,surely?"
"No," answered Miss Trevor; "I mean the night before last. You havelain here unconscious nearly thirty-six hours."
"Thirty-six hours!" ejaculated Leslie, with a groan. "Well, go on,please."
"That storm," continued Miss Trevor, "was so violent and terrifying thatI found it not only impossible to sleep through it, but even to remainin my cabin. I therefore rose, dressed, and stationed myself in theplace you call the companion, at the head of the cabin stairs where,sheltered by the cover, I could at least watch what was going on.Crouched there, I saw everything that happened. I saw you spring to thewheel when the gale struck the ship; I saw you felled to the deck by thefalling mast; and I was the first to spring to your assistance and dragyou out from the midst of the tangle of ropes and broken spars. Thenthe carpenter and one or two other men came running up, and they helpedme to bring you down here to your own cabin, where I have been attendingto you ever since, and striving, oh, so earnestly and so hard, torestore you to consciousness."
"My poor, brave girl," murmured Leslie, "what courage, what devotion youhave shown!"
The young lady resumed--
"The carpenter and the others left me immediately that we had got youlaid comfortably on your bed, and the lamp lighted, explaining that itwas necessary for them to be on deck to take care of the ship--as Icould readily understand; for the frightful roar of the wind and theviolent motion of the ship bore eloquent witness to the fury of thestorm that was raging outside. They accordingly retired; and I heardthem close the doors at the top of the stairs and draw over the cover--to keep the water from coming down into the cabin, I suppose; for Icould hear it falling heavily on the deck with alarming frequency; whilethe hoarse shouts and calling of the men up above were truly terrifying.
"You were quite insensible, and bleeding freely from a wound in yourhead," resumed the young lady; "and my first thought, naturally, was themedicine-chest that I had seen under the cabin table. I made my way tothis as best I could; and, finding the book of directions, turned to thepart treating of wounds, where I found full instructions how to proceed.
"Acting upon these, I carefully clipped away the hair from all aroundthe gash; bathed the place, washing away the blood as well as I could;and then applied a dressing, as directed, securing it in place withplaster, and then swathing your head with a bandage to preserve thedressing from displacement.
"I had just completed this task, and was sitting on the box under yourlamp, trying to discover some way of restoring you to consciousness,when the ship suddenly struck with awful violence against something, andI heard a crash as of a falling mast on deck, accompanied by a terribleoutcry among the men. Then the ship was lifted up, to come down againwith another crash, even worse than the first; then she was thrownviolently over on her side, and I heard a fearful fall of water on thedeck, accompanied by more rending and crashing of timber. This wascontinued for, I should say, quite half an hour, the shocks, however,becoming less and less violent until they ceased altogether, and theship seemed to remain stationary, save for a slight rocking movementthat eventually also ceased; and I have not since then felt theslightest movement or tremor of any kind. The gale, however, continuedto rage with unabated fury until midday yesterday, when it quickly diedaway, and the sun came out.
"Meanwhile, I continued my efforts to restore you to consciousness, butwithout success. And finally, when at length the gale had passed awayand the weather had again become fine, I ventured to go up on deck tosee what had happened to the ship, and what had become of the men; for,to my great surprise and alarm, none of them had come near me, or madeany attempt to inquire after you, from the moment when they had helpedto bring you down into the cabin!"
"And what did you find?" demanded Leslie, anxiously.
"I found," answered Miss Trevor, "that the ship is lying stranded on animmense reef of rocks, and is within about two miles of _land_--a largeisland, I take it to be, for I can see the sea beyond each end of it.But that is not the worst of it. The ship is a complete wreck, both hermasts being broken and lying in the water beside her, most of herbulwarks broken and g
one, and not one of the crew to be found!"
"I must get up; I really _must_!" insisted Leslie. "_Please_ do notattempt to keep me here," he continued, as his companion strove todissuade him from his purpose. "I _must_ go on deck and take a lookround, if only for a few minutes, just to satisfy myself as to theactualities of our situation. If I cannot do that, I shall simply liehere and worry myself into a fever, thinking and fearing everyimaginable thing."
"Well," remarked the girl, doubtfully, "if that is to be the result ofconfinement to your cabin, perhaps I had better yield to your wish andallow you to go on deck, just for a few minutes. But you must promiseto be very good and obedient, to do exactly as I tell you, and--inshort, to leave yourself entirely in my hands. Will you?"
"Oh, of course I will," assented Leslie, with an eagerness and alacritythat were not altogether convincing to his companion, who saw, however,that she would have to yield somewhat to this headstrong patient of hersif she wished to retain any control at all over him.
She accordingly assisted him first to sit up in his berth and then toclimb out of it--he still being dressed in the clothes that he waswearing when the accident happened to him--and eventually, with veryconsiderable difficulty--Leslie finding himself curiously weak, and sogiddy that he could not stand without support--she contrived to get himup the companion ladder and out on deck, where Sailor accorded them botha boisterous and effusive welcome.
Arrived there, Leslie sank upon the short seat that ran fore and aftalongside the companion cover, and cast his eyes about him. It was amelancholy sight that met his view. The brig, with a list of about fourstrakes to port, was hard and fast upon the inner edge of a reef thatseemed to be about a mile wide, and stretched for many miles in eitherdirection, ahead and astern, she lying broadside-on to the run of thereef. The jury mainmast had snapped short off immediately above thelashings that bound it to the stump of the original spar, and had goneover the stern, some of its gear having evidently struck Leslie down asthe spar fell. The foremast was also over the side, having gone closeto the deck; and all the wreckage was still floating alongside attachedto the hull by the rigging. The bulwarks had all disappeared save someten or twelve feet on either side extending from the taffrail, forward,and a few feet in the eyes of the ship. The decks had been swept cleanof every movable thing, including the longboat and the jolly-boat thathad been stowed on the main hatch; and both quarter-boats had alsovanished from the davits, leaving only fragments of their stem andstern-posts hanging to the tackle blocks to show what had happened tothem.
No part of the reef showed above water, but its extent and limits werevery clearly defined by the ripples and agitation--gentle though thislast was--of the surface of the water above it. The surf was breakingheavily on its outer margin in clouds of gleaming white that flashed andglittered in the brilliant sunshine; and an occasional undulation ofswell came sweeping in across the reef, causing a thousand swirls andeddies to appear as it traversed the vast barrier of submerged rock--coral, Leslie judged it to be--but it did not affect the brig in theleast, sending not even the faintest tremor through her, by which thesick man judged that she must have been deposited in her presentposition at a moment when the level of the sea was considerably higherthan it was just then. The craft was lying so close to the inner edgeof the reef that had she been carried another fifty yards she would havebeen swept right over it; in which case she would undoubtedly have atonce sunk in the deep-water that lay between this outer barrier reef andthe island some three miles away--not two miles, as Miss Trevor hadestimated the distance.
But, oh, that island! When Miss Trevor had spoken of it Leslie picturedto himself some tiny, obscure, bare atoll of perhaps a mile in length,and not more than a dozen feet high at its highest point--knowing fromhis reckoning that, at the time of the fatal outbreak, the brig had notbeen near enough _any known_ land to render wreck upon it possible. Butthe land upon which he gazed with wondering eyes measured fully threemiles from one extremity to the other--with a promise of considerablymore beyond the points in sight. And instead of being only a few feetin height above the sea-level, it rose in a gentle slope for about halfa mile from the beach of dazzlingly white sand that fringed its marginimmediately opposite where the brig lay, and then towered aloft to abare truncated peak that soared some six thousand feet into thebeautifully clear air. The whole island, except some two hundred feetof its summit, appeared to be densely clad with vegetation, among whichmany noble trees were to be seen, some of them being resplendent withbrilliant scarlet blossoms.
The fresh air had exercised a distinctly revivifying effect upon Lesliewho, after some quarter of an hour's rest, felt strong enough to moveabout the deck, with Miss Trevor's assistance and support; and heaccordingly proceeded forward as far as the galley which, to hisprofound satisfaction, he found to be undamaged and with all itsparaphernalia intact. Then he went on to the fore scuttle--the hatch ofwhich was on and secured. Throwing back the cover, he peered down intothe dark and evil-smelling place, and called several times, withouteliciting any reply. He would fain have investigated further, to theextent of descending into its interior; but his companion consideredthat he had by this time done quite as much as was good for him, andflatly refused to render him the least assistance toward this furtheradventure. He was perforce compelled therefore to abandon his intentionand retreat to his own end of the ship. Here, availing himself of thesupport of the short remaining length of the bulwarks, he leaned overand peered down into the clear, transparent water, through which hecould clearly see the white surface of the reef upon which the brigrested; and its colour and the comparative smoothness of its surfaceconvinced him that he had been right in his conjecture that it must beof coral formation.
"Well, sir," demanded his companion, as she carefully assisted him tohis former resting-place alongside the companion, "what think you of oursurroundings, as a whole?"
"To be perfectly candid with you," he replied, "I regard them asdecidedly promising; although I quite admit that we are in a verydistinctly awkward predicament. In the first place, I fear that weshall have to reconcile ourselves to the prospect of a somewhatlengthened sojourn, for unless I have made some very serious error in mycalculations--which I do not believe--we are far out of the usual tracksof ships, and our only hope, therefore, of being seen and taken offrests in the possibility that some wandering whaler may put in here forwater. That, however, is a prospect upon which it will be unwise for usto reckon overmuch; and we must consequently pin our faith upon ourability to devise a means of escape for ourselves. That, in a fewwords, means that I shall have to set to work forthwith upon the task ofconstructing some craft big enough and seaworthy enough to convey us tosome spot from which we can take passage home again. I see that such aprospect appears sufficiently alarming to you, and I will not attempt toconceal from you the fact that it means--as I just now said--a ratherlengthy stay here. But, fortunately for us, the materials for theconstruction of such a craft are all here to our hand; this brig willafford us all the timber that we require for such a purpose, with plentyto spare; and I am not altogether ignorant of the arts of navalarchitecture and ship-building. Then we shall probably find that thereis a sufficient stock of provisions still left on board here to sustainus during the period of our detention here, to say nothing of theresources of the island itself, which looks as though it might becapable of affording us an ample subsistence of itself. Then there is abeach ashore there that looks quite good enough to serve as my shipyard;with a nice little plateau adjoining it upon which I purpose to erect atent for our accommodation--for I do not think it would be wise toremain aboard here longer than may prove absolutely necessary."
"Why," exclaimed the girl, "you appear to have planned everything outalready. How fortunate I am in having you as my companion! If you hadnot been hurt, I suppose you would have been on deck when this disasteroccurred, and the chances are that you would then have been drowned withthe rest of the poor fellows; and I should have been le
ft alone here todie miserably."
"Yes," agreed Leslie, dryly, "my accident was certainly a blessing indisguise, from that point of view. If I can succeed in getting yousafely away from here, and putting you in the way of returning to yourfriends, I shall at least have accomplished something useful before Idie."
"Oh, Mr Leslie," exclaimed the girl, "you know I did not mean that! Isimply meant--well--I mean--oh dear, how am I to express myself so thatyou will understand? Surely you do not believe me to be such an utterlyselfish and heartless creature as to be glad that you have escaped thefate of the others merely because, by so doing, you are left alive to bemy helper and protector?"
"No, indeed," answered Leslie, heartily, "I assure you, Miss Trevor--"He paused abruptly, thought for a moment, and then resumed: "Look here,we have been thrown together--you and I--and our fates intermingled in avery extraordinary manner, and we are likely to remain together for sometime longer in fairly intimate association, each of us the solecompanion of the other. Do you not think that, under the circumstances,we might as well drop the formality of `Mr' and `Miss?' My name isRichard; but my friends call me Dick, and I should be glad if you woulddo the same."
"Very well," answered his companion, "I will willingly do so, if youreally wish it; it would be only prudish to object--under thecircumstances, as you put it. And you, in your turn, may call me Flora,if the name commends itself to your ear. And now, sir, please go onagain from where you left off."
"Let me see," mused Leslie, "what was it we were talking about? Oh yes,I remember. You were explaining to me that you were glad I had escapeddrowning not so much because of the use I could be to--"
"Ah," interrupted his companion, "I can see that you are rapidly gettingbetter, because you are beginning to tease. But, seriously, Mr Les--well, Dick, then--I want you to tell me something more of your plans.What do you propose to do first--when you are well enough to work again,I mean?"
"The first thing I propose to do," answered Leslie, "is to overhaul thecarpenter's chest and satisfy myself as to what tools are at my command.That done, I shall at once begin to break up the brig, confiningmyself, in the first instance, to the removal from her of justsufficient material to admit of the construction of a raft. The nextthing will be to convey ashore such canvas, rope, and other matters asmay be needed for the erection of a comfortable and commodious tent forour accommodation ashore; together with all necessary furniture, thegalley stove, pots and pans, and all the rest of it. I am ratheranxious to carry out this much of my plans with as little delay aspossible; because, you see, the weather is one of those things uponwhich one can never depend--another gale may spring up at any moment,and when it does the brig will most probably go to pieces. I amtherefore exceedingly anxious to get you comfortably established ashorebefore this happens. Then, if all goes well, I shall at once proceed topull the poor old _Mermaid_ carefully to pieces, damaging the plankingas little as may be in the process, because that is the material out ofwhich I purpose to build my boat. I shall do this, transferring it, andeverything on board that may be likely to be of use to us, to, the shorebefore I do anything else; because, should the brig break up of herself,much valuable material is certain to be lost. Then, when I have goteverything safe ashore, I shall begin upon the boat."
"I see," remarked Flora, with animation, "that we have a kind of Crusoeexistence before us--a sort of perpetual picnic. Very well; I shallundertake the house-keeping part of the work; keep the tent clean andtidy; prepare nice appetising meals for you when you come home tiredfrom your work; keep your clothes in repair; do the washing; andgenerally look after domestic affairs. Oh, you may smile as much as youlike. I dare say you think that I know nothing about such matters; butI do; and I flatter myself that I shall astonish you."
"Yes," laughed Leslie, "I expect you will; I am fully prepared to beastonished. No," he continued, as he saw a pout rising to hiscompanion's lips, "I did not quite mean that. True, I have before me avision of a very charming young lady, always somewhat haughty andunapproachable, and always most elegantly costumed; who used to be theawe and admiration of everybody aboard the _Golden Fleece_; and I havebeen endeavouring--I must confess with not altogether brilliantsuccess--to picture her doing the cooking and washing, ashore there.But I know--or at least I have been told--that woman's power ofadaptability surpasses belief, and I have already seen that you possessit to a marvellous degree; therefore, despite what I said just now, Ishall be astonished at nothing you do, or prove yourself able toachieve."
"Thank you," answered Flora, with a touch of annoyance in her tone. "Iknow I was perfectly horrid in those days--oh, how far away they seem,now--and I am afraid that I have not done much since then toward givingyou a better opinion of me; but you shall see! Oh, Dick, please do notthink badly of me! You have done so _very_ much for me, and have beenso invariably kind and considerate to me, that I cannot bear the ideathat you should think ill of me. I owe my life to you. You mustremember that I did not know you, then--"
"I know; I know," answered Dick, laying his hand reassuringly upon hers."You acted quite rightly in keeping us all at arm's-length; for, as yousay, you knew none of us then, and could not be expected to discriminatebetween one and another. For my own part, I would not have had you actotherwise than you did; so let us say no more about it. And now, if youwill kindly help me, I think I had better go below and lie down forawhile. I must take care of myself for both our sakes."
So they went below again; and after Flora had dressed Leslie's woundafresh, the latter stretched himself out on the cabin lockers and sankinto a refreshing sleep, while the girl busied herself in thepreparation of such nourishing dishes, against his awakening, as theresources of the wreck afforded.
The following day found Leslie much stronger, and more like himselfagain; so much so, indeed, that, despite his fair companion'sprotestations, he set to work and got the carpenter's tool-chest ondeck, and busied himself upon the light task of sharpening chisels,gouges, planes, adzes, axes, and so on; and generally putting everythingin good order against the time when he would want to use them. This,with occasional periods of vest, occupied him through the whole of thatday; at the end of which he declared himself to be none the worse butrather the better for his exertions.
The next day Leslie devoted to the task of lifting off the fore hatchesand rigging a light pair of sheers over the hatchway by means of twopieces of the rail that he detached from the short length of bulwarksthat still remained standing abaft. It was his purpose to give thispart of the brig a thorough overhaul prior to attempting anything else;hoping that he might find therein something that would enable him toconstruct a raft without having recourse to the timber of the ship. Andin this he was successful beyond his utmost hopes; for, among othermatters, he found two stout packing-cases--measuring twenty feet long bythree feet wide by two feet deep--containing long strips of giltmoulding, such as are used in house decoration. The moulding hecarefully stowed away again--prudent man--not knowing whether in thefuture they might not, despite their gaudy appearance, come in usefulfor something. Then carefully taking the packing-cases apart, he shapedthe bottom planking of each somewhat after the semblance of the bow andrun of a ship--that is to say, he pointed the two square ends of each bysawing them to the required shape. Then he put the cases togetheragain, curving the sides to fit the curves of the bottom planks; andwhen this was done he found himself in possession of two boat-likeboxes, or flat-bottomed boats, of very respectable shape and size.These he next strengthened by nailing stout timbers, walings, andstringers to the bottom and sides, inside; when a careful caulking andpaying of the seams completed them by rendering them watertight. Sopleased was he with these two contrivances of his--the firstfruits ofhis labours--that although he had not originally intended to use them asboats, either of them was quite sufficiently large to convey himself andhis companion across the tranquil waters of the lagoon that stretchedbetween the brig and the island; and he accordingly determined that,before a
pplying these structures to their ultimate purpose, he wouldmake use of one of them in which to effect a preliminary exploration ofthe island. Accordingly he fitted the interior of one of them with acouple of seats--one in the middle for himself, and the other near the"stern" for Miss Trevor's accommodation; secured to each side a stoutcleat in a suitable position, and suitably bored for the reception of apair of rowlocks; and a length of three-inch planking sawn down themiddle and shaped with a spokeshave into a pair of paddles completed theequipment of what turned out to be a very serviceable and handy boat.
The construction of these two "pontoons," as Leslie called them,together with the supplementary labour of fitting up one of them toserve as a boat, consumed nearly a week; but they were so thoroughlysatisfactory when finished that their constructor regarded his time aswell spent. The last item of his task, the making of the pair ofpaddles, or short oars, was completed as the sun was sinking below thehorizon on the ninth day after the stranding of the _Mermaid_; and itwas arranged that, if the weather held fine and the barometer continuedsteady, the next day should be devoted to a visit to the island.