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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jack at Sea, by George Manville Fenn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Jack at Sea
+       All Work and no Play made him a Dull Boy
+
+Author: George Manville Fenn
+
+Illustrator: W.H. Overend
+
+Release Date: November 6, 2007 [EBook #23375]
+Last updated: February 1, 2009
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK AT SEA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Jack at Sea; or, All Work and no Play made him a Dull Boy, by George
+Manville Fenn.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+We do seem to have rather a problem with this book, because the copy we
+worked from had pages 15 and 16 missing (sheet was missing) and also the
+bottom half of pages 283 and 284 has been torn out.  Eventually, when I
+can see another copy of the book I will be able to rectify this, but at
+the moment there does not seem to be a copy in sight: it doesn't even
+seem to be listed in the British Library Catalogue.
+
+Jack is an academic and clever boy, who does not do much in the way of
+sport and exercise.  This worries his father who talks about it to the
+local doctor.  They decide that Jack has to be forced into the world
+most of us inhabit, but the way they do it was surely a bit of an
+over-kill, for Sir John (the father, who is a baronet), buys a yacht
+capable of sailing round the world, and they all set off in it,
+including Ned, one of the domestics from home.  There is an excellent
+crew and the skipper of the yacht is taken on for the trip.
+
+Jack is pretty miserable at first, with seasickness, but gradually he
+joins in with the daily activities, and as time goes on he becomes
+indistinguishable from other boys who might have this opportunity.  We
+join in with Jack and Ned in various adventures, mostly in the Java
+seas.
+
+Apart from the minor blemish of the three missing texts, the book is
+most enjoyable.  There are the usual G M Fenn tight situations, but of
+course the young men (as these boys would like to be called) manage to
+get out of them.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+JACK AT SEA; OR, ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MADE HIM A DULL BOY, BY GEORGE
+MANVILLE FENN.
+
+OR ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MADE JACK A DULL BOY.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+WHEN A BOY IS NOT A BOY.
+
+"Fine morning, Jack; why don't you go and have a run?"
+
+John Meadows--always "Jack," because his father's name was John--upon
+hearing that father's voice, raised his dull, dreamy eyes slowly from
+the perusal of the old Latin author over which he was bending, and
+looked in Sir John's face, gazing at him inquiringly as if he had been
+walking with Cicero in Rome--too far away to hear the question which had
+fallen upon his ears like a sound which conveyed no meaning.
+
+Father and son were as much alike as a sturdy sun-browned man of forty
+can resemble a thin, pale youth of sixteen or so.  In other words, they
+possessed the same features, but the elder suggested an outdoor plant,
+sturdy and well-grown, the younger a sickly exotic, raised in the hot
+steaming air of the building which gardeners call a stove, a place in
+which air is only admitted to pass over hot-water pipes, for fear the
+plants within should shiver and begin to droop.
+
+Sir John had just entered the handsome library, bringing with him a good
+breezy, manly suggestion of having been tramping through woods and over
+downs; and as soon as he had closed the door, he glanced at the large
+fire near to which his son had drawn a small writing-table, said "Pff!"
+unbuttoned his rough heather-coloured Norfolk jacket, raised his eyes to
+the window as if he would like to throw it open, and then lowered them
+and wrinkled up his forehead as he gazed at his son, carefully dressed
+in dark-brown velvet, and wearing correctly fitting trousers and patent
+leather shoes, a strong contrast to his own knickerbockers, coarse brown
+knitted stockings, and broad-soled shooting-boots.
+
+Sir John looked anxious and worried, and he stretched out a strong brown
+hand to lay upon his son's shoulder, but he let it fall again, drew a
+deep breath, and then very gently asked him the question about the walk.
+
+"Did you speak to me, father?" said the lad vacantly.
+
+"Speak to you!" cried Sir John, in an impatient, angry tone, "of course
+I spoke to you.  It worries me to see you so constantly sitting over the
+fire reading."
+
+"Does it, father?" said the lad, wincing at the tone in which these
+words were spoken, and looking up in an apologetic way.
+
+"I didn't mean to speak to you so sharply, my boy," continued Sir John,
+"but I don't like to see you neglecting your health so.  Study's right
+enough, but too much of a good thing is bad for any one.  Now, on a fine
+morning like this--"
+
+"Is it fine, father?  I thought it was cold."
+
+"Cold!  Tut--tut--tut!  The weather is never cold to a healthy, manly
+boy."
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not manly, father," said the lad.
+
+"No, Jack, nor healthy neither; you are troubling me a great deal."
+
+"Am I, father?" said the lad softly.  "I'm very sorry.  But I really am
+quite well."
+
+"You are not, sir," cried Sir John, "and never will be if you spend all
+your time over books."
+
+The lad gave him a sad, weary look.
+
+"I thought you wanted me to study hard, father," he said reproachfully.
+
+"Yes, yes, my boy, I do, and I should like to see you grow up into a
+distinguished man, but you are trying to make yourself into the
+proverbial dull boy."
+
+"Am I?  And I have worked so hard," said the lad in a weary, spiritless
+way.
+
+"Yes; it's all work and no play with you, Jack, and it will not do, boy.
+When I was your age I was captain of our football club."
+
+Jack shuddered.
+
+"I often carried out my bat at cricket."
+
+The lad sighed.
+
+"I could stick on anything, from a donkey up to an unbroken colt; throw
+a ball as far as any of my age, and come in smiling and ready for a good
+meal after a long paper-chase."
+
+Jack's pitiable look of despair was almost comical.
+
+"While you, sir," cried Sir John angrily, "you're a regular molly, and
+do nothing but coddle yourself over the fire and read.  It's read, read,
+read, from morning till night, and when you do go out, it's warm
+wrappers and flannel and mackintoshes.  Why, hang it all, boy! you go
+about as if you were afraid of being blown over, or that the rain would
+make you melt away."
+
+"I am very sorry, father," said the youth piteously; "I'm afraid I am
+not like other boys."
+
+"Not a bit."
+
+"I can't help it."
+
+"You don't try, Jack.  You don't try, my boy.  I always had the best of
+accounts about you from Daneborough.  The reports are splendid.  And,
+there, my dear boy, I am not angry with you, but it is very worrying to
+see you going about with lines in your forehead and this white face,
+when I want to see you sturdy and--well, as well and hearty as I am.
+Why, Jack, you young dog!" he cried, slapping him on the shoulder, and
+making the lad wince, "I feel quite ashamed of myself.  It isn't right
+for an old man like I am."
+
+"You old, father!" said the lad, with more animation, and a faint flush
+came in his cheeks.  "Why you look as well and young and strong as--"
+
+"As you ought to be, sir.  Why, Jack, boy, I could beat you at anything
+except books--walk you down, run you down, ride, jump, row, play
+cricket, shoot, or swim."
+
+"Yes, father, I know," sighed the lad.
+
+"But I'm ashamed to do anything of the kind when I see you moping like a
+sick bird in a cage."
+
+"But I'm quite well, father, and happy--at least I should be if you were
+only satisfied with me."
+
+"And I do want to see you happy, my boy, and I try to be satisfied with
+you.  Now look here: come out with me more.  I want to finish my
+collection of the _diptera_.  Suppose you help me, and then we'll make
+another collection--birds say, or--no, I know: we'll take up the British
+fishes, and work them all.  There's room there.  It has never been half
+done.  Why, what they call roach vary wonderfully.  Even in two ponds
+close together the fish are as different as can be, and yet they call
+them all roach.  Look here--we'll fish and net, and preserve in spirits,
+and you'll be surprised how much interest you will find in it combined
+with healthy exercise."
+
+"I'll come with you, father, if you wish it," said the lad.
+
+"Bah!  That's of no use.  I don't want you to come because I wish it.  I
+want you to take a good healthy interest in the work, my boy.  But it's
+of no use.  I am right; you have worked too hard, and have read till
+your brain's getting worn out.  There, I am right, Jack.  You are not
+well."
+
+"Doctor Instow, Sir John," said a servant, entering.
+
+"Humph! lost no time," muttered the baronet.  "Where is he, Edward?"
+
+"In the drawing-room, Sir John."
+
+"I'll come.  No; show him in here."
+
+"Father," whispered the lad excitedly, and a hectic spot showed in each
+cheek, "why has Doctor Instow come here?"
+
+"Because I sent for him, my boy."
+
+"But not to see me?" said the lad excitedly.  "Indeed I am quite well."
+
+"No, you are not, boy.  Yes, he has come to see you, and try to set you
+right, so speak out to him like a man."
+
+At that moment steps were heard crossing the polished oak floor of the
+great hall, and directly after a keen-eyed, vigorous-looking man of
+about six-and-thirty entered the room in a quick, eager way.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+DOCTOR INSTOW'S PRESCRIPTION.
+
+"How are you?" he cried, rather boisterously, to Sir John, shaking hands
+warmly.  "Well! no need to ask.  And how are you, my Admirable
+Crichton?" he said, turning to Jack to continue the hand-shaking.
+"Well, no need to ask here either."
+
+"No; I'm quite well, Doctor Instow."
+
+"What! didn't they teach you to tell the truth at Daneborough, Jack
+Meadows?"
+
+"Yes, of course," said the lad sharply.
+
+"Then why don't you tell it?" said the doctor.
+
+"There, Jack, you see," said Sir John quickly.
+
+"What! has he been saying that he is quite well?" cried the doctor.
+
+"Yes; he persists in it, when--"
+
+"Any one can see with half an eye that he is completely out of order."
+
+"You hear, Jack?"
+
+"Yes, father, I hear," said the boy; "but really I am quite, quite
+well."
+
+"`Quite, quite well,'" said the doctor, laughing merrily, as he sank
+back in his chair.  "Never felt better in your life, eh, Jack?  Haven't
+been so well since I doctored you for measles, ten years ago, when I was
+a young man, just come to Fernleigh, eh?"
+
+"I do not see anything to laugh at, Doctor Instow," said the lad
+gravely.
+
+"No?  Well, I do, my dear boy--at the way in which you tell your anxious
+father and his old friend that there is nothing the matter with you,
+when the nature in you is literally shouting to every one who sees you,
+`See how ill I am.'"
+
+"Doctor Instow, what nonsense!" cried the lad.
+
+"Indeed?  Why, not ten minutes ago, as I drove towards the Hall, I met
+the Rector, and what do you think he said?"
+
+"I don't know," said Jack, fidgeting in his chair.
+
+"Then I'll tell you, my lad.  `Going to see young Jack?' he said.  `I
+don't know, but I expect so,' says your humble servant.  `Well, I hope
+you are, for I've felt quite concerned about his looks.'"
+
+"But I can't help looking pale and delicate," cried Jack hurriedly.
+"Plenty of other boys do."
+
+"Of course they do; but in your case you can help it."
+
+"But how?" said Jack fretfully.
+
+"I'll tell you directly," said the doctor.  "Look here, Meadows, am I to
+speak out straight?"
+
+"I beg that you will," said Sir John quickly.  "I have sent for you
+because I cannot go on like this.  No disrespect to you, my dear Instow,
+but I was thinking seriously of taking him up to some great specialist
+in town."
+
+"I'm very glad to hear you say so," cried the doctor.  "If you had not,
+before many days were over I should have sounded the alarm myself."
+
+"Indeed!" cried Sir John.
+
+"Yes; I should have presumed on our old intimacy, and told you what I
+thought, and that it was time something was done.  We'll take him up to
+Doctor Lorimer, or Sir Humphrey Dean, or one of the other medical
+big-wigs.  You sent for me, then, to give you my opinion.  Here it is
+straight.  It is the right thing to do, and before you start, I'll write
+down my idea of the proper course of treatment, and I guarantee that
+either of the fashionable physicians will prescribe the same remedies."
+
+"Then," said Sir John eagerly, "you think you can see what is the matter
+with him?"
+
+"Think?  I'm sure, sir."
+
+"I am glad of it, for I had decided not to take him up to a physician."
+
+"Thank you, father," said Jack, giving him a grateful look.  "There
+really is no need."
+
+"Because," continued Sir John firmly, "I thought the matter over,"--and
+he talked at his son--"and I said to myself that it is impossible that a
+London doctor can in a visit or two understand the case half so well as
+the medical man who has known and attended him from a child."
+
+"Thank you, Meadows," said the doctor warmly.  "I thank you for your
+confidence.  I do not want to boast of my knowledge, but, as I said
+before, I am perfectly sure of what is the matter with Jack here."
+
+"Yes?  What is it?--or no, I ought not to ask you that," said the
+father, with a hasty glance at his son.
+
+"Oh yes, you ought.  Why not?  In this case it is quite right that he
+should know.  I am going to convince him that he is in a very bad way."
+
+"You think so?" cried Sir John, leaning forward anxiously.
+
+"Yes, sir, a very bad way, though the conceited young rascal is laughing
+in his sleeve and mentally calling me a pretender."
+
+"Indeed, no, Doctor Instow," cried Jack indignantly.
+
+"What?  Why you are saying to yourself all the time that you know better
+than I."
+
+"I only felt that I was right and you were wrong, doctor," said the lad
+frankly.
+
+"Same thing, my boy," cried the doctor, smiling.  "Not the first time
+two people have been of different opinions, and we shan't quarrel, Jack.
+Know one another too well."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Sir John impatiently.  "But you said you thought he was
+in a bad way."
+
+"I said I was sure."
+
+"Yes, yes; then what is to be done?  We must get him out of the bad
+way."
+
+"The right treatment to a T," said the doctor.
+
+"Then be frank, Instow," said Sir John; "what is the matter?"
+
+Page missing, to be inserted when found.
+
+Page missing, to be inserted when found.
+
+fight again, but it has been fostered too much.  Dad here, in his pride
+of your attainments, has allowed you to go too far.  He has thought it
+was a natural weakness and tendency to bad health which kept you from
+taking to outdoor life more, but neither he nor I had the least idea
+that you carried it to such an extent, and it did not show so much till
+you came home after this last half."
+
+"No, not till now, my boy," said Sir John.
+
+"The result of the grinding of the past four years is just coming out
+with a rush," continued the doctor, "and if you went back to the school
+you would break down by the next holidays."
+
+"If I went back?" cried the boy.  "If?  Oh, I must go back.  I am
+expected to take some of the principal prizes next year."
+
+"And lose the greatest prize that can be gained by a young man, my lad--
+health."
+
+"Hah!" sighed Sir John; "he is quite right, Jack, I am afraid."
+
+"Right as right, my boy.  Here in four years you have done the work of
+about eight.  It's very grand, no doubt, but it won't do."
+
+"But what is to be done?" cried Sir John.
+
+"Let the brain run fallow for the other four years, and give the body a
+chance," said the doctor bluntly.
+
+"What! do nothing for four years?" cried the lad indignantly.
+
+"Who said do nothing?" said the doctor testily.
+
+"Do something else.  Rest your brain with change, and give your body a
+fair chance of recovering its tone."
+
+"Yes, Jack, my boy; he is quite right," cried Sir John.
+
+"But, father, I should be wretched."
+
+"How do you know?" said the doctor.  "You have tried nothing else but
+books.  There is something else in the world besides books, my lad.  Ask
+your father if there is not.  What's that about sermons in insects and
+running stones in the brooks, Meadows?  I never can recollect
+quotations.  Don't you imagine, my conceited young scholiast, that there
+is nothing to be seen or studied that does not exist in books.  But I'm
+growing hoarse with talking and telling you the simple truth."
+
+"Yes, Jack, my boy, it is the simple truth," said Sir John.  "I was
+saying something of the kind to you, as you know, when Doctor Instow
+came; but all the time I was sure that you were ill--and you are."
+
+"Oh yes, he's ill, and getting worse.  Any one can see that."
+
+"But I do not feel ill, father."
+
+"Don't feel languid, I suppose?" said the doctor.
+
+"Well, yes, I do often feel languid," said Jack, "when the weather is--"
+
+"Bother the weather!" roared the doctor.  "What business has a boy like
+you to know anything about the weather?  Your father and I at your age
+would have played football, or cricket, or gone fishing in any weather--
+eh, Meadows?"
+
+"Yes, in any weather," said Sir John, smiling.  "A British boy knowing
+anything about the weather!  Bosh!  Do you think any of our old heroes
+ever bothered their brains about the weather when they wanted to do
+something?  Look here! another word or two.  You always go to sleep of
+course directly you lay your head on the pillow, and want another snooze
+when it's time to get up, eh?"
+
+"No," said the lad sadly, "I often lie awake a long time thinking."
+
+"Thinking!" cried the doctor in tones of disgust.  "The idea of a
+healthy boy thinking when he goes to bed!  It's monstrous.  An
+overstrained brain, my lad.  You are thoroughly out of order, my boy,
+and it was quite time that you were pulled up short.  Frankly, you've
+been over-crammed with food to nourish the brain, while the body has
+been starved."
+
+"And now, my boy, we're going to turn over a new leaf, and make a fresh
+start.  Come, doctor, you will prescribe for him at once."
+
+"What! jalap and senna, and _Pil. Hydrargerum_, and that sort of stuff,
+to make him pull wry faces?"
+
+"I do not profess to understand much of such matters; but I should
+presume that you would give him tonics.  What will you give him to
+take--bark?"
+
+"No: something to make him bite."
+
+"Well, what?"
+
+"Nothing!"
+
+"Nothing?"
+
+"Ah, you are like the rest of the clever people, Meadows.  You think a
+doctor is of no good unless he gives you pills and draughts.  But don't
+be alarmed, Jack, boy.  I am not going to give you either."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Nothing, I tell you.  Yes, I am; fresh air--fresh water."
+
+"Yes; and then?"
+
+"More fresh air, and more fresh water.  Look here, Meadows; food is the
+best medicine for his case--good, wholesome food, and plenty of it as
+soon as he can digest.  I want to hear him say, `What's for dinner
+to-day?'  That's a fine sign of a boy being in good health."
+
+"Well, Jack, what do you say to all this?" said Sir John.
+
+"I don't know what to say, father," replied the lad.  "I did not know I
+was unwell."
+
+"I suppose not," interposed the doctor.  "But you are, and the worst of
+it is that you will get worse."
+
+"Then give your instructions," said Sir John, "and we will try and
+follow them out--eh, Jack?"
+
+"I will do anything you wish, father," said the boy, with a sigh.
+
+"Yes, of course you will, my boy.  Well, doctor, we are waiting.  Let's
+take the stitch in time."
+
+"Ah! but we can't now," said Doctor Instow.  "We shall have to take
+nine, or eighty-one, or some other number in what our young philosopher
+calls geometrical progression--that's right, isn't it, Jack, eh?"
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," said the lad, smiling.  "Well, then, thread the
+needle for us, Instow," said Sir John merrily; "and we will begin to
+stitch, and be careful not to neglect our health for the future.  Now
+then, we're both ready."
+
+"Yes; but I'm not," said the doctor thoughtfully.  "This is a ticklish
+case, and wants ticklish treatment.  You see I know my patient.  He is
+so accustomed to one particular routine, that it will be hard to keep
+him from longing for his customary work and habits.  Suppose I prescribe
+outdoor work, riding, walking, cricket or football, according to the
+season; I shall be giving him repellent tasks to do.  I can't make him a
+little fellow eager and longing to begin these things which he sees his
+bigger school-fellows enjoying.  He would be disgusted with games
+directly, because others would laugh at him and call him a muff."
+
+"Yes," said Sir John with a sigh, "the rent has grown very large, and I
+don't see how we are to sew it up."
+
+"Neither do I," said the doctor; "it's past mending.  We must have a new
+coat, Jack."
+
+"You mean a new boy, Doctor Instow," said the lad, smiling sadly.  "Had
+you not better let me be?"
+
+"No," cried Sir John, bringing his fist down heavily upon he table.
+"That won't do, Jack.  We've done wrong, taken the wrong turning, and we
+must go back and start afresh--eh, Instow?"
+
+"Of course," said the doctor testily, "and give me time.  I've got
+plenty of ideas, but I want to select the right one.  Ah!  I have it."
+
+"Yes," cried Sir John eagerly, and his son looked at him in dismay.
+
+"That's the very thing.  Right away from books and the ordinary routine
+of life--fresh air of the best, fresh people, fresh scenes, constant
+change; everything fresh but the water, and that salt."
+
+"Some country place at the seaside," said Sir John eagerly.
+
+"No, no; bore the boy to death; make him miserable.  Seaside!  No, sir,
+the whole sea, and get away from the side as soon as possible."
+
+"A sea voyage!" cried Sir John; and his son's face contracted with
+horror.
+
+"That's the thing, sir.  You have always been grumbling about the
+narrowness of your sphere, and envying men abroad who send and bring
+such fine collections home.  Be off together, and make a big collection
+for yourselves of everything you come across worth saving."
+
+"Yes; but where?"
+
+"Anywhere--North Pole; South Pole; tropics.  Start free from all
+trammels, open new ground away from the regular beaten tracks.  You
+don't want to go by line steamers to regular ports.  Get a big
+ocean-going yacht, and sail round the world.  Here, what are you
+grinning at, patient?"
+
+"At your idea, sir.  It is so wild."
+
+"Wild to you, sir, because you are so tame.  It may have seemed a little
+wild for Captain Cook and Bougainville and the old Dutch navigators,
+with their poor appliances and ignorance of what there was beyond the
+seas.  Wild too for Columbus; but wild now!  Bah!  I'm ashamed of you."
+
+"You must recollect that Jack is no sailor," said Sir John, interposing.
+"He was very ill when we crossed to Calais."
+
+"Ill!  A bit sea-sick.  That's nothing."
+
+"I am not sailor enough to manage a yacht."
+
+"What of that?  Charter a good vessel, and get a clever captain and
+mate, and the best crew that can be picked.  You can afford it, and to
+do it well, and relieve yourself of all anxieties, so as to be free both
+of you to enjoy your cruise."
+
+"Enjoy!" said Jack piteously.
+
+"But the responsibility?" said Sir John thoughtfully.  "I should like it
+vastly.  But to take a sick lad to sea?  Suppose he were taken worse?"
+
+"Couldn't be."
+
+"Don't exaggerate, doctor.  Fancy us away from all civilised help, and
+Jack growing far weaker--no medical advice."
+
+"I tell you he would grow stronger every day.  Well, take a few boxes of
+pills with you; fish for cod, and make your own cod-liver oil, and make
+him drink it--oil to trim the lamp of his waning life and make it burn.
+He won't want anything of the kind--rest for his brain and change are
+his medicines."
+
+"I dare not risk it," said Sir John sadly, and Jack's face began to
+light up.
+
+"Well then, if you must do something foolish, take a doctor with you."
+
+"Ah, but how to get the right man?"
+
+"Pooh!  Hundreds would jump at the chance."
+
+Jack sighed, and looked from one to the other, while Sir John gazed hard
+at the doctor, who said merrily--
+
+"There, don't sit trying to bring up difficulties where there is nothing
+that cannot be surmounted.  What have you got hold of now?"
+
+"I have not got hold of him.  I am only trying to do so."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"The doctor.  Will you go with us, Instow?"
+
+"I?" cried Doctor Instow, staring.  "Only too glad of the chance.  I'm
+sick of spending all my days in the sordid practice of trying to make
+money, when the world teems with wonders one would like to try and
+investigate.  If I did not know that I was doing some little good
+amongst my fellow-creatures, my life would be unbearable, and I would
+have thrown it all up long ago."
+
+"Then if I decide to follow out your advice, you will come with us?"
+
+"No," said the doctor firmly; "it would not do."
+
+Jack brightened up again.
+
+"Why would it not do?" said Sir John anxiously.  "The plan is excellent,
+and I am most grateful to you for the suggestion.  Come with us, Instow,
+for I certainly will go."
+
+Jack groaned.
+
+"Look at him," cried the doctor.  "There's spirit.  The sooner you get
+to sea the better."
+
+"Yes, I have decided upon it, if you will come."
+
+"No, no; impossible."
+
+"Because of leaving your practice?"
+
+"Oh no; I could arrange that by having a _locum tenens_--`local demon'
+as the servant-girl in _Punch_ called him."
+
+"Then what objection is there?"
+
+"Why, it's just as if I had been planning a pleasure-trip for myself at
+your expense."
+
+"That's absurd, Instow, and an insult to an old friend.  Look here, if
+you will come I shall look upon it as conferring a great favour upon us.
+We shall both be under a greater obligation to you than ever."
+
+"I say, don't tempt me, Meadows.  I'm not a bad doctor, but I'm a very
+weak man."
+
+"But I will tempt you," cried Sir John eagerly.  "Come, you can't let
+your old friend go without a companion, and stop here at home, knowing
+that there will be times when you could help Jack there on his way to
+health and strength."
+
+"No, I can't--can I?" said the doctor, hesitating.  "But no, no, it
+wouldn't do."
+
+"Here, Jack, come and help me press him to go with us."
+
+"I can't, father; oh, I can't," cried the boy despairingly.
+
+"Oh, that settles it!" said Doctor Instow, jumping up.  "You've done it
+now, Jack.  You're worse than I thought."
+
+"Then you will come?" cried Sir John, holding out his hand.
+
+"I will," cried the doctor, "wherever you like to go;" and he brought
+down his hand with a sounding slap into his friend's.  "Here, Jack," he
+cried directly after, "shake hands too.  Come, be a man.  In less than
+six months those dull filmy eyes of yours will be flashing with health,
+and you'll be wondering that you could ever have sat gazing at me in
+this miserable woe-begone fashion.  There, pluck up, my lad.  You don't
+know what is before you in the strange lands we shall visit.  Why, when
+your father and I were boys of your age, we should have gone wild with
+delight at the very anticipation of such a cruise, and rushed off to our
+bedrooms to begin packing up at once, and crammed our boxes with all
+kinds of impossible unnecessaries--eh, Meadows?"
+
+"Yes; our skates, cricket-bats--" cried Sir John.
+
+"And fishing-rods, and sticks.  I say, though, we must take a good
+supply of sea and fresh-water tackle.  Fancy trying some river or lake
+in the tropics that has never been fished before."
+
+"Yes, and a walk at the jungle edge, butterfly-catching," cried Sir John
+eagerly.
+
+"Yes, and a tramp after rare birds, and always in expectation of
+bringing down one never yet seen by science," said the doctor.
+
+"And the flowers and plants," said Sir John, "We must take plenty of
+cases and preserving paste."
+
+"And entomological boxes and tins."
+
+"Plenty of spirits, of course, too," cried the doctor.  "I say, my
+little cooking apparatus I designed--it will be invaluable; and I shall
+treat myself to a new double gun, and a rifle."
+
+"No need, my dear boy; I have plenty.  But we must have a thoroughly
+good supply of fishing-tackle of all kinds."
+
+"And cartridges," said the doctor.  "What do you say to clothes for the
+rough work?"
+
+"We must have plenty, and flannels and pyjamas," said Sir John.  "A
+couple of small portable tents, too."
+
+"And boots for the jungle--high boots.  A deal depends on boots."
+
+"No, not high," said Sir John, "they're a nuisance--good lace-up ankle
+boots, with knickerbockers and leggings."
+
+"Yes, I believe you are right.  My word, old fellow, we've got our work
+cut out to prepare."
+
+"Yes; how soon would you go?"
+
+"As soon as ever we can get away."
+
+"That's the style.  Nothing like striking while the iron is hot."
+
+And, full of enthusiasm, the two friends sat throwing suggestions at one
+another, nearly forgetting the presence of Jack, who did not catch a
+spark of their excitement, but sat gazing at them with lack-lustre eyes,
+and a weary, woe-begone expression of countenance, for it seemed to him
+that all was over, that he was to be dragged away from his studious
+pursuits to a dreary end.  His father and their old friend the doctor
+meant well, no doubt; but he knew that they were mistaken, and when the
+doctor left at last, it was for Sir John to wake up to the fact that he
+had never seen his son look so despondent before.
+
+"Why, Jack, lad, what a face!" cried Sir John merrily.
+
+The boy looked in his eyes, but said nothing.  "Come, come, the doctor's
+right.  Put away the books, and help me to prepare for our cruise."
+
+"Then you really mean for us to go, father?" said the lad.
+
+"Yes; I have quite made up my mind."  Jack sighed like a girl.
+
+"But you will let me take a few boxes of books, father?"
+
+"A few natural history works of reference, nothing more.  Bah! don't be
+so narrow-minded, boy.  We shall be where Nature's own grand library is
+always open before us to read.  We shall want no books.  Come, pluck up,
+my lad; all this means ill health.  Instow is perfectly right, and the
+sooner we begin our preparations the better."
+
+"Father!" cried the boy passionately, "it will kill me."
+
+"No," said Sir John, taking the boy's hand, and laying his own right
+affectionately upon his shoulder; "if I thought it would hurt you I
+would not stir a step; but I feel that it is to bring you back to a
+healthy life."
+
+Jack sighed again, and shook his head.
+
+"Ah," he argued to himself, "life and all that is worth living for--all
+passing away."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+IN DOLEFUL DUMP.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir."
+
+Jack raised his head wearily from where it was resting upon his hand by
+the fireside, and looked dreamingly at the footman who had entered the
+warm library next morning.
+
+"Head ache, sir?" said the man respectfully; and the well-built, fair,
+freckled-faced, but good-looking fellow gazed commiseratingly at his
+young master.
+
+"My head ache, Edward?  Yes, sadly, sadly."
+
+"Begging your pardon, sir; it's because you sit over the fire too much."
+
+"What!" cried Jack angrily; "have you got that silly idea in your head
+too?  How dare you!"
+
+"Beg pardon, sir.  Very sorry, sir.  Don't be angry with me, sir.  You
+see I don't know any better."
+
+"Then it's time you did."
+
+"So it is, Master Jack, so it is; and I want to know better, if you'll
+help me."
+
+"How can I help you?" said Jack, staring at the man.
+
+"Well, you see, sir, it's like this: I don't get no chance to improve my
+mind.  Up at six o'clock--No," cried the man emphatically, "I will speak
+the honest truth if I die for it!  It ain't much before seven when I
+begin work, sir, for you see I have such a stiff beard, and it does grow
+so, I'm obliged to shave reg'lar.  Well, say quarter to seven I begin,
+and it's boots and shoes.  When they're done it's hard work to get my
+knives done before breakfast.  Then there's the breakfast cloth to lay,
+and the toast to make, and after breakfast master's and your
+dress-clothes to brush; and them done, my plate to clean.  That brings
+me up to laying the cloth for lunch, and--"
+
+"Look here, Edward," cried Jack impatiently, "do you suppose I want to
+learn all you do in a day?"
+
+"No, sir, of course not.  I only wanted you to understand why it is I've
+no time to improve my mind."
+
+"So much the better for you, Ned," cried Jack.  "I've improved mine, and
+Sir John and the doctor say that I've been doing wrong."
+
+"Do they, sir, really?  Well, they ought to know; but all the same I
+feel as if I want to improve mine."
+
+"Let it alone, Ned," said the boy drearily.
+
+"No, sir, I can't do that, when there's such a chance in one's way."
+
+"Chance!  What for?" said Jack, whose interest was awakened by the man's
+earnestness.
+
+"That's what I'm telling you, sir, a chance to improve myself."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Well, you see, sir, I've got ears on my head."
+
+"Of course you have."
+
+"And can't help hearing, sir, a little of what's said."
+
+"Look here, Ned," cried Jack, "I'm unwell; my head aches, and I'm very
+much worried.  Tell me what it is that you want as briefly as you can."
+
+"Well, sir, begging your pardon, sir, I couldn't help hearing that Sir
+John and you and the doctor's going abroad."
+
+"Yes, Ned," said Jack moodily; "we're going abroad."
+
+"Well, sir, I'd thank you kindly if you'd speak a word to master for
+me."
+
+"What, about a character?  There is no need, Ned; you will stay here
+till we come back--if ever we do," he added bitterly.
+
+"Oh, you'll come back right enough, sir.  But don't you see that's just
+what I don't want, unless I can come back too."
+
+"What do you mean, Ned?  Can't you see that you are worrying me
+dreadfully?"
+
+"I am sorry, sir, for if there's a thing I can't abear, it's being
+talked to when I've got one o' them stinging 'eadaches.  But I keep on
+explaining to you, sir.  Don't you see?  I want you to speak a word to
+Sir John about taking me with you."
+
+"You!" cried Jack.  "You want to go with us round the world?"
+
+"Now, Master Jack," cried the man reproachfully, "would you like to
+spend all your days cleaning knives and boots and shoes, when it wasn't
+plate and waiting at table?"
+
+"No, of course not; but you must be mad to want to do such a thing as go
+upon this dreadful journey."
+
+"Dreadful journey!  My word of honour, Master Jack, you talking like
+that!" cried the man.  "You talking like that!" he repeated.  "A young
+gent like you!  Well, I'm about stunned.  Do you know it would be about
+the greatest treat a body could have?"
+
+"No, I don't," said Jack shortly.  "It means nothing but misery and
+discomfort.  A rough life amongst rough people; no chance to read and
+study.  Oh, it would be dreadful."
+
+"Well!" exclaimed the man; and again, "Well!  You do cap me, sir, that
+you do.  Can't you see it means change?"
+
+"I don't want change," cried Jack petulantly.
+
+"Oh, don't you say that, sir," cried Edward reproachfully; "because,
+begging your pardon, it ain't true."
+
+"What!  Are you going to begin on that silly notion too?  I tell you I
+am not ill."
+
+"No, sir, you're not ill certainly, because you don't have to take to
+your bed, and swaller physic, and be fed with a spoon, but every bit of
+you keeps on shouting that you ain't well."
+
+"How?  Why?  Come now," cried the boy with more animation, as he
+snatched at the opportunity for gaining an independent opinion of his
+state.  "But stop: has my father or Doctor Instow been saying anything
+to you?"
+
+"To me, sir?  Not likely."
+
+"Then tell me what you mean."
+
+"Well, sir; you're just like my magpie."
+
+"What!" cried Jack angrily.
+
+"I don't mean no harm, sir; you asked me."
+
+"Well, there, go on," cried Jack pettishly.
+
+"I only meant you were like him in some ways.  You know, sir, I give one
+of the boys threppuns for him two years ago, when there was the nest at
+the top of the big ellum."
+
+"Oh yes, I've seen the bird."
+
+"I wasn't sure, sir, for you never did take much notice of that sort of
+thing.  Why, some young gents is never happy unless they're keeping all
+kinds of pets--pigeons and rabbits and hedgehogs and such."
+
+"I wish you wouldn't talk quite so much," cried Jack sharply.
+
+"There, sir, that's what it is.  You want stirring up.  I like that.
+You haven't spoke to me so sharp since I don't know when."
+
+"What, do you like me to scold you?"
+
+"I'd like you to bully me, and chuck things at me too, sooner than see
+you sit moping all day as you do, sir.  That's what made me say you put
+me in mind of my magpie.  He sits on his perch all day long with his
+feathers, set up, and his tail all broken and dirty, and not a bit o'
+spirit in him.  He takes the raw meat I cut up for him, but he doesn't
+eat half of it, only goes and pokes the bits into holes and corners, and
+looks as miserable and moulty as can be.  It's because he's always shut
+up in a cage, doing just the same things every day, hopping from perch
+to perch that often--and back again over and over again, till he hasn't
+got a bit of spirit in him.  I'm just the same--it's boots and knives
+and plate and coal-scuttles and answer the bells, till I get tired of a
+night and lie abed asking myself whether a strong chap like me was meant
+to go on all his life cleaning boots and knives; and if I was, what's
+the good of it all?  I'm sick of it, Master Jack, and there's been times
+when I've been ready to go and 'list for a soldier, only I don't believe
+that would be much better.  The toggery's right enough, and you have a
+sword or a gun, but it's mostly standing in a row and being shouted at
+by sergeants.  But now there's a chance of going about and seeing what
+the world's like, and its works, and how it goes round, and you say you
+don't want to go.  Why, it caps me, it do, sir, really."
+
+"Yes," cried Jack angrily; "and it `caps me,' as you call it, to hear a
+good servant like you talk about giving up a comfortable place and want
+to go on a long and dangerous voyage.  Are you not well fed and clothed
+and paid, and have you not a good bed?"
+
+"Yes, sir; yes sir; yes, sir," cried Edward; "but a man don't want to be
+always comfortable, and well fed, and to sleep on a feather bed.  He's a
+poor sort of a chap who does.  I don't think much of him.  It's like
+being a blind horse in a clay mill, going round and round and round all
+his life.  Why, he never gets so much change as to be able to go the
+other way round, because if he did the mill wouldn't grind."
+
+"Pooh!" cried Jack sharply.  "It is not true: you can have plenty of
+change.  Clean knives first one day, and boots first the next, and then
+begin with the plate."
+
+"Ha--ha! haw--haw! he--he!" cried the man, boisterously, laughing, and
+in his enjoyment lifting up one leg and putting it down with a stamp
+over and over again.
+
+"Don't stand there laughing like an idiot!" cried Jack angrily.  "How
+dare you!"
+
+"Can't help it, sir, really, sir; can't help it.  You made me.  But go
+on, sir.  Do.  Chuck some books at me for being so impudent."
+
+"I will," cried Jack fiercely, "if you don't leave the room."
+
+"That's right, sir; do, sir; it's stirred you up.  Why, you have got the
+stuff in you, Master Jack.  I do believe you could fight after all if
+you was put to it.  You, sir, actually, sir, making a joke about the
+knives and boots.  Well, I wouldn't have believed it of you."
+
+"Leave the room, sir!"
+
+"Yes, sir, directly, sir; but do please ask the governor to take me,
+sir."
+
+"Leave the room, sir!" cried Jack, starting to his feet.
+
+"Certainly, sir, but if you would--"
+
+_Whish_!--_Bang_!--_Jingle_!
+
+In a fit of petulant anger Jack had followed the man's suggestion,
+caught up a heavy Greek lexicon, and thrown it with all his might, or
+rather with all his weakness, at the servant's head.  Edward ducked
+down, and the book went through the glass of one of the cases; and at
+the same moment Sir John Meadows entered the library.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+A READY-MADE MAN.
+
+"What's the meaning of this?" cried Sir John angrily, as he stood
+staring in astonishment at his son's anger-distorted, flushed face, then
+at the footman, and back at his son.
+
+"I--I--this fellow--this man--Edward was insolent, and--and--I--father--
+I--ordered him--to leave the room--and--and he would not go."
+
+"Oh, I beg pardon, Master Jack, sir," said Edward reproachfully.  "I
+said I'd go, and I was going."
+
+"Silence, sir!" cried Sir John, frowning.  "Now, Jack, he would not go?"
+
+"I was angry, father--and--and--"
+
+"And you threw this book at him, and broke the pane of glass?"
+
+"Yes, father," said the boy, who was now scarlet, as he stood trembling
+with excitement and mortification.
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Sir John, crossing to raise the very short skirt of
+his brown velveteen Norfolk jacket, and stand with his hands behind him
+in front of the fire.  "Pick up that book, Edward."
+
+"Yes, Sir John."
+
+"And tell one of the housemaids to come and sweep up the pieces."
+
+"Yes, Sir John," said the man, moving toward the door.
+
+"Stop!  What does that signal to Mr Jack mean?"
+
+"Well, Sir John, I--"
+
+"Wait a minute.  Now, Jack, in what way was Edward insolent to you?"
+
+"Only laughed, Sir John."
+
+"Be silent, sir!  Now, Jack!"
+
+"He irritated me, father," said the lad hastily.  "He came to worry me
+with an absurd request, and--and when I ridiculed it, he burst out
+laughing in a rude, insolent way."
+
+"Beg pardon, Sir John," said the man respectfully.--"Not insolent,
+Master Jack."
+
+"Say Mr Jack."
+
+"Certn'y, Sir John.  _Mister_ Jack actually made a joke,--it wasn't a
+good one, Sir John, but it seemed so rum for him to make a joke, and
+then get in a passion, that I bust out larfin, Sir John, and I couldn't
+help it really."
+
+Sir John looked wonderingly at his son for an explanation.
+
+"It was only a bit of petulant nonsense, father," stammered the lad.
+"I'm very sorry."
+
+"And pray what was the request Edward made?"
+
+"Well, father, it was about this dreadful business."
+
+"What dreadful business?"
+
+Jack was silent for a few moments, but his father's stern eyes were
+fixed upon him, and he stammered out--
+
+"This going abroad."
+
+"Oh!--Well?"
+
+"He came to beg me to ask you to take him with you."
+
+"With _us_," said Sir John.
+
+"Ye-es, father, if we went."
+
+"There is no _if_ about it, Jack," said Sir John quietly; "we are going.
+Humph! and you wanted to go, Edward?"
+
+"Yes, sir, please, Sir John," cried the man earnestly.  "I'd give
+anything to go."
+
+Sir John looked at the man searchingly.
+
+"Humph!" he said at last.  "Well, I suppose it would sound attractive to
+a young man of your age."
+
+"Attractive ain't the word for it, Sir John," cried the man.
+
+Sir John smiled.
+
+"Some people differ in their opinions, my lad," he said, with a meaning
+glance at his son.
+
+"Yes, Sir John, meaning Master--Mister Jack; but he don't half
+understand what it means yet."
+
+"You are quite right, Edward.  In his delicate state he does not quite
+grasp what it means."
+
+"Oh, father," cried the lad reproachfully; "don't speak like that.  Once
+more, indeed I am not ill."
+
+"Humph!" said Sir John, smiling, "not ill?  What do you think, Edward?"
+
+"No, Sir John, not ill, cert'nly," said the man.
+
+"There, father!" cried Jack excitedly, and with a grateful look at their
+servant, but it faded out directly.
+
+"He ain't no more ill than I am, Sir John, if I may make so bold.  It's
+only that he wants stirring up.  He reads and reads over the fire till
+he can't hardly see for the headache, and it's what I told him just now,
+he's all mopey like for want of change."
+
+"Humph!  You told him that?" said Sir John sharply.
+
+"Yes, Sir John," faltered the man.  "I know it was not my place, and I
+beg pardon.  It slipped out quite promiskus like.  I know now I
+oughtn't.  It made Master--Mister Jack angry, and he chucked the book at
+me.  Not as I minded the act, for I was glad to see he'd got so much
+spirit in him."
+
+"And so you would like to go with us?"
+
+"Oh yes, Sir John," cried the man, flushing with excitement.  "But you
+wouldn't want me to go in livery, of course?"
+
+"No," said Sir John quietly.  "I should not want you to go in livery.  I
+cannot consent to take you at all."
+
+"Oh, sir!" cried the man appealingly.
+
+"I am not sorry to hear you make the application, for it shows me that
+you are satisfied with your position as my servant.  But the man I
+should select to take with us must be a strong active fellow."
+
+"That's me, Sir John.  I haven't been neither sick nor sorry all the
+five years I've been with you, 'cept that time when I cut my hand with
+the broken decanter."
+
+"An outdoor servant," continued Sir John, rather sternly, passing over
+his man's interruption--"a man with something of the gamekeeper about
+him--a man who can tramp through woods, carry rifles and guns, and clean
+them; use a fishing-net or line; row, chop wood and make a fire; set up
+a tent or a hut of boughs; cook, and very likely skin birds and beasts.
+In short, make himself generally useful."
+
+"And valet you and Mr Jack, Sir John," interposed the man.
+
+"Certainly not, Edward; we shall leave all those civilised luxuries
+behind.  You see I want a thorough outdoor servant, not such a man as
+you."
+
+"Beg pardon, Sir John," cried the man promptly; "but it's me you do
+want, I'm just the sort you said."
+
+"You?" said Sir John, smiling rather contemptuously.
+
+"Yes, Sir John.  I was meant for an outdoor man, only one can't get to
+be what one likes, and so I had to take to indoor."
+
+Sir John shook his head.
+
+"You are a very excellent servant, Edward," he said, "and I shall have
+great pleasure in giving you a very strong recommendation for
+cleanliness and thorough attention to your duties.  I cannot recall ever
+having to find fault with you."
+
+"Never did, Sir John, I will say that; and do you think I'm going to
+leave such a master as you and Mr Jack here, though he does chuck big
+books at me!" he said with a grin.  "Not me."
+
+"I thank you for all this, Edward, but--"
+
+"Don't, don't say no, Sir John--in a hurry," cried the man imploringly.
+"You only know what I can do from what you've seen; and you know that
+having a willing heart and 'and 's half-way to doing anything."
+
+"Yes," said his master with a smile; "I know too that you're a very
+handy person."
+
+"Hope so, Sir John; but I'm obliged to stick up for myself, as there's
+no one here to do it for me.  There ain't nothing you want done that I
+can't do.  Father was a gamekeeper and bailiff and woodman, and when I
+was a boy I used to help him, cutting hop-poles with a bill-hook,
+felling trees with an axe, and I've helped him to make faggots, hurdles,
+and stacks, and tents, and thatched.  I've helped him many a time use
+the drag and the cast-net, fishing.  I can set night lines, and I had a
+gun to use for shooting rabbits and varmint, and I learned to skin and
+stuff 'em.  We've got cases and cases at home.  I used to wash out the
+master's guns, and dry and oil them; and as for lighting fires and
+cooking, why, I beg your pardon for laughing, Sir John, but my mother
+was ill for years before she died, and I always did all the cooking.
+Then I've had a turn at gardening and stable work; and as for the water,
+I can row, punt, or sail any small boat.  I don't say as I could tackle
+a ship, but if there was no one else to do it, I'd have a try; and--beg
+pardon, Sir John, there's the front-door bell."
+
+"Go and answer it," said Sir John quietly.
+
+"And if you would think it over, Sir John--"
+
+"Go and answer the bell."
+
+The man darted out, and Sir John turned to his son to gaze at him for a
+time.
+
+"You're a pretty good scholar for your age, Jack," he said; "but I wish
+you possessed some of Edward's accomplishments."
+
+"Oh, father!" cried the boy hastily.
+
+"But you have more strength in your arm than I thought for.  That is
+plate glass."
+
+"Doctor Instow," said Edward; and the doctor entered like a breeze.
+
+"Morning!" he cried boisterously.
+
+"Don't go, Edward," said Sir John; and the man stayed by the door,
+looking white with excitement.
+
+"I was obliged to run in," said the doctor.  "Well, Jack.  Why, hulloa!
+You've got a bit more colour in your cheeks this morning, and your eyes
+are brighter.  Come, that's good.  You're beginning to take then to the
+idea?"
+
+"No," said Jack firmly.
+
+"Stop a moment, doctor," cried Sir John.  "Here is some one of a
+different opinion.  This foolish fellow has been laying before us his
+petition."
+
+"Who?  Edward?"
+
+"Yes; he wants to go."
+
+"Well," said the doctor; "we shall want a good smart handy man."
+
+Edward's cheeks began to colour again.
+
+"Yes; but what do you think?  We want a strong fellow, not a fireside
+servant."
+
+"Quite right, but--Here, take off your coat, my man."
+
+Edward's livery coat seemed to fly off, and displayed his white arms
+with the shirt-sleeves rolled right above the elbows, spotted a little
+with rouge from plate-cleaning.
+
+"Hum! ha!" said the doctor, taking one arm and doubling it up so that
+the biceps rose in a big lump.  "Hard.--Stand still."
+
+He laid one hand upon the man's chest and thumped it in different
+places; laid his ear to it and pressed it close.
+
+"Now breathe.--Again.--Now harder.--Hold your breath."
+
+Then he rose and twisted the man round, and listened at his back between
+the shoulder-blades before making him open his mouth, and ended by
+looking into his eyes, while the father and son watched him.
+
+"Ha! that will do," said the doctor dryly.  "Sleep well, I suppose?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir."
+
+"And you can eat and drink well?"
+
+The man's face expanded in a broad smile.
+
+"Goes without saying.  There, put on your coat."
+
+Edward began to put it on.
+
+"Sound as a bell," said the doctor.  "Strong as a horse."
+
+"Yes, but we want something besides a healthy man."
+
+"Of course: a good handy, willing fellow, who would not want to come
+home as soon as he had to rough it and do everything."
+
+"There ain't anything I wouldn't do, gentlemen," cried Edward.  "If you
+take me, Sir John, I'll serve you faithful, and you shan't repent it.
+May I tell the doctor, Sir John, what I can do?"
+
+"There is no need.  He boasts, Instow."
+
+"Beg pardon, Sir John, it ain't boasting, it's honest truth."
+
+"Yes, Edward, I believe you feel that it is.  Well, Instow, he says he
+has been accustomed to outdoor life with his father from boyhood.  His
+father was a gamekeeper and woodman.  That he can shoot, fish, clean
+guns, manage nets, ride, sail boats, punt and row.  Do everything,
+including building huts and cooking."
+
+"Don't want any cooking.  I shall do that myself."
+
+"In addition, he can skin birds and beasts."
+
+"Ha!" ejaculated the doctor.  "Well, if we engage a stranger, we don't
+know how he'll turn out, and it would be very awkward to have a man who
+would turn tail at the first bit of discomfort.  Look here, sir, it will
+be a rough life."
+
+"If you only knew, doctor, how hungry I am for a bit of rough outdoor
+time, you'd put in a word for me," cried the man excitedly.
+
+"And suppose we get in a hot corner, and have to fight for our lives
+against black fellows?"
+
+There was a grim look in the man's face at once--a regular British
+bull-dog aspect, as he tightened his lips, and made wrinkles at the
+corners, as if putting his mouth in a parenthesis, and then he began to
+tuck up his cuffs and double his fists.
+
+"That will do, Edward," said the doctor quietly.  "We know him, Meadows,
+for a steady, straightforward fellow, sound in wind and limb, who has
+never given me a job since he tried to cut his hand off with a bit of
+glass.  What he don't know he'd soon learn; and I should say that we are
+not likely to get a more suitable fellow if we tried for six months."
+
+Edward's face was a study, as he glanced at Jack, and then turned to
+gaze imploringly at his master as if he were a judge about to utter
+words upon which his life depended.
+
+"That will do, Edward, you may leave the room."
+
+A look of despair came across the man's face, as in true servant fashion
+he turned to obey orders, and went straight to the door.
+
+"Stop," said Sir John.  "That way of obeying orders has quite convinced
+me that you will be our man.  You shall see about your outfit at once."
+
+"And go, Sir John?" faltered the man, as if he could not believe his
+luck.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Hoo--"
+
+He was going to add "ray!" but he recollected himself, and went quickly
+and promptly out of the room.
+
+"The very fellow, Meadows," said the doctor.
+
+"Yes," said Sir John.  "He'll do."
+
+"Then one knot is solved," cried the doctor.  "I had come in to consult
+you upon that very point."
+
+"A man?"
+
+"Yes; and here he is ready-made and proved."
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"Oh," said the doctor, "I'll answer for that."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+THE "SILVER STAR."
+
+A busy fortnight followed, during which Jack Meadows accompanied his
+father and the doctor up to town pretty well every day, to visit
+tailors, hatters, hosiers, gunsmiths, fishing-tackle-makers,
+naturalists, provision dealers, and help to spend money at a liberal
+rate upon the many necessaries for a long voyage.  To do the lad
+justice, he tried hard to hide his distaste for all that was being done,
+and assumed an interest in the various purchases, making Sir John appear
+pleased, while Doctor Instow patted his shoulder, and told him that he
+looked brighter already.  But when alone at night his depression came
+back, and there were moments when, tired out, he told himself that he
+could not bear it all, and that he must tell his father the next morning
+that it was impossible--he could not go.
+
+But when the morning; came he said nothing, for on rising the matter did
+not look so black and gloomy by daylight, after a night's rest; and he
+felt that it would be too cowardly to make such a declaration, when his
+father was doing everything and going to so great an expense entirely
+for his sake.
+
+"Because he thinks me weak and ill," he said to himself; "and nothing
+will persuade him that I am not."
+
+That very morning, after a good sound night's rest, the boy woke with
+the sun shining brightly into his bedroom, and he got up thinking he had
+over-slept himself, but on looking round he found that his hot-water can
+had not been brought in, nor his freshly-brushed boots and clothes, so
+he rang impatiently.
+
+"Disgraceful!" he said peevishly.  "Ned thinks of nothing now but the
+voyage, and everything is neglected."
+
+But all the same his bell was not neglected, for in a very short time
+there was a sharp tap at the door, and as the lad stood by his bedside
+in his dressing-gown, the white top of a pith helmet appeared slowly,
+followed by the lower part of a grinning face, a dark-brownish coarse
+canvas jacket, or rather a number of pockets stuck one above another,
+and attached to a pair of canvas sleeves; and next, a pair of leather
+breeches, ditto leggings, and to support all a very stout pair of
+lace-up boots.
+
+As soon as all were inside the door, a familiar voice said--
+
+"Morning sir.  You are early."
+
+"Early!" cried Jack angrily; "what do you mean by early?"
+
+"Ten past six, sir."
+
+"Nonsense! it must be nearly eight."
+
+"Then all the clocks are wrong, sir, including my larum-scarum, for I
+set it for half-past five, so as to be up early and try 'em on."
+
+"And what do you mean by coming here dressed up in that Guy Fawkes
+fashion?"
+
+"Guy Fawkes!  Oh, I say, Master Jack, don't be hard on a fellow."
+
+"You look ridiculous."
+
+"I say, sir!  Why, they fit lovely, all but this pith helmet, as is two
+sizes too large, and reg'larly puts one out.  These came home late last
+night.  Just the thing, ain't they?"
+
+"Go down and take them off, and bring me my hot water, and clothes and
+boots."
+
+"Why, they ain't cleaned yet, sir, and the kitchen fire ain't alight.
+There's no hot water neither.  You don't mean to get up now?"
+
+Jack looked undecided, and ended by getting back into bed.
+
+"I thought it was late," he said, in a somewhat apologetic tone.
+
+"Not it, sir--extra early, sir.  I say, Master Jack, this is a topper,
+isn't it?" said the man, taking off the helmet.  "A'most do for an
+umbrella in a big shower."
+
+"Preposterous!"
+
+"Think so, sir.  Oh, I don't know what sort o' thing people wear in hot
+climates.  But I have got a rig-out, sir, and a waterproof bag, a
+bullock trunk, and I dunno what all--most as many things as you have."
+
+"Don't bother me about your things: go down, if it's so early, and come
+back and call me at the proper time."
+
+"Yes, sir; cert'nly, sir," said the man, stealing a glance at himself in
+the looking-glass, and then standing examining his pith helmet as he
+held it upon his outstretched hand.
+
+"Well, then, why don't you go?" cried Jack.  "I was a-thinking, sir.  I
+say, as you are awake, and there's plenty of time, why don't you try on
+some of your noo things?"
+
+"Bah! because I don't want to make myself ridiculous," said the lad
+peevishly.
+
+"You wouldn't look ridiculous, sir.  You try 'em, and if I was you I'd
+go down to breakfast in 'em.  Sir John would be as pleased as Punch to
+see you begin to take a little more interest in going."
+
+"Look here!" cried Jack, springing from his pillow to sit upright in
+bed, "when I want any of your advice, sir, I will ask for it.  Such
+impertinence!"
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon, sir, but I only thought you might like to do
+what Sir John would wish to see.  I put 'em all straight last night, and
+laid a suit of tweeds, with knickerbockers, brown plaid worsted
+stockings, and high-laced brown shooting-boots, all ready for you."
+
+"Then it was like your insolence, sir."
+
+"Yes, sir, and the boots are lovely, sir; just the thing!  Stout strong
+water-tights as lace on right to the knee.  Leather's as soft as velvet.
+They'll be grand for you when you're going through the jungle where
+there's leeches and poisonous snakes."
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated the boy with a shudder.
+
+"Oh, you needn't mind them, sir; I've been reading all about 'em in the
+Natural History Sir John's lent me.  They always run away from you when
+they can."
+
+"And when they cannot they bite venomously," cried Jack.
+
+"That's it, sir," said Edward, "if they can."
+
+"And they can," said Jack.
+
+"If you don't kill 'em first," said the man, laughing, "and that's the
+proper thing to do.  Kill everything that wants to kill you.  Don't want
+me then yet, sir?"
+
+"Only to go," said Jack, throwing himself down again and drawing up the
+coverings close to his ear.
+
+"Yes, sir; I'll be back again at half-past seven."
+
+Jack made no reply, and the man went off laughing to himself.
+
+"He's getting stirred up," he said.  "I never saw him take so much
+notice before."
+
+Jack lay perfectly still for another hour, apparently asleep, but really
+thinking very deeply of his position, and of how hard it seemed to be
+that he should be obliged to give up his calm quiet life among his books
+to go upon a journey which, the more he thought of it, seemed to grow
+darker and more repellent.
+
+He was still thinking and wishing that he could find some way to escape
+when Edward came into the room again, bearing clothes, boots, and
+hot-water can.
+
+"Half-past seven, sir," he said.
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"Very fine morning, sir," continued the man, arranging the things for
+his young master's toilet, but there was no response.
+
+"Looks as if it was going to be settled weather, sir."
+
+Still no response.
+
+"Just been to Sir John, sir, and he says that he forgot to tell me
+Doctor Instow would be over to breakfast."
+
+Jack did not move, and Edward went close to the bedside.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," he said loudly; "it's more than half-past seven."
+
+"Will you go away, and not pester me," cried Jack, turning upon him
+fiercely.
+
+"Yes, sir; certainly, sir; beg pardon, sir, but you said I was never to
+leave you till you were regularly woke up."
+
+Jack said something inarticulate, and Edward went out once more
+grinning.
+
+"My word!" he muttered; "he is coming round."
+
+"I don't get a bit of peace," cried the boy peevishly, and he sprang out
+of bed, washed in hot water, shivered as he dried himself, and then
+turned to begin dressing, and paused.
+
+Which way should he go?
+
+On two chairs a yard apart lay his clothes: on the left his things he
+had worn the previous day; on his right, a suit specially made for the
+life ashore that they were to live abroad; and after a little hesitation
+he began to dress in that, finding everything feel strange, but
+certainly very comfortable, and at last he stood there in garments very
+much like those in which the man had come in, and he looked at himself
+in the glass.
+
+Nothing could have been more comfortable and suitable, as he was fain to
+confess; but all the same the inclination was strong to take them off.
+He resisted, however, and in due time went down, feeling strange and
+half ashamed of being seen.
+
+Sir John was in the breakfast-room, and he looked up from his newspaper
+rather severely, but as soon as he caught sight of his son's altered
+appearance, the paper dropped from his hands and he rose quickly.
+
+"Thank you, Jack," he said warmly.  "You did this to please me, and I am
+more than pleased.  It shows me that you are trying to make the brave
+fight I expect of you, as my son should.  Hah! you will see the truth of
+it all before long."
+
+He would have said more, but the doctor was heard in the hall, and
+directly after he entered in his bluff fashion.
+
+"Morning, morning," he cried; "splendid day for our trip.  Why, bravo,
+Jack!  The very thing.  Your get-up is splendid, my lad, and it makes me
+impatient to be off.  You are going with us of course?"
+
+"I suppose so," said Jack with a sigh.
+
+"I don't mean on our trip, but to see the vessel."
+
+That sounded to the boy like a temporary reprieve, and he looked
+inquiringly at the doctor.
+
+"I had not said anything about it to him," said Sir John.  "We have had
+particulars from my agent of a large ocean-going steam yacht, my boy,
+which sounds well.  It is really a sailing vessel, but fitted with a
+screw for occasional use in calm or storm.  She is lying at Dartmouth,
+and we are going down to see her to-day.  Will you come?"
+
+"Do you wish me to come, father?" said Jack.
+
+"Of course I do, but what I do wish is to see you take an interest in
+all our preparations."
+
+"I am trying to, father."
+
+"Yes, and succeeding," said the doctor, "or you would not have come out
+like you are this morning."
+
+"How soon do you start?" said Jack hurriedly, to escape the doctor's
+allusions to his dress.
+
+"In half-an-hour.  We have to get up to town, and then go across to
+Paddington."
+
+"I'll hurry through my breakfast then, and go and change my things."
+
+"What for?" cried the doctor.  "You couldn't be better."
+
+"But I should look so absurd, sir, dressed like this."
+
+"Absurd?"
+
+"The absurdity is only in your imagination, my boy," said Sir John.  "Go
+as you are."
+
+Jack looked troubled, but he said nothing, for he was making a brave
+fight to master his antipathy to his father's projects, and without
+another word he went on with his breakfast, receiving the next time he
+caught his father's eye a nod of approval which meant a good deal.
+
+But the pith helmet was a severe trial just before the carriage came to
+the door, and he stood in the hall with the round-topped head-piece
+standing on the table, for it would recall Edward's extinguisher, and
+his own remark that morning concerning the Guido-Fawkes-like aspect of
+their man.
+
+"Don't seem to like your topper, Jack, lad," said the doctor, smiling.
+
+"Well, who could?" cried the boy sharply.  "It looks so absurd."
+
+"Because you are not used to it, and will probably not see any one else
+wearing one.  Now for my part, I think it the very reverse of absurd,
+and a thoroughly sensible head-piece, light, well ventilated, and cool,
+a good protection from the sun, and thoroughly comfortable."
+
+"What, that thing?"
+
+"Yes, that thing.  It is a hot sunny day, and we shall be out of doors a
+good deal when we get into Devonshire, so it is most suitable.  Now
+between ourselves, what would you have worn if left to yourself?"
+
+"My black frock-coat and bat," said Jack quickly.
+
+"Nice costume for a railway journey.  Orchid in your button-hole of
+course, and a pair of straw-coloured kid gloves, I suppose?  I have
+observed that those are your favourite colour."
+
+Jack nodded.
+
+"Bah!  Try and be a little more manly, my lad," said the doctor kindly.
+"A healthy young fellow does not want to be so self-conscious, and to
+dress himself up so as to look pretty and be admired--or laughed at."
+
+"I'm more likely to be laughed at dressed like this, and with a thing
+like half an egg-shell on my head."
+
+"Fools will laugh at anything," said the doctor dryly; "but no one whose
+opinion is worth notice would laugh at a sensible costume.  You would
+have gone down in a tall glossy hat, ironed and brushed up till it
+shines again.  Hard, hot, uncomfortable, roughened at a touch, and
+perfectly absurd in a shower of rain.  But it is the fashion, and you
+think it's right.  Ladies study fashion, lad; look at them after they
+have been caught in a shower.  Now in that rig-out you could go through
+anything."
+
+"Ready?" said Sir John, taking a soft wide-awake from the hat-stand.
+
+"Yes, and waiting," said the doctor; and they entered the carriage,
+which was driven off, Jack's last glance on leaving being at Edward on
+the doorsteps, as he patted his head, evidently in allusion to his young
+master's pith helmet.
+
+"Oh, if I had only been behind him!" thought the lad indignantly; which,
+being analysed, meant that a most decided change was taking place, for a
+month earlier Jack Meadows could not by any possibility have harboured
+the thought of kicking any one for a mocking gesture.
+
+In good time the terminus was reached, and soon after the fast train was
+whirling along, leaving the busy town behind, and off and away through
+the open country with gathering speed.  Father and friend chatted away
+to the lad, but he was listless and dull, refusing to be interested in
+anything pointed out; and at last a meaning look passed between his
+companions, the doctor's eyes saying plainly enough--"Let him be: he'll
+come round by and by."
+
+But this did not seem likely to be the case, Jack not even being
+attracted by the first glimpse of the beautiful estuary of the Dart when
+it was reached in the evening, and they looked down from the heights as
+the train glided along, at the town nestling up the slopes upon the
+other side of the water.
+
+He did turn sharply once when the doctor said suddenly: "There are the
+two training ships for the naval cadets," and pointed at the old
+men-of-war with their tiers of ports, moored in midstream; and was
+feeling a strange sense of pity for the lads "cooped up," as he mentally
+called it, in the narrow limits of a ship, when the doctor suddenly
+exclaimed, "Look, look! both of you.  I'll be bound to say that's our
+yacht."
+
+Jack glanced sharply at what seemed in comparison with the huge
+men-of-war, and seen at a distance, a little three-masted, white-looking
+vessel with a dwarfed funnel, lying at anchor, but he turned pale and
+listless again, utterly wearied out with his journey, nor did he revive
+over the comfortable dinner of which he partook without appetite.
+
+Sir John looked uneasy, but the doctor gave him a meaning nod.
+
+"You won't care about going to look over the yacht this evening, Jack?"
+he said.
+
+"I!" said the lad, almost imploringly.  "No, not to-night."
+
+"No; we're all tired," said the doctor.  "I did not say anything to you,
+Meadows; but I thought we had done enough, so I sent off word to the
+captain to say that we had come down, and I shouldn't be surprised if he
+comes over to the hotel by and by."
+
+It fell out just as the doctor had said, for about half-an-hour later
+the waiter came into the room to say that Captain Bradleigh would be
+glad to see Sir John Meadows; and Jack looked up curiously as a ruddy,
+tan-faced, rather fierce-looking man, with very crisp hair, beard
+sprinkled with grey, and keen, piercing grey eyes, shaded by rather
+shaggy brows, entered, glanced quickly round as he took off his
+gold-braided yachting cap, and at once addressed Sir John, as if quite
+sure that he was the principal.
+
+"Sir John Meadows?" he said courteously, but with a ring of authority in
+his words.
+
+"Yes; will you sit down.  This is my friend, Doctor Instow; my son."
+
+The captain shook hands with the two elders, giving them a firm, manly
+grip, short and sharp, as if he meant business; but his pressure of
+Jack's thin, white hand was gentle, and he retained it in his strong,
+firm palm as he said--
+
+"Ah! father--doctor--you have been ill, young gentleman?"
+
+"I?  No," said Jack, with a look of resentment.
+
+"Unwell, not bad," said the captain kindly.  "Only want a sea-trip to do
+you good;" and he smiled pleasantly, looking like an Englishman full of
+firmness and decision, such a one as people would like to trust in a
+case of emergency.
+
+"I got your message, gentlemen," he said, as he took a chair, "and I
+came on at once."
+
+"Thank you," said Sir John.
+
+"The agent wrote me a long letter, saying you might come down; but I did
+not think much of it, for I have had so many from him that have come to
+nothing."
+
+"People don't like the yacht then?" said Sir John, rather anxiously.
+
+"Oh yes, sir, they like the yacht," said the captain, with a little
+laugh.  "No one could help liking her.  They don't like the price."
+
+"Ah, the price," said Sir John quietly; and the captain gave him a
+searching look.
+
+"Yes, sir, the price; and it is a pretty good round sum; but I give you
+my word it is just one-third of what it cost Mr Ensler."
+
+"Oh! you know what it cost?" said Sir John.
+
+"Well, I ought to, sir," said the captain, smiling, a peculiarly frank,
+pleasant smile.  "When he came over from New York five years ago, I was
+recommended to him, and he trusted me fully.  She was built under my
+eyes, up in the Clyde, and I watched everything, as she was fitted up of
+the very best material, regardless of expense.  The cheques all passed
+through my hands, so I think I ought to know."
+
+"Yes, of course.  The agent told me the yacht was built expressly for an
+American gentleman."
+
+"That's right, sir.  He's one of these millionaires who don't know how
+rich they are, for the money comes on rolling in.  Restless, nervous
+sort of men who must be doing something, and then they want to do
+something else, and get tired of the idea before they've begun.  He had
+an idea that it would be a fine thing to imitate Brassey, but do it
+better, and sail round the world.  So the _Silver Star_ was built,
+rigged and finished in style.  I selected as good a crew of fifteen
+picked, sea-going fellows as were procurable, and just a year ago we
+started."
+
+Jack began to grow interested.
+
+"But you see, gentlemen, he was disappointed in her from the first."
+
+"Hah!" said the doctor sharply; "now frankly, captain, what was her
+failing?"
+
+"Failing, sir?" said the captain, turning in his chair, and fixing the
+doctor with his clear eyes.  "I tell you as a man, I can't find a
+failing in her, except perhaps there's a little too much French polish
+about the saloon cabin, more in the stuffed cushion line than I quite
+care for.  You see, for an ocean-going boat I think you want to study
+strength and sound workmanship more than show; but that's a matter of
+fancy."
+
+"Of course," said Sir John, who was watching the captain very narrowly.
+
+"Well, sir, I did my very best, what he called level best, and when she
+was done I was as proud of her as--as--well, as your young son here
+might have been of a new plaything."
+
+Jack winced, and looked indignant.
+
+"But Mr Ensler didn't like her: said she was a miserable little
+cock-boat, and not fit for a long voyage."
+
+"And frankly, between man and man, isn't she?" said the doctor sharply.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the captain, showing his regular white teeth in
+a smile, "that's a matter of opinion.  I'm not interested in the matter.
+I'm in command with a good crew on board, and we have our pay regular
+as clockwork.  She may be sold, or she may not; but I can only say what
+I think.  I did all that a man who has been at sea pretty well
+everywhere for thirty years could do, and I say this: if you gentlemen
+like to buy her and engage me--mind, with a good picked crew--I'll sail
+her wherever you like.  If, on the other hand, you like to pick your own
+man, I can tell him as a brother sailor that he can't get a better found
+boat in either of the yacht squadrons or in Her Majesty's navy."
+
+"But Mr Ensler was dissatisfied with her."
+
+"He?  Yes," said the captain contemptuously.  "He has been coming and
+going for years in the Cunard and the American liners, and his ideas
+were built on one of those floating palaces.  As I told him, it was
+absurd.  He wanted an ocean-going gentleman's yacht, and there she lies.
+I'd trust my life in her anywhere a deal sooner than I would in one of
+those coal-swallowing monsters.  She's as light as a cork, easy to
+manage from her fore and aft rig, with a small picked crew, and has a
+magnificent engine with the best kind of boilers, which get up steam
+quickly, ready for any emergency; for of course as a yacht she's a boat
+in which you would depend most upon your sailing."
+
+"Exactly," said Sir John, "that is what I meant."
+
+"Then she'd suit you to a tittle, sir."
+
+"Has she made any long voyages?" said the doctor.
+
+"No, sir, but she has been in some rough weather.  I brought her round
+from Glasgow in the dirtiest weather I was ever in on our coast; and
+from here we sailed to Gib, and right away through the Mediterranean,
+meaning to go through the Canal and on to Ceylon; but long before we'd
+got to Alexandria he was sick of it, and pitched it all.  I must say
+that we did have rather a nasty time, but, as I told him, it only showed
+what a beautiful boat she was.  It was wonderful how we danced over the
+waves with close-reefed canvas.  But he'd had enough, gave me my orders
+to bring her here to Dartmouth, and he went back to Marseilles by one of
+the Messageries Maritimes, and across home.  When we got back, first
+thing I saw was the advertisement that she was for sale."
+
+"You have a good crew on board then?" said Sir John thoughtfully.
+
+"As good a crew as I could pick, sir, and they are well up to their
+work.  For I'm rather a hard man, young gentleman," continued the
+captain, turning to look sharply at Jack, "as stern about discipline as
+they are in the Royal Navy; but work done, I like to see my men play,
+and somehow I think they get on very well with me.  But of course,
+gentlemen, if you bought the yacht, you are not bound to take the
+captain and crew."
+
+"Oh no, of course not," said Sir John quietly.
+
+"There, gentlemen, I've been doing all the talking: Perhaps now you
+would like to ask me a few questions."
+
+"I think we might defer most of them till we have seen the yacht, eh,
+Meadows?" said Doctor Instow.
+
+"Yes, certainly, unless anything occurs in our conversation with Captain
+Bradleigh."
+
+"Anything you like, gentlemen, though there is very little that I could
+say more than I have said.  She's a splendid craft in every respect.
+There is only one fault in her from a buyer's point of view."
+
+"What is that?" said the doctor sharply.
+
+"Price, sir."
+
+"But to a man of means, who would give his cheque down, Mr Ensler would
+take considerably less?"
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+"No, sir, I don't believe he would.  He don't want money, and I have
+always lived in the hope that he would take a fresh sea-going trip; but
+it does not come off.  He has had several offers for the boat, but sent
+a sharp answer back that he had fixed his price."
+
+Sir John sat tapping the table with his finger-tips, watching his son,
+who seemed to be brightening up, evidently in the hope that the
+transaction would fall through.
+
+"So you are going to have a few cruises, young gentleman," said the
+captain, turning to Jack, for the doctor too was looking very
+thoughtful, and was nibbling at his nails as he glanced at Sir John.  "I
+suppose so," said the lad coldly.  "Do you good," said the captain.
+"Fine thing the pure sea-air.  Why a trip round the coast for a few
+weeks, and you'd be quite a new man.  Like the sea?"
+
+"I?  Like the sea?" said Jack with a shiver.  "My son thinks he will not
+like it at all," said Sir John, smiling.
+
+"Thinks, sir," said the captain, laughing.  "Ah, he don't know.  Not
+like the sea!  My word, what a weary world this would be if there were
+no sea.  Storm or calm it's grand or beautiful.  There's nothing like
+the sea.  Oh, he don't know yet.  You mean a short cruise or two, sir,
+or a trip round the island from port to port.  She's a little too big
+for that."
+
+"No," said Sir John, rousing himself from a reverie.  "I intended to go
+from here through to Ceylon, then on to Singapore, and along the
+islands, touching here and there, till we reached some place at which we
+would like to stay."
+
+"Perhaps round by the Horn, touching at Monte Video, Rio, and the West
+Indies?" cried the captain excitedly.
+
+"Perhaps," said Sir John, smiling.  "It depends."
+
+"That means a couple of years to do it well, sir."
+
+"I am not tied for time," said Sir John.
+
+"That's a lot of money for a yacht," said the doctor thoughtfully.
+
+"Yes, sir, a pretty good sum, but she's worth it, and whether you buy
+the _Silver Star_ or no, I say, as an old seaman, don't you undertake
+such a trip without a good boat under you, a man who knows his business
+for sailing her, and a good crew.  If you mind that, weather permitting,
+you'll have a pleasant voyage worth a man's doing.  With a clumsy craft,
+a bad captain, and a scraped together mutinous crew, it will be a misery
+to you from the day you start to the day you come back--if you ever do."
+
+"That is quite right," said Sir John, rising, for the captain had risen
+and picked up his cap.  "What time shall we come on board to-morrow?"
+
+"Come now if you like, sir."
+
+"No, no; my son is tired.  Will ten o'clock suit you?"
+
+"Any hour you like to name, sir."
+
+"Ten then," said Sir John.  "Of course we can easily find a boatman to
+take us off?"
+
+"At ten o'clock, sir, a boat will be waiting for you at the pier end,"
+said the captain in a sharp businesslike tone.  "Good-evening,
+gentlemen.  Weather seems to be settling down for fine.  My glass is
+very steady."
+
+"Hah!" said the doctor, "I rather like that man."
+
+"I don't," said Jack sharply.  "He is insufferable.  He treated me as if
+I were a child."
+
+Sir John raised his brows a little in surprise to hear his son speak so
+sharply.
+
+"Don't judge rashly, Jack," he said.  "You don't know the man yet;
+neither do I; but he impressed me as being a very frank, straightforward
+fellow, one of Nature's rough gentlemen."
+
+"Would you mind my going to bed, father?" said Jack hastily.  "I am very
+tired."
+
+"Go then, and have a good long night's rest."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor; "and I say, Jack, leave your window open.
+Sea-air is a splendid tonic."
+
+"Good-night," said Jack shortly; and, shaking hands quickly, he hurried
+out of the room, and went to bed, after carefully seeing that the window
+was closely shut.
+
+"That's a pile of money for a yacht, Meadows," said the doctor, as they
+sat together to watch the moon rise over the hills in front of the hotel
+away across the estuary.
+
+"Yes, it is a heavy sum, Instow, but if it answers the captain's
+description the yacht must be worth the money."
+
+"Yes, if it does.  Seems to be an honest sort of fellow, and he's right
+about having a good ship and crew for such a voyage."
+
+"Of course."
+
+"But it's a deal to pay down."
+
+"I'd pay ten times as much down to-morrow to see my poor boy hale and
+hearty--a frank, natural lad with an English boy's firmness and
+strength."
+
+"Instead of a weak, irritable, sickly, overstrained, nervous fellow, who
+would give me the horrors if I did not know that I can put him right."
+
+"You do feel this, Instow?"
+
+"Of course I do.  Why look at him to-night.  He is tired, and speaks
+sharply, and almost spitefully; but already he is showing twice as much
+spirit, though it is in the way of opposition."
+
+"Yes; the feeling that he is to exert himself is beginning to show
+itself," said Sir John musingly.  "He'll come round if he is given
+something to call out his energy."
+
+They sat very silent till bed-time, and on saying good-night, Sir John
+turned quickly upon his old friend.
+
+"This is a chance, Instow," he said, "and if the vessel comes up to his
+description I shall close at once."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+JACK BEGINS TO WAKE.
+
+The waters of the Dart were dancing merrily in the bright sunshine next
+morning, when, nervous and so anxious that his breakfast had been
+spoiled, Jack walked between his father and the doctor toward the pier,
+wondering what sort of a vessel the _Silver Star_, which had been
+finished too finely for the captain's taste, would prove.
+
+"There she is," said the doctor suddenly.  "That must be the yacht, for
+there is nothing else in sight at all answering her description."
+
+"Yes, that is she, the one we saw as we came in yesterday.  Why she must
+be quite half-a-mile away."
+
+"Are we to go off to the yacht in a small boat?" asked Jack nervously.
+
+"Yes, my boy," said Sir John.  "You heard that the captain, said one
+would be waiting for us at ten, and it is now nearly that time.  Look,
+there's a man-o'-war gig coming towards the pier.  How well the men look
+in their white duck shirts and straw hats, and with the naval officer in
+the stern sheets.  Those men row splendidly."
+
+They stopped to look at the beautiful little boat glistening and brown
+in its varnish, with its three little fenders hanging on either side to
+protect it from chafing against boat-side or pier, and its rowlocks of
+highly polished gun-metal, and then lost sight of it behind the pier.
+
+"Bringing the officer to land, I suppose," said Sir John.  "I dare say
+she comes from the _Britannia_."
+
+"No," said the doctor suddenly.  "Why that's our captain and our boat."
+
+"Oh no," said Sir John quickly.  "That was a regular man-o'-war craft."
+
+"I don't care; it was ours," said the doctor.  "You'll see."
+
+He proved to be right, for as they went on to the pier, they saw Captain
+Bradleigh climb up from a boat lying out of sight close in, and he came
+to meet them.
+
+"Morning, gentlemen," he said.  "You are punctuality itself.  It's
+striking ten.  This way.  We'll go off at once, while the tide is with
+us, and save the lads' arms."
+
+He led them to the end of the pier, where the so-called man-o'-war boat
+lay just beneath them, one of the sailors holding on by a boat-hook,
+while the other three smart-looking fellows sat quietly waiting on the
+thwarts.  The gig was in the trimmest of conditions, and looked
+perfectly new, while it was set off by a gay scarlet cushion in the
+stern sheets, contrasting well with the brown varnished grating ready
+for the sitters' feet.
+
+"But we are never going to the yacht in that crazy little boat?"
+whispered Jack nervously.
+
+"The sailors came to shore in it," said Sir John quietly, "so why should
+we mind?"
+
+"But it seems so slight and thin," faltered the boy to his father.
+
+"Are you afraid, Jack?" asked Sir John gravely.  "If so you had better
+stay on the pier while we go."
+
+The lad was silent.  That he was afraid was plainly written in his
+face--plainly, that is, to those who knew him.  To a stranger it would
+have seemed to be the pallor of his complexion.
+
+Sir John said no more, but made way for Doctor Instow to step down into
+the boat, and at a sign he descended and held out his hand to Jack.
+
+"I can manage, thank you," said the lad, and he jumped down on to one of
+the thwarts, and then, without assistance, took his place in the stern
+sheets; his father and the captain followed, the latter gave a short,
+sharp order, the boat was vigorously thrust away into the stream, and
+the next minute the four men were sending her along with a regular
+stroke which seemed to make the slightly-built boat throb and quiver.
+
+For a few minutes the utterly foreign sensation was absolutely painful
+to the boy; and as the land appeared to glide away from them, a
+sensation of giddiness attacked him as he sat hearing conversation going
+on, but understanding nothing, till, as he turned his eyes in the
+captain's direction, he saw that this gentleman was watching him
+curiously.
+
+A pang shot through him, and the blood began to rise to his white
+cheeks, as he made a tremendous effort to master the miserable sensation
+of abject fear which troubled him, and succeeded so far that in a minute
+or two he was able to give himself the appearance of looking about him,
+as if examining the boats they passed.
+
+"There, young gentleman," said the captain suddenly, "there's the
+_Silver Star_.  What do you say to her?  Doesn't she sit the water like
+a sea-bird?"
+
+Jack looked at the graceful curve and taper spars of the vessel, and
+began to wonder at the way in which she seemed to grow as they drew
+nearer; or was it that the boat in which he was gliding onward was
+shrinking?
+
+He had not much more time for examination of the delicate lines traced
+upon the sky by the yards and cordage, for the boat was cleverly run
+close up, the oars tossed on high, and as the bowman hooked on to a
+ring-bolt the boat was drawn beneath a side ladder.
+
+Jack felt the tremor returning as he thought of the danger of such an
+ascent, when his father said in a low voice--
+
+"You did that very bravely, my boy; now make another effort."
+
+Jack was on his feet in an instant.  He stepped forward, seized the
+lines on either side of the ladder, and climbed up very clumsily, but
+managed to reach the deck without accepting the assistance of the mate
+and one of the men, who stood in the gangway and made room for him to
+step for the first time in his life upon the deck of a ship.
+
+Sir John and the doctor followed, and the captain remained silent, while
+his visitors stood gazing about the clean white deck, where everything
+was in the most perfect order, ropes coiled down so that at a distance
+they looked like pieces of engine turning, the hand-rails of polished
+brass and the ship's bell glistening in the sunshine, and the pair of
+small guns seeming to vie with them.  The sails furled in the most
+perfect manner, and covered with yellowish tarpaulins, yards squared,
+and every rope tight and in its correct place and looking perfectly new,
+while the spare spars and yards were lashed on either side by the low
+bulwarks, smooth and polished till they were like ornaments.
+
+"Well," said the doctor at last, "I am not a sailor, Captain Bradleigh,
+but everything here appears to be in the most perfect condition."
+
+"I hope so, sir.  My men are proud of our vessel, and we do our best."
+
+Sir John glanced at the men, who were all at their stations, and felt a
+thrill of satisfaction as he noticed that they well deserved the term of
+"picked," being the smart, athletic, frank, manly-looking fellows we are
+accustomed to see in the Royal Naval Reserve.
+
+The captain then led the way to the cabins, which were thoroughly in
+keeping with what had been seen on deck, elegantly decorated and
+furnished, and with every inch so contrived that the greatest of
+convenience was given in the smallest space.  Berths, steward's room,
+cook's galley, all were inspected in turn, and then the captain opened a
+door with a smile.
+
+"I don't know whether you gentlemen care for sport, but Mr Ensler had
+this little magazine fitted up, and it is well furnished."
+
+The contents seemed nothing to Jack; but the doctor and Sir John
+exchanged glances of surprise, as they saw on each side the sliding
+glass doors in which, in the most perfect order, were ranged double and
+single fowling-pieces, rifles from the lightest express to the heaviest
+elephant guns, as well as a couple of large bore for wild-fowl shooting
+and one with its fittings for discharging shells or harpoons.  Lances,
+lines, nets, dredges, sounding-lines, patent logs, everything that a
+scientific sportsman or naturalist could desire.
+
+"There's a good magazine forward, gentlemen," said the captain, "which I
+will show you by and by, with, I should say, an ample supply of
+cartridges of all kinds--the best.  Cartridge and ball for the big guns,
+and many chests of empty brass cases, canisters of powder, and bags of
+all-sized shot, and the like, so that I may say the yacht is well found
+in that respect."
+
+"But these are Mr Ensler's," said Sir John, who appeared thoroughly
+interested, while his son looked on and listened in a careless way.
+
+"Well, yes, sir, his, of course; but they go with the boat."
+
+"At a valuation?" said the doctor.
+
+"Oh no," replied the captain, smiling.  "Everything in the yacht--
+stores, provisions, extra tackle, spare anchors, cables and sails--and
+I'll show you directly, gentlemen, the stores are well worth looking
+at--go with the yacht at the price named.  I wouldn't be answerable for
+the state of some of the tinned provisions, of course, for they've been
+on board some time, but they were of the best, and I have had them gone
+over, and only found a few cases to condemn."
+
+Sir John said nothing, and the captain led them on, showing them the
+store-rooms, the place devoted to provisions, and then the magazine,
+which he pointed out as being solidly constructed at the bottom and
+sides, but exceedingly light overhead.
+
+"So you see, gentlemen," said Captain Bradleigh, "the powder and
+cartridges are so divided, that if there were an explosion it would be a
+small one, though of course it would be followed by others; but with the
+light construction overhead the force would fly upwards, and there would
+be no fear of our going to the bottom."
+
+There was no farther progress to be made forward, a strong iron bulkhead
+lined with woodwork dividing the yacht here in two; and after the
+magazine had been carefully closed, the captain opened a couple of
+arm-chests, in which were rifles, bayonets, and cutlasses, the belts and
+cartouche boxes hanging in a row from pegs.
+
+"Men are all well-drilled, sir," continued the captain, "and have
+regular small-arm practice, for Mr Ensler said there was no knowing
+where we might find ourselves; and there's no mistake about it,
+gentlemen, there's plenty of piracy out in the East still, specially in
+the Malay and Chinese waters."
+
+Jack was interested now, and he gave the captain so sharp a look of
+inquiry that he smiled and nodded.
+
+"Oh yes, young gentleman, there are plenty of cut-throat scoundrels out
+there, as I know well, who would be a deal better out of the world.  Now
+we'll go back on deck, please."
+
+They followed him up, and he went forward, taking them to see the engine
+and stoke-hole, then down into the cable-tiers and another store-room,
+where the extra tackle and various appliances were kept.  Then into the
+carpenter's and smith's workshops, and lastly into the forecastle, and
+the men's cook's galley, the former being well-fitted, ventilated, and
+supplied with a case of books.  Finally, after quite three hours'
+inspection, Captain Bradleigh led the way back to the saloon, where
+quite an elegant lunch had been spread, and the steward and his mate
+were in attendance.
+
+"Oh, there was no need for this," said Sir John hastily.
+
+"I am only obeying instructions, sir," said the captain, smiling.  "Mr
+Ensler said that if any gentlemen took the trouble to come all the way
+to Dartmouth to see the yacht, the least we could do was to give them
+some refreshments.  I think I've shown you everything, gentlemen, as far
+as I could, but of course if you thought anything of the yacht you would
+have her thoroughly gone over by a trustworthy marine surveyor."
+
+Sir John and the doctor exchanged glances again.
+
+"Oh, there's one thing I did not show you, gentlemen," cried the
+captain.  "It may interest our young friend here.  We have no
+figure-head."
+
+"Is the man mad?" said Jack to himself, giving him a look full of
+contempt.  "What interest could I possibly have in a ship's
+figure-head?"
+
+"It was a whim, a fad of Mr Ensler's.  He went to a lot of expense over
+it.  I don't suppose you noticed it, but just out over the cut-water
+close to the bowsprit, there's a great cut-glass silver star, fitted
+inside with a set of the most wonderful silver reflectors, parabolic
+they call them, and when the big lamp inside is lit it sends rays out in
+all directions, so that when you are a way off, it looks just like the
+evening star shining out over the water.  Going back to-night,
+gentlemen?"
+
+"No," said Sir John quietly; "I shall not return to-night."
+
+Jack winced and looked troubled.
+
+"Then as soon as it's dusk, young gentleman, I'll have the star lit up.
+It's of no particular use except as a bow-light, but it looks mighty
+pretty, as good as the fireworks you've let off on fifth o' Novembers
+many a time, I'll be bound."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" roared the doctor, turning to Jack merrily.
+
+"I!" cried the lad, impatiently, and giving the captain a scornful look;
+"I never let off a firework in my life."
+
+"I have," said the captain dryly, "many a one, and made them too.  But
+boys--some of 'em--are a bit different to what they were when I was
+young."
+
+"Oh, they're the same as ever, captain," said Sir John, smiling
+thoughtfully, as if in recollection of the past.  "As a rule, a boy is a
+boy, but no rule is without an exception, you know."
+
+"That's right, sir."
+
+"And my son has been delicate, and has always led a studious, indoor
+life."
+
+"Ah, I see, sir, and now you are going to let him rough it a bit, and
+make a man of him."
+
+"Yes, a healthy man," said the doctor.
+
+"Ah, doctor," said the captain merrily, "there's a beautifully fitted
+medicine-chest in that cupboard, with plenty of physic and books of
+instructions for that, and a bit of surgery; and I've had to dabble in
+it a little myself.  We captains often have to do that out away abroad.
+Why, sir," he continued, with a queer humorous look at Jack, "I'd back
+myself to give a pill to any man against all the doctors in
+Christendom."
+
+Jack looked disgusted.
+
+"But," said the captain, "I was going to say, if our young friend here
+goes off with his father on a voyage, he won't want you or any other
+doctor, sir."
+
+"And a good job too, captain," cried Doctor Instow, "for I like a bit of
+travel and rest as well as any man.  But you are quite right.  It is
+what I prescribed.  Two or three years' voyage and travel."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the captain, as they rose from the lunch-table;
+"Mr Ensler wished everything to be straightforward and above-board; is
+there anything else I can show you?"
+
+"Well, yes," said Sir John, after exchanging glances once more with the
+doctor; "I have come down on purpose to inspect this yacht, and I should
+feel obliged if you would show me over it again."
+
+"Certainly, sir," said the captain bluffly; "I have nothing else to do,
+I'm sorry to say.  Here I am at your service."
+
+"And in the evening," continued Sir John, "I hope you will give me the
+pleasure of your company to dinner at the hotel."
+
+"Well, sir," said the captain, in rather a hesitating way, "I'm not much
+of a dining-out sort of man, and besides, I should like you to go about
+the town a bit, and make a few inquiries about me and my principal and
+the yacht.  Seaside people are pretty knowing, and you'll soon hear a
+boat's character if you begin to ask questions."
+
+"Oh yes, of course," said Sir John; "but we should like to know a little
+more of you personally, Captain Bradleigh."
+
+"Well, that's very kind of you, sir," said the captain bluffly.  "Thank
+you then, I'll come.  But perhaps you gentlemen would like to go over
+the yacht alone?  I want to write a letter or two.  You go about and
+talk to my boys.  They're not primed, gentlemen."
+
+"Well, I think we will," said the doctor quickly, "Eh, Meadows?"
+
+"Yes, Captain Bradleigh," said Sir John; "one does not decide upon a
+thing like this in a minute."
+
+"Certainly not, sir.  You go and have a good rummage, she'll bear it,
+and you jot down in your log-book anything you see that you'd like to
+draw attention to.  Call any of the men to move or overhaul anything you
+wish."
+
+For the next three hours, to Jack's great dismay, his father and Doctor
+Instow roamed and hunted over the yacht.  Nothing seemed too small for
+the doctor to pounce upon, though he devoted most attention to the
+magazine-room, amongst the sporting implements; but one way and another
+they thoroughly overhauled the yacht from stem to stern, even to
+examining the cable-tier and the well, and having several long talks
+with the men, before, to Jack's great satisfaction, as he sat against
+the aft bulwarks, his father came to him and said--
+
+"Tired, my boy?"
+
+"Wearied out, father," was the reply.
+
+"Well, we have done now.  What do you think of the yacht?"
+
+"Nothing, father;" and then hastily, as he saw the look of trouble in
+Sir John's eyes, "I don't understand anything."
+
+"Humph!  No.  Of course not.  Well, come down into the saloon."
+
+The captain looked up from where he was writing, having carefully
+abstained from joining them since lunch.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," he said, smiling, and a quiet triumphant look beaming
+on his face, "done?"
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, wiping his forehead; "I haven't worked so hard
+for months."
+
+"Like the look of her, sir?"
+
+"Very much indeed," said Sir John quietly; and a pang of misery shot
+through the boy.
+
+"Ah, you don't know her yet, sir; but I'm glad you think well of her."
+
+Sir John took a seat and was silent for a few moments, Doctor Instow
+watching him with an inquiring look, while Jack was in agony.
+
+"Look here, Captain Bradleigh," said Sir John at last, "I do not profess
+to be a judge of such matters, but everything here seems to me to speak
+for itself, and I can fairly say that I never saw a vessel in such
+perfect trim before."
+
+"That's a high compliment to pay me, sir," replied the captain, "and I
+thank you for it.  Well, I'm glad to have met you, sir, and it is a
+break in rather a monotonous life.  Don't apologise, sir, I know it is a
+very heavy price for the craft, and of course it is on account of her
+having fittings that not one gentleman in ten would think of putting in
+a yacht.  You were quite welcome to see her, and as for anything I have
+done--"
+
+"I do not quite understand you," said Sir John.
+
+"No, sir?  Well, I take it that what you say is to smooth down that the
+craft will not quite suit you."
+
+"You are entirely wrong," said Sir John; "I think she would suit me
+admirably, and save me a great deal of labour in preparation."
+
+"Oh!" cried the captain; "then I was on the wrong tack."
+
+"Decidedly.  Now, Captain Bradleigh, about yourself.  I judge you to be
+a perfectly straightforward, honourable man."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said the captain, smiling.  "I hope for my own sake
+that you are a good judge."
+
+"I hope so too.  Now, Captain Bradleigh, between man and man, will you
+give me your word of honour that this yacht is thoroughly sound, and one
+that you would advise a man you esteemed to buy?"
+
+"That I will, sir, straight," cried the captain, holding out his hand,
+and giving Sir John's a tremendous grip.  "She's as perfect as the best
+builders and fitters can make her, out of the best stuff.  But you, if
+you think of buying her, get down a couple of the best men you can to
+overhaul her, and if they give a straightforward report, buy her you
+will."
+
+"I don't see any need for so doing," said Sir John quietly.  "I would
+rather have your opinion than any man's."
+
+"But you don't know me, sir."
+
+"I think that any observant man would know you, Captain Bradleigh, in
+half-an-hour."
+
+The captain reddened.
+
+"Well, sir," he said, "I didn't know I had my character written on my
+face."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Sir John quietly; "but now about yourself.  I don't
+wish to spend more money than I can help, and I am not an American
+millionaire, only a quiet country gentleman rather devoted to natural
+history and a love of collecting."
+
+"That's better than being a millionaire, sir.  Money isn't everything,
+though it's very useful."
+
+"Exactly.  Well, if I buy the yacht, will you go with me wherever I wish
+to sail?"
+
+"That I will, sir, with all my heart, and do my duty by you as a man."
+
+"Thank you," said Sir John; "and now about the crew.  It is rather a
+large one."
+
+"Twice too big in fair weather, sir, but not a man too many in foul."
+
+"You think them all necessary?"
+
+"I do, sir, unless you like to depend on steam; then you might knock off
+half-a-dozen, but you'd save nothing; coals at the depots abroad are
+very dear.  Better trust to your sails and keep the men."
+
+"Yes; I think you are right," said Sir John.  "What do you say, Instow?"
+
+"Quite," said the doctor.
+
+"Very well then.  Now about the crew; would they be willing: to engage
+to sail with me wherever I please, to bind themselves not to break their
+engagement without my leave till we return, even if it is for three
+years?"
+
+"I could say yes, sir, for they'd follow me wherever I went, but I'll
+ask them."
+
+"Do," said Sir John.
+
+The captain touched a table gong, and the steward appeared promptly.
+
+"Go and ask Mr Bartlett to pipe all hands aft," said the captain.
+
+The man ascended, and the next minute the clear note of a whistle rang
+out, to be followed by the trampling of feet, and the captain rose,
+evidently satisfied at the promptitude with which his order was obeyed.
+
+"They're waiting sir," he said.
+
+Upon the party going on deck, there were the crew drawn up, quite as
+smart as men-o'-war's men, and all looking as eager as schoolboys to
+learn the meaning of their summons.
+
+"'Tention!" said the captain; and, to use the old saying, the dropping
+of a pin could have been heard.  "This gentleman, Sir John Meadows,
+Bart., is going to buy the _Silver Star_."
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted a man.
+
+"Steady there!" cried the captain sternly.  "He means to sail right away
+east, through the Canal, and along the islands, to stop here and there
+where he likes--two or three years' cruise--and he wants to know if you
+will sign articles to go with him, and do your duty like men."
+
+There was a dead silence, and as the men began directly after to whisper
+together, Jack, who but a minute before had felt in his misery and
+despair that he would give anything to hear the men refuse, now, by a
+strange perversity of feeling, grew indignant with them for seeming to
+hesitate about doing their duty to his father.
+
+"Well, my lads, what is it?" said the captain sternly.  "What are you
+whispering about?  Can't you give a straightforward yes or no?"
+
+There was another whispering, and the words "You speak", "No, you," came
+plainly to Jack's ears, followed by one man shouting--
+
+"We want to know, sir, who's to be in command?"
+
+"Why, I am, my lads, of course."
+
+"Hooray!" came in a roar; and then--"All of us--yes, sir, we'll go," and
+another cheer.
+
+"There's your answer, sir," said the captain; and then turning to the
+men--"Thankye, my lads, thankye."
+
+"Yes, that's my answer," said Sir John, "and an endorsement of my
+feeling that I am doing right."
+
+"And thank you, sir," said the captain warmly.  "We'll do our duty by
+you, never fear.  Perhaps you'll say a word to Mr Bartlett, sir," he
+whispered.  "Good man and true, and a thorough sailor."
+
+"You will, I hope, keep your post, Mr Bartlett," said Sir John, turning
+to him.
+
+"Oh yes, Sir John," said the mate; "I'm obliged to.  Captain Bradleigh's
+kind enough to say I am his right hand."
+
+"And I can't go without that, can I, young gentleman?"
+
+Jack, who was feeling unduly thrilled and excited by the novel scene,
+was chilled again, and he only muttered something ungraciously.
+
+"Mr Bartlett will join us at dinner, I hope," said Sir John; and this
+being promised, the men were ordered forward, the boat was manned, and,
+as the whole crew was watching every movement on the part of the
+visitors, Jack shook hands with captain and mate, and stepped down a
+little more courageously into the gig, but turned dizzy as he dropped
+into his seat.
+
+The next minute it was pushed off, and the thrill of excitement ran
+through the lad again, as the crew suddenly sprang to the shrouds of the
+three masts, to stand there, holding on by one hand, waving their straw
+hats and cheering with all their might.
+
+"Jump up, Jack, and give them a cheer back," cried the doctor.
+
+There is something wonderful about a sharp order suddenly given.
+
+In an instant Jack was on his feet, waving his white pith helmet in the
+air, and giving, truth to tell, a miserably feeble cheer, but the crew
+of the boat took it up and joined in.
+
+Then, as it was answered from the yacht, Jack sank down in his seat
+again, looking flushed and abashed, and he glanced from one to the other
+to see if they were laughing at him; but nobody even smiled.  Still the
+lad could not get rid of the false shame, and the feeling that there was
+something to be ashamed of after all.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+FIRST SNIFFS OF THE BRINY.
+
+"He's beginning, Meadows," said the doctor, as they sat together in
+their room at the hotel, waiting for the guests of the evening.
+
+"Think so?" said Sir John sadly.
+
+"Of course I do," cried the doctor.
+
+"But it's very pitiful to see a lad of his years shrinking like a timid
+girl, and changing colour whenever he is spoken to.  He seems to have no
+spirit at all."
+
+"He has though, and plenty, only it's crusted over, and can't get out; I
+noticed a dozen good signs to-day."
+
+"A dozen?" said Sir John.
+
+"Well, more or less.  Don't ask me to be mathematical.  You'll want to
+know the aliquot parts next," said the doctor snappishly.
+
+"I see you want your dinner," said Sir John, with a smile.
+
+"I do--horribly.  This sea-air makes me feel ravenous.  But, as I was
+going to say, there were abundant signs of the change beginning.  He's
+ashamed of his--his--"
+
+"Well, say it--cowardice," said Sir John sadly.  "Yes, poor fellow! he
+is ashamed of it, as I well know."
+
+"But he can't help it, weak and unstrung as he is.  It will come all
+right, only let's get him out of his misery, as we used to call it.  Get
+him to make his first plunge, and he'll soon begin to swim.  Did you see
+what a brave fight he made of it over and over again to-day?  There, I'm
+sure we're right; and, my word, what a chance over this yacht."
+
+"Yes, it would have been folly to hesitate."
+
+"But it's going to cost you a pretty penny, my friend."
+
+"I do not grudge it, Instow, if we can bring him back well.  We'll be
+off as soon as I can get the preliminaries settled."
+
+"These things don't take long when a man has the money."
+
+"Hush!" said Sir John; "here he is.  Don't say anything to upset him."
+
+Jack came in, looking sad and dispirited.
+
+"Ah, Jack, my boy, ready for dinner?"
+
+"No, father."
+
+"Hah! chance for the doctor," cried that gentleman merrily.  "Let me
+administer an appetiser."
+
+"No, no, Doctor Instow; I'm sure it would do no good."
+
+"Wait till you hear what it is, O man of wisdom, and be more modest.
+You don't know everything yet.  Now then: prescription--take a walk as
+far as the kitchen door, wait till it is opened, and then take four
+sniffs quickly, and come back.  That will give you an appetite, my boy,
+if you want one; but I don't believe you do, for you have a lean and
+hungry look, as Shakespeare calls it.  It's the sea-air, Jack; I'm
+savage."
+
+"Some one coming," said Sir John, and a minute later the waiter showed
+in the two guests.
+
+Jack did not notice it himself, but others did: he ate about twice as
+much as he was accustomed to, and all the while, after looking upon the
+dinner and the visitors as being an infliction, he found himself
+listening attentively to Captain Bradleigh, who was set going by a few
+questions from the doctor, and proved to be full of observation.
+
+"Oh no," he said, "I'm no naturalist, but I can't help noticing
+different things when I am at sea, and ashore, and if they're fresh to
+me, I don't forget them.  Let me say now, though, Sir John Meadows, how
+glad I am that you will buy the yacht and go on this cruise.  The lads
+are half wild with excitement, for we've all been, as the Irishmen call
+it, spoiling for something to do.  It has seemed to be clean and polish
+for no purpose, but I told them they ought to feel very glad to have had
+the yacht in such a state.  I trust, Sir John, that you will never have
+cause to regret this day's work."
+
+"I have no fear," said that gentleman.  "I shall be glad, though, as
+soon as you receive notice of the transfer to me, if you will do
+everything possible toward getting ready for sea."
+
+"Getting ready for sea, sir?  She is ready for sea.  Fresh water on
+board, coal-bunkers full.  Nothing wanted but the provisions--salt,
+preserved, and fresh--to be seen to, and that would take very little
+time.  As soon as you have done your business with the owner, send me my
+orders, and there'll be no time lost, I promise you."
+
+Jack bent over his plate, and was very silent, but he revived and became
+attentive when the doctor changed the subject, and began to question the
+captain about some of his experiences, many of which he related in a
+simple, modest way which spoke for its truth.
+
+"I suppose," said Sir John merrily, after glancing at his son, "you have
+never come across the sea serpent?"
+
+The captain looked at him sharply, then at the mate, and ended by
+raising his eyebrows and frowning at his plate.
+
+"That's a sore point for a ship captain, sir," he said at last, "one
+which makes him a bit put out, for no man likes to be laughed at.  You
+see, we've all been so bantered about that sea serpent, that when a
+mariner says he has seen it, people set him down for a regular Baron
+Munchausen, so now-a-days we people have got into the habit of holding
+our tongues."
+
+"Why, you don't mean to say that you have ever seen it, captain?" cried
+the doctor.
+
+"Well, sir, I've seen something more than once that answered its
+description pretty closely."
+
+"I always thought it was a fable," said Sir John.
+
+"No, sir, I don't think it is," said the captain quickly.  "As I tell
+you, I've seen a great reptile sort of creature going along through the
+sea just after the fashion of those water-fowl that are shot in some of
+the South American rivers."
+
+"The darters," said Sir John; "_Plotius_."
+
+"Those are the fellows, sir; they swim with nearly the whole of their
+body under the surface, and look so much like little serpents that
+people call them snake birds.  Well, sir, twice over I've seen such a
+creature--not a bird but a reptile."
+
+"And they are wonderfully alike in some cases," said the doctor quietly.
+
+"So I've heard, sir, from people who studied such things.  Mine was
+going along six or seven knots an hour, with its snake-like head and
+neck carried swan-fashion, and raised fifteen or twenty feet out of the
+water as near as I could judge, for it was quite half-a-mile away.  It
+was flat-headed, and as I brought my spy-glass to bear upon it, I could
+see that it had very large eyes.  I kept it in sight for a good ten
+minutes, and could not help thinking how swan-like it was in its
+movements.  Then it stretched out its neck, laid it down upon the water,
+and went out of sight."
+
+"And you think it was a sea serpent?"
+
+"Something of that kind, gentlemen.  Bartlett saw it too, and he was
+sure it was a great snake."
+
+"Yes, I feel sure it was," said the mate quietly.
+
+"Very strange," said Sir John, who noted how Jack was drinking it all
+in.
+
+"Strange, sir, because we don't often see such things.  That was in my
+last long voyage, a year before I was introduced to Mr Ensler, but I
+don't look upon it as particularly strange.  Why, I hope that before
+very long we shall be sailing through bright clear waters where I can
+show you snakes single, in pairs, and in knots of a dozen together
+basking at the surface in the sunshine."
+
+"What, huge serpents?" said Jack shortly.
+
+"No," replied the captain, turning upon him with a pleasant smile, while
+the doctor kicked at Sir John's leg under the table, but could not reach
+him.  "They are mostly quite small--four, five, or six feet.  The
+biggest I ever saw was seven feet long, but I've heard of them being
+seen eight feet."
+
+"Yes, I saw one once seven feet nine.  It was shot by a passenger on his
+way to Rangoon, and they got it on board," said the mate quietly.
+
+"Oh, but that's nothing of a size," said Jack.
+
+"No, Mr Meadows," replied the captain; "but we know it as a fact that
+there are plenty of sea serpents of that size, just as we know that
+there are adders and rattlesnakes on land."
+
+"Yes, poisonous serpents," said Jack.
+
+"So are these, sir, very dangerously poisonous.  I have known of more
+than one death through the bite of a sea snake.  But, as I was going to
+say, we know of adders and rattlesnakes, and we know too that there are
+boas and pythons and anacondas running up to eight-and-twenty and thirty
+feet long on land.  There's a deal more room in the sea for such
+creatures to hide, so why should there not be big ones as well as small
+there?"
+
+"That's a good argument," said Sir John, "and quite reasonable."
+
+"And you think then," said the doctor, "that yours which you saw were
+great serpents swimming on the surface?"
+
+"No, sir, I thought they were something else."
+
+"What?" said Jack, with a certain amount of eagerness.
+
+"They struck me as being those great lizard things which they find
+turned into fossils out Swanage and Portland way.  I dare say you've
+seen specimens of them in the British Museum."
+
+"No," said Jack, colouring a little, "I have never taken any interest in
+such things."
+
+"No?" said the captain wonderingly.  "Ah, well, perhaps you will.  Now
+it struck me that these things were--were--Do either of you gentlemen
+remember the name of them?"
+
+"Plesiosaurus.  Lizard-like," said Sir John.
+
+"That's it, sir," cried the captain, glancing at the speaker, and then
+looking again at Jack.  "And I tell you how it struck me, and how I
+accounted for their being so seldom seen."
+
+"Yes!" said Jack, who had laid down his knife and fork, and was leaning
+forward listening attentively.  "How did you judge that?"
+
+"From its large eyes."
+
+"What had that to do with it?"
+
+"It meant that it was a deep-sea living creature.  You'll find, if you
+look into such matters, sir, that things which live in very deep water
+generally have very large eyes to collect all the light they can."
+
+"But yours were living on the top of the water," said Jack.
+
+"To be sure," cried the doctor, giving Sir John a sharp glance.  "Come,
+captain, that's a poser for you."
+
+"Well, no, sir," replied the captain modestly, and with a quiet smile;
+"I think I can get over that.  Perhaps you know that fish which live in
+very deep water, where the pressure is very great, cannot live if by any
+chance they are brought to the surface.  The air-vessels in them swell
+out so that they cannot sink again, and they get suffocated and die."
+
+"But if it was their natural habit to live in deep water," said Jack,
+"they would not come to the surface."
+
+"If they could help it, sir," said the captain; "but when a creature of
+that kind is ill it may float toward the surface, and turn up as you see
+fishes sometimes.  I fancy that my great lizard things are still
+existing in some places in the mud or bottom of the sea, that they are
+never seen unless they are in an unnatural state, and then they soon
+die, and get eaten up by the millions of things always on the look-out
+for food, and their bones sink."
+
+"I should like to see one," said Jack thoughtfully.
+
+"And I should like to show you one, sir," said the captain.  "There's no
+knowing what we may see if we cruise about.  Well, I'll promise you
+sea-snakes and whales and sharks.  I can take you too where there are
+plenty of crocodiles for you to practise at with a rifle.  Good practice
+too to rid the world of some of its dangerous beasts."
+
+Jack shuddered, and wanted to say that he did not care to see anything
+of the kind, but he did not speak, and just then the captain rose from
+the table, drew up the blind, and looked out.
+
+"There you are, sir," he said.  "Come and look.  The lads were ready
+enough when I told them to light up to-night.  Looks nice, don't she?"
+
+Jack followed to the window, to see that it was a glorious night, with
+the sky and sea spangled with gold, while out where he knew the yacht
+lay, there shone forth with dazzling brilliancy what seemed to be a
+silver star, and dotted about it, evidently in the rigging of the yacht,
+were about thirty lanterns of various colours, but only seeming to be
+like the modest beams of moons in attendance upon the pure white
+dazzling silver star.
+
+The boy gazed in silence, impressed by the beauty of the scene, as the
+captain now quietly opened the window to admit the soft warm air from
+off the sea, while faintly heard came the sound of music from some
+passing boat.
+
+"How beautiful!" said Sir John, who had come unheard behind them.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the captain quietly, "with the simple beauty of home;
+but you will have to see the grand sunrises and sunsets of tropic lands
+to fully understand the full beauty of God's ever-changing ocean.  But
+even now, Mr Meadows, I think you can hardly say you don't like the
+sea."
+
+Jack made no reply, but drew a deep breath which sounded like a sigh.
+
+"Well, Jack," said Sir John, when they were about to retire that night,
+"what do you think of Captain Bradleigh?"
+
+"I liked him better this evening, father," said the boy thoughtfully.
+"He did not treat me as if I were a child, and he left off calling me
+`young gentleman.'"
+
+"Good-night, Meadows," said the doctor, a short time after; "I wish you
+weren't going to spend so much money, but Jack has had his first dose of
+medicine."
+
+"Yes," said Sir John; "and it has begun to act."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+NED FEELS THE MOTION OF THE VESSEL.
+
+All aboard after the preliminaries had been arranged in the most
+satisfactory way, Sir John's arrangements made, and Jack, like a
+dejected prisoner, taken down to Dartmouth one day, following Edward,
+who had gone on in advance with the last of the luggage.
+
+He was waiting in the station when the train came in, looking as eager
+and excited as a boy, and as full of delight as his young master was
+depressed.  Captain Bradleigh was there too, and one of the yacht's
+cutters hanging on at the pier, ready for rowing the party on board the
+_Silver Star_.
+
+"The luggage, Edward?" said Sir John.
+
+"All aboard, Sir John, and things ready in the cabins," said the man.
+
+"Then see that our portmanteaus are placed in the boat."
+
+"All in, Sir John.  I set the porters to get 'em from the van."
+
+"Come along then, Jack, let's take our plunge."
+
+Jack gave a wild look round, his eyes full of despair, but he said
+nothing, only felt that he was bidding good-bye to home, land, ease, and
+comfort for ever, and followed his father to the boat.
+
+Two hours after they were standing out to sea, with Jack, Sir John, and
+the doctor watching the receding shore, the two latter feeling some
+slight degree of compunction at the last; but Edward was below
+inspecting the cabins once more, and as soon as he had done this, in
+spite of the yacht beginning to heel over so that the cabin floor was a
+good deal higher on one side than the other, he folded his arms,
+frowned, set his teeth, and began the first steps of a hornpipe, but
+before he had gone far a lurch sent him head-first toward the port
+bulkhead.  Here he saved himself by thrusting out his hands, turned, and
+began again.
+
+"Very well, uphill if you like," he cried, and he danced from port
+toward starboard.  But this time his legs seemed to have turned wild,
+and he staggered to right.
+
+"Wo-ho! heave-ho! you lubbers!" he cried, and giving a lurch to right,
+but with desperate energy he saved himself from a fall, and tried to
+begin again.
+
+"Now then," he cried, "from the beginning!  Wo-ho!  No, I mean yo-ho!"
+he muttered.  "Why, it's like trying to dance on horseback.  Here goes
+again.  Tiddly-um-tum-tum!  Tiddle-liddle-iddle iddle-liddle
+iddle-rum-tum!"--"_Bang_."
+
+Edward crashed against one of the little state-room doors, cannoned off,
+and came down sitting on the cabin floor.
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" cried the man.  "Well, if you're going to dance
+it, I'll wait till you've done."
+
+"Anything the matter?" said a voice, and the steward came in.
+
+"Nothing particular," said Sir John's man, "unless it's the yacht gone
+mad."
+
+"Oh, this is nothing," said the steward.  "A bit lively after being at
+anchor so long."
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Edward, rising.  "You'll soon get used to
+it.  Not much of a sailor I suppose?"
+
+"Not a bit of one, but mean to be.  I say, who are you?"
+
+"Steward, and I suppose you are to be my mate?"
+
+"Oh, am I?" said Edward; "very well, anything for a change."
+
+The steward turned and left the cabin, for there were steps, and
+directly after Jack appeared at the door, tried to walk steadily to a
+seat, but a sudden careening over sent him to port, and he would have
+fallen heavily if the man had not made an effort to save him, when they
+went down together, the man undermost.
+
+"Quite welcome, sir," said Edward, struggling up and helping Jack to a
+seat.  "Sorry I ain't a bit fatter, sir; only if I was you I'd hold on
+till I get used to it, in case I'm not always there to be buffer."
+
+"Oh!" groaned Jack, whose face was ghastly.
+
+"Why, Mr Jack, sir, don't look like that.  You fight it down.  Feel a
+bit queer?"
+
+"Horrible, Ned.  Help me to get to my berth."
+
+"Oh, I wouldn't cave in, sir.  It'll soon go off."
+
+"Will it?" groaned Jack.  "I was afraid to come down for fear they
+should see and laugh at me.  Oh, how bad I am!  Why did we come?"
+
+"I dunno, sir.  It was the guv'nor's doing.  But you try and keep up."
+
+"It is impossible.  You don't know how bad I feel."
+
+"No, sir, but I know how bad I feel."
+
+"You!" said Jack dismally.  "Surely you are not going to be ill?"
+
+"Why not, sir?  I feel just as if my works had gone all wrong, but I
+haven't got time to be ill.  Come on deck, sir."
+
+"No.  Help me to my berth."
+
+"Right, sir," said the man; and waiting till the vessel seemed steadier,
+he took tightly hold of his young master's arm, helped him to his legs,
+and tried to guide him across the cabin to his little state-room; but at
+the first step Jack made a dive, and they went down together.
+
+"Please, sir, this ain't swimming lessons."
+
+"Let me crawl," groaned Jack.
+
+"No, sir, don't do that.  Here, give me your hand again.  Up you gets.
+That's the way.  This time does it.  Told you so.  Here we are."
+
+"Don't, please don't talk to me," said Jack in a low voice.  "Help me
+into the berth.--Yes, thank you.  Now go away and leave me."
+
+"Won't roll out, will you, sir?"
+
+"Don't--don't talk to me.  Please go."
+
+"Poor chap!" muttered Edward.  "I do wish he'd got just a little bit o'
+pluck in him.  But it do make you feel a bit queer.  S'pose I go and
+shake it off on deck."
+
+He went up, saw that the gentlemen were right aft, and he walked forward
+to where the crew were busy here and there, and nodded first to one and
+then another in the most friendly way, as if he had known them all his
+life.  Then he thrust his hands in his pockets, trying to look perfectly
+unconcerned, and balanced himself so as to try and give and take with
+the vessel.
+
+But it was no good; he fought against the inevitable as long as he
+could, and finally staggered to the cabin hatch and descended to where
+Jack was lying.  "Here's a go, sir," he cried.  "I thought it only
+wanted a bit of pluck, and it would be all right."
+
+"Oh, go away," groaned Jack.  "Don't bother me.  I'm dying."
+
+"I'm worse than that, sir," said the man piteously.  "What's to be done,
+sir?"
+
+"Oh, go to your hammock or berth.  I can't bear to be bothered now."
+
+"But it will be dinner-time soon, sir, and I shall have to help wait at
+table.  I couldn't carry the soup or fish, sir.  I couldn't carry
+myself.  What will the guv'nor say?"
+
+"Ned, will you please to go!" said Jack with a groan.
+
+"Certainly, sir; directly, sir; but I can't move."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"Yes, sir, that's what I thought about you, and that you'd only got to
+make a try; but it isn't to be done."
+
+"Go away," groaned Jack.
+
+"Wish I could, sir.  I oughtn't to have come.  It's all through being so
+jolly cock-sure that I could do anything, and I can't.  Wish I was at
+home cleaning the plate.  Oh, Master Jack, can you feel how the boat's
+a-going on?"
+
+"Yes, it's dreadful," sighed Jack.
+
+"Is it going to be like this always, sir?"
+
+"Don't! pray don't bother me.  Can't you see how ill I am?"
+
+"No, sir, not now.  I can only see how bad poor miserable me is.  Oh
+dear! did you feel that, sir? she give a regular jump, just as if she
+went over something.--Master Jack!"
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"Master Jack!" groaned the man.  "Oh, please, sir, don't say you're
+dead."
+
+"Will you go away and leave off bothering me!" cried the boy angrily.
+
+"Wish I could, sir; I'd be glad to."
+
+There was a pause, during which the yacht bounded along before a fine
+fresh breeze.  Soon Edward began again.
+
+"Mr Jack!"
+
+No answer.
+
+"Mr Jack, sir!"
+
+"Ned! will you go!"
+
+"I can't, sir.  'Strue as goodness, sir, I can't."
+
+"Where are you?" moaned the boy, who was lying on his back staring with
+lack-lustre eyes up at the ceiling just above his head.
+
+"I dunno, sir; I think I'm lying on the carpet, sir, close to the shelf
+I put you on."
+
+"Then go away somewhere; you make me feel as if I could kill you."
+
+"Wish you would, sir," groaned the man.  "I'd take it kindly of you."
+
+"Oh, don't talk such nonsense," sighed Jack.  "Oh, my head, my head!"
+
+"Oh, mine, sir, and it ain't nonsense at all.  It's real earnest.  Why
+was I such a fool as to come, and why did I grin at you, and say as you
+was a poor-plucked 'un?  It's like a judgment on me.  But I always was
+so conceited."
+
+"Call some one to help you to your berth."
+
+"I dursn't, sir.  If I did, those sailor chaps would see as it was all
+over with me and pitch me overboard."
+
+"Ned, you are torturing me," said Jack; and he turned himself a little
+to look down at the miserable being on the floor.
+
+"Very sorry, sir, but something's torturing me.  Do you think we've got
+as far as France yet?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know."
+
+"Do you think, if I give master warning, he'd have me set ashore at
+once?"
+
+"No," said Jack, with a touch of exultation in his words; "I'm sure he
+wouldn't.  You'll have to go with us now."
+
+"I couldn't, sir, I couldn't really.  Why, I couldn't go round this
+room--cabin, or whatever you call it.  Oh dear! oh dear! to think of me
+turning all of a sudden like this!  It's awful."
+
+"Here, Jack!  Jack, lad!  Aren't you coming on deck?" cried a voice down
+through the cabin skylight.
+
+"Oh, there's the doctor," groaned Edward.  "Why don't he come down?"
+
+"Jack! are you there?  It's splendid.  Come up."
+
+"Come down, sir, please," groaned the man.
+
+"Hullo!" said the doctor to himself.  "Why surely they're not--Oh! they
+can't be so soon."
+
+He hurried down the cabin steps, and came breezily into the cabin, to
+see at a glance the state of affairs.
+
+"Why, Jack, my lad, this is cowardly," he cried.
+
+"Don't, sir, don't," groaned Edward.  "I said something like that.
+Don't you, sir, or you may be took bad too."
+
+"Why you ought to be able to stand a little sea-going, my man," said the
+doctor; "this is a break down.  Here, make an effort and go to your
+berth."
+
+"Make an effort, sir?  I couldn't do it even if the ship was a-sinking."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"It's true.  I'm afraid it's all over, and Sir John will want another
+man."
+
+"There, jump up and go to your berth.  You share the same cabin as the
+cook and steward, don't you?"
+
+"I was to, sir, and it was a very small place, but there'll be more room
+for them now."
+
+"Nonsense, I tell you; jump up."
+
+"Jump, sir!" groaned the man; "did you say jump?"
+
+"Well then, crawl.  Here, steward!" cried the doctor, "come and help
+this man to his cabin."
+
+"Can't you give me something to put me out of my misery, sir?" groaned
+the man.
+
+"Absurd!  There, try and get on your legs.  I'll help you."  For the
+steward had come in promptly, smiling at the state of affairs, and poor
+Edward was set upon his legs.
+
+"Come, stand up," said the steward, for Edward's knees gave way like the
+joints of a weak two-foot rule.
+
+"Yes, stand up," cried the doctor; "don't be so weak, man."
+
+"'Tain't me, sir, it's my legs," said the man faintly.  "Don't seem to
+have no bones now."
+
+"Why, Edward, I thought you were a smart manly fellow," cried the
+doctor.
+
+"That's just what I always thought of myself, sir, but it wasn't a bit
+true.  Would you mind asking Sir John, sir, to have the yacht stopped
+and me put ashore?"
+
+"Of course I would.  It's absurd."
+
+"But I shan't be a bit of use, sir; I shan't indeed.  I'm ashamed of
+myself, but I can't help it."
+
+"There, I know," said the doctor kindly; "get to your berth and lie
+still for a few hours.  You'll be ready to laugh at your weakness before
+long."
+
+"Laugh, sir? laugh?  No, I don't think I shall ever laugh again."
+
+The door swung to after the man's exit, and the doctor returned to
+Jack's cabin.
+
+"Well," he said, "feel very queer?"
+
+"Can't you see, doctor?" said the boy, giving him a piteous look.
+
+"Yes, of course I can, my lad; but lie still, and you'll soon get over
+it.  Some people do get troubled this way.  Haven't you read that Lord
+Nelson used to have a fit whenever he went to sea?"
+
+Jack made no reply, for he was in that condition which makes a sufferer
+perfectly indifferent about everything and everybody, and when it is no
+satisfaction to know that the greatest people in the world suffered in a
+similar way.  All they can think of then is self.
+
+Sir John came down soon after, and sat with his son for awhile, trying
+to encourage him, but poor Jack hardly answered him, and at last he
+began to be anxious, and went to join the doctor, who was on deck
+chatting with the captain.
+
+"I wish you'd go down and see to the boy," he said; "he looks so white,
+I feel anxious."
+
+The doctor shrugged his shoulders and went below, to come back at the
+end of five minutes.
+
+"Well?" said Sir John anxiously.
+
+"Usual thing; nothing to fidget about.  Your man's worse."
+
+"What, Edward?" cried Sir John, staring.  "I saw him forward there
+chatting with the sailors not long ago."
+
+"Yes, and now he's in his berth talking to himself about what a donkey
+he was to come.  Who knows! perhaps it will be our turn next."
+
+But it was not, although it began to blow hard from the west, and the
+sea crew rougher as the yacht dashed on.
+
+But the next evening Edward was about again, looking rather pale, but
+very proud and self-satisfied, as he went to Jack's berth.
+
+"Don't you feel any better yet, sir?" he said.
+
+"No; can't you see how ill I am?" replied Jack faintly.
+
+"Ah, that's because you don't try to master it.  Hasn't Doctor Instow
+told you that you ought to try and get the better of it?"
+
+"Yes; but what is the use of telling me that?" groaned Jack, with his
+eyes shut; but he opened them directly and gazed discontentedly at the
+man, as if feeling that it was hard and unfair of fate to let the
+servant recover while the master was so ill.  "Are you quite well
+again?"
+
+"Me, sir?  Oh yes, sir," said Edward carelessly.
+
+"And I--I feel as if I shall never live to go far."
+
+"Ah, that's the way of it, sir, I felt just like that; but you'll come
+all right again before you know where you are.  Like me to get you a bit
+of anything, sir?  The kitchen place is splendid, and the cook would
+knock you up something nice in no time.  What do you say to an omelet,
+sir?"
+
+Jack ground his teeth at the man, and then closed his eyes and feebly
+turned his back.
+
+"Poor chap, he has got it bad," muttered the convalescent, as he went
+out of the cabin on tip-toe.  "But I don't think he's quite so bad as I
+was, after all."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+"WHEN THE RAGING SEAS DO ROAR."
+
+Jack Meadows started up in his berth with a great fear upon him, and he
+started down again with the great fear turned for the moment into a
+great pain, caused by his having struck his forehead sharply, for about
+the tenth time, against the top of his berth.
+
+"Am I never going to recollect what a miserable, narrow, boxed-up place
+it is," he said to himself angrily.
+
+Then the fear came back, and he rolled out feeling confused and
+horrified.
+
+He had turned in over-night without undressing, further than taking off
+jacket, waistcoat, and boots, so that he was almost dressed, for he had
+lain down in terror to rest himself so as to be quite ready if an alarm
+was given that the yacht was sinking; and he knew now that he must have
+been asleep, for it was early morning by the pale grey light which stole
+in through the glass.  The weather seemed to be worse, the yacht
+pitching and tossing, and there was a dull, creaking, horrible sound
+which kept on, but was smothered out at intervals by a tremendous bump,
+which was always followed by a sound as if the vessel had sailed up the
+rapids of Niagara river and then beneath the falls.
+
+The confusion increased with the noise, and, holding on with one hand,
+Jack pressed the other to his forehead as he stared straight before him
+at a big tin box which appeared to his sleep-muddled brain to be walking
+about the saloon table, when he opened the tiny state-room door.
+
+Yes, there was no mistake about it; that box was alive, just as
+frightened as he was by the fearful storm, and was trying to escape, for
+all of a sudden, after edging its way to the end of the table, it made a
+bound, leaped to the floor, and began to creep and jump toward the door
+at the foot of the cabin stairs.
+
+"What did it all mean?" thought Jack, and he tried hard to collect
+himself.  Yes, they came on board three or four days before, he was not
+sure which.  He remembered that.  He had been frightfully ill, and oh,
+so sick.  He remembered that too.  Then he recalled about preparing for
+the worst last night, when the storm increased, and thinking as he lay
+down in his berth, weak as a baby, that it was very grand to be able to
+act as his father and Doctor Instow did, for they were perfectly
+resigned, and he had seen them sitting down playing a game of chess with
+a board full of holes into which the chess-men stuck like pegs.
+
+Then in full force his brain seemed to assert itself.  The worst had
+come, and it was his duty to awaken his father and Doctor Instow, so
+that they might all save themselves by taking to one of the boats or a
+raft.
+
+_Boomp!  Splash.  U-r-r-r-r_!
+
+A wave striking the yacht's bows--the water deluging the deck.
+
+A spasm of fear shot through him, and he made a dash to catch up his
+yachting cap and pea-jacket with gilt anchor buttons which he had had on
+the previous night; but as soon as he quitted his hold, he was literally
+at sea, and the floor of his little state-room rising up, he seemed to
+be pitched head-first into his berth as if diving, but he managed to
+save himself from injury, and dropped on to the floor, crawled to his
+jacket, slipped it on, and then out into the saloon, to see that the tin
+box--one which the doctor had had brought on board full of necessaries
+for their fishing and collecting trips--had reached the saloon door, but
+could get no further.
+
+But what was a box to a man?  Jack crept to his father's door, beat upon
+it, and then dragged it open to find the berth empty.
+
+"Gone and left me," groaned the lad in his misery and despair.  "How
+horrible!  No; he is making a raft, and will come and fetch me soon.--
+Oh!"
+
+He clutched at the door to save himself, for the yacht suddenly made a
+dive, and he felt that they were going down into the vast depths of the
+sea; but he did not save himself, for the door played him false and
+helped to shoot him right across the saloon, and he was brought up by
+the door of the doctor's tiny room.
+
+Recovering himself he desperately clutched at the handle, dragged the
+door open, and as the yacht prepared for another dive, he shot in
+against the berth, punching its occupant heavily in the ribs, and
+snatching at the clothes as he held on.
+
+The doctor uttered a deep grunt, but did not stir.  "Doctor! doctor!"
+panted Jack.  "Wake up!  Quick!  We're sinking."
+
+"Eh?  All right!" came in a deep muffled voice.  "Oh, wake up, wake up!"
+cried Jack.  "I can't leave him to drown.  Doctor! doctor!"
+
+"All right!" came fiercely, as Jack seized the sleeper by the shoulders.
+"Tell 'em--only jus' come abed."
+
+"Doctor! doctor!"
+
+"Tell 'em--give--warm bath--mustard."
+
+"But we're sinking," cried Jack wildly.  "Eh?  Whose baby is it?  What's
+matter--Jack?  Taken ill?"
+
+"No, no.  Quick!  Come on deck."
+
+"Just won't," growled the doctor; and he turned his back and uttered a
+deep snore.
+
+Jack stared in horror, and then dropped on all fours to crawl to the
+foot of the cabin stairs, and fetch help to drag the drowning man on
+deck, being fully imbued with the idea that Doctor Instow had taken some
+drug in his despair, so that he might be unconscious when the yacht went
+down.
+
+In passing he saw that the captain's and the mate's berths were both
+empty, and, how he knew not, he crawled up the cabin stairs, looked on
+deck, and saw that his father was standing by the weather bulwark, and
+the captain close by.
+
+There was the man at the wheel, and a couple more forward in shiny
+yellow tarpaulins; and as he gazed at them wildly, there was a thud and
+a beautiful curve over of a wave which deluged the deck and splashed the
+two men, but they did not stir.
+
+He saw no more then, for the yacht careened over from the pressure on
+the three great sails, and it seemed to the lad that the next moment
+they would be lying flat upon the water, so he clung to the hatchway
+fittings for dear life.  But the next moment the _Silver Star_ rose from
+the wave in front, and literally rushed on, quivering from stem to stern
+like a live creature, the waves parting and hissing to form an
+ever-widening path of foam astern.
+
+Jack caught the full fresh breeze in his teeth as he struggled on deck,
+and breathlessly staggered to the side, looking as if he were going to
+leap overboard; then clinging to the rail, he crept hand-over-hand to
+where his father now stood with the captain.
+
+"That you, Jack?" cried Sir John.  "Good-morning.  Well done!  Come,
+this is brave."
+
+"Splendid!" cried Captain Bradleigh.  "Why you have soon come round."
+
+Jack woke fully to the fact now that it was a false alarm, and strove
+hard to get rid of the scared look with which he had come on deck for
+help to drag Doctor Instow up.  But still he was not quite assured, for
+he started suddenly as, _plosh_! there came another rush of water over
+the bows.  "What's that?" he cried.
+
+"Sea having a game with the yacht," said the captain merrily.
+"Splashing her nose.  Look how she rises and glides over that wave.
+Regular racer, isn't she?"
+
+"Yes, going so fast," panted Jack breathlessly.  "But--but is there no
+danger--of her sinking?"
+
+"Just about as much as there would be of a well-corked-up bottle, my
+lad.  The more you pushed her under, the more she'd bob up again.  Oh
+no, she won't sink."
+
+"I'm glad you came up," said Sir John.  "This breeze is glorious, and I
+never saw the sea more beautiful; look how the waves glisten where the
+moon falls upon them on one side, and how they catch the soft pearly
+light from the east on the other.  It is a lovely effect."
+
+"Yes, father, very beautiful," said the boy sadly.  "Are we far from
+land, Captain Bradleigh?"
+
+"Yes, and getting farther every minute.  Don't want any steam with this
+breeze.  If it holds, we shall regularly race across the bay."
+
+"Bay?" said Jack, feeling that he must say something to keep them from
+seeing how nervous he was.  "Mount's Bay?"
+
+"Mount's Bay?" said the captain, smiling, "No; the Bay of Biscay.  We
+passed Mount's Bay three days ago, while you were lying so poorly in
+your berth.  Oh, that's nothing to mind," he added quickly.  "I was
+horribly bad for a week in smoother water than you've had; you've done
+wonders to get over it so soon."
+
+"Yes, you've done well, Jack," said Sir John, who looked gratified by
+the way in which his son was behaving.  "Mind! keep tight hold of the
+rail."
+
+For just then the yacht made a dive, rose, shook herself, and then,
+after seeming to hang poised on the summit of a green hillock, she
+started again with a leap.
+
+"Yes; better hold tight till you feel more at home.  One easily gets a
+heavy fall and bruises at first.  But you'll soon find your sea-legs,
+and give and swing with the vessel just as if you belonged to her."
+
+"Why didn't you bring the doctor up?" said Sir John; "he is losing a
+glorious sight."
+
+"I tried hard to wake him," replied the lad, "but he was too sleepy."
+
+"Yes; he likes his morning sleep," said Sir John.
+
+The captain walked forward to speak to the two men of the watch, and an
+intense longing came over the boy to undeceive his father, who had not
+grasped the true reason of his appearance on the deck.  But try hard as
+he would, shame kept him silent, and he began to give way again to the
+nervousness which oppressed him.
+
+"Don't you think," he began; but his father checked him.
+
+"Look--look--Jack!" he said; and he pointed to something about a quarter
+of a mile away.
+
+For a few moments, as it appeared and disappeared, the lad could not
+catch sight of it; but at last he did.
+
+"A serpent--a huge serpent," he cried.  "Is it coming this way?"
+
+"It, or rather they are not coming in this direction, but going on the
+same chase, my boy.  No, it is not a serpent; serpents do not travel up
+and down in that fashion, though some people think they do, but undulate
+their bodies right and left."
+
+"But look, father," cried Jack, forgetting his nervousness in the
+interest of what he saw.  "It must be a great snake, you can make out
+its folds as it goes along."
+
+"No, you look--take a good long look, and don't come on deck again
+without your binocular.  That is a little shoal of seven or eight
+porpoises.  They follow one another like that, and keep on with that
+rising and falling manner, coming up to breathe, and curling over as
+they dive down again.  They do strangely resemble a great snake."
+
+"But breathe, father?" said Jack; "fish breathe?"
+
+"Those are not classed as fish, my lad.  They cannot exist without
+coming up to get air.  A fish finds enough in the water which passes
+over its gills."
+
+"Yes, I've read that," said Jack; "but I had forgotten."
+
+"Well, gentlemen, looking at the porpoises?" said the captain, coming up
+behind them.  "Nice little school of them.  They always go along like
+that.  I used to think when I first saw them that they were like a troop
+of boys running along and leaping posts.  They're after a shoal of fish;
+mackerel perhaps.  Well, Sir John, how do you think the yacht runs with
+this breeze?"
+
+"Splendidly," said Sir John.
+
+"Breeze!  Splendidly!" said Jack to himself, as he tried to restrain a
+shudder, for the breeze had seemed to him a storm.
+
+"Well, sir, she's good on every tack.  I can do anything with her; I
+never felt a boat answer the helm as she does.  But I like to hear you
+talk about it; I feel a sort of vanity about her, seeing she is like a
+child of mine, and I want to be quite convinced that you are satisfied
+with your hasty bargain."
+
+"Once for all then, Captain Bradleigh, be satisfied on that point; for I
+feel myself most fortunate," said Sir John.
+
+"Thank you, sir, thank you!" cried the captain warmly.  "That will do
+then; I will not refer to it again.  By the way, Mr Jack, now you are
+getting your sea-legs, you will have to begin your education."
+
+"My education?" said the lad, staring.  "Yes, sir; you must not go on a
+two or three years' cruise without making a thorough sailor of yourself,
+so as soon as you feel yourself fit, I'm ready to teach you to box the
+compass, and a little navigation."
+
+"Oh, thank you," said Jack coldly, and the tips of his horns, that,
+snail-like, were beginning to show signs of coming out, disappeared.
+
+The captain gave Sir John a meaning look, and went on.
+
+"You gentlemen will find Bartlett a capital fellow, and very useful.
+He's quite at home over all kinds of sea-fishing, and you had better
+begin to give him a hint, Mr Jack, that you'll want a good deal of his
+help.  Capital knowledge of sea-fish; not book knowledge, but practical.
+It's of no use now with the yacht going at this rate, but when we get
+into calmer waters."
+
+"Shall we soon get into calmer water?" said Jack anxiously.
+
+"Oh yes.  We're going due south now, and shan't be long first.  I dare
+say by the time we have passed Cape Finisterre, and are running down the
+Spanish coast, you will find it smooth enough.  Like an early cup of
+tea, gentlemen?"
+
+"I?  No," said Sir John, "I'll wait for breakfast.  What do you say,
+Jack?"
+
+Jack said nothing, but looked disgusted.
+
+"Don't like the idea of taking anything of course, sir," said the
+captain; "but wait a little, I'm quite a doctor over these troubles, and
+I'll give you some good news."
+
+"I'm sure he will be grateful for it," said Sir John, for Jack was
+silent.
+
+"Here it is then," said the captain bluffly; "and you may believe it,
+for I know.  You've had a sharp little spell since we left port; but
+it's over now, and, as we say, you're quite well, thank you."
+
+"I quite well?" cried the lad indignantly; "I feel wretchedly bad."
+
+"And think me very unfeeling for talking to you like this," said the
+captain, smiling; "but I'm nothing of the kind.  Of course you feel
+wretchedly ill.  Faint and weak, and as if you could never touch food
+again.  That's why I wanted you to let the steward bring you a cup of
+tea.  Human nature can't go without food for three or four days without
+feeling bad."
+
+"Of course not," said Sir John.
+
+"But now look here, Mr Jack, I talked about good news, and told you
+that you were well now.  Here's the proof.  There's a nice stiff breeze
+on, the water's very lively, and the yacht's dancing about so that we
+shall have to mind how we handle our breakfast-cups; and look at you!
+You are holding on because you haven't learned to give and take with the
+springs in your legs, but you are taking it all quite calmly.  Why, the
+other day as soon as we began to careen over a bit, the doctor had to
+take you below.  Now do you see the difference?"
+
+"No," said Jack.  "You cannot tell how ill I feel."
+
+"My dear lad, I know exactly," said the captain.  "Come, pluck up your
+courage; we're going to have a glorious day, and the wind will drop
+before noon.  Take my advice: go below to have a good tubbing, and dress
+yourself again, and by breakfast-time you'll be beginning to wonder that
+you should have felt so queer; and mind this, sea-sickness isn't a
+disease: it's a--well, it's a--Ah, here's the doctor.  Morning, Doctor
+Instow, you're just in time.  What is sea-sickness?"
+
+"A precious nuisance for those who are troubled with it," said the
+doctor heartily.  "Morning.  Morning, Meadows.  Why, Jack, lad, this is
+grand.  You've quite stolen a march on me.  I say, you mean you're over
+your bit of misery then.  My word, what a jolly morning.  Hullo! going
+below?"
+
+"Yes," said Jack quietly, as he began to move toward the cabin hatch.
+
+"Take my arm, Mr Jack," said the captain kindly.
+
+"No, thank you," said the lad.  "I want to get to be able to balance."
+
+Sir John said nothing, but stood with the others watching the lad's
+unsteady steps till he disappeared.
+
+"He'll do now, sir," said the captain.
+
+"Do?" cried the doctor; "I should think he will.  Why, Meadows, he has
+got all the right stuff in him: it only wants bringing out.  Nothing
+like the sea for a lad, is there, captain?"
+
+"Nothing, sir," said that gentleman.  "It makes a boy manly and
+self-reliant.  He may turn out a bit rough, but it's rough diamond.  Sir
+John, pray don't you think from what I say that I'm one of those
+carneying, flattering sort of chaps who ought to be kicked all round the
+world for the sneaks they are.  What I say is quite honest.  That's a
+fine lad of yours: he's as nervous now as a girl, and no wonder, seeing
+how weak and delicate he is, but I watched him this morning, and he's
+fighting it all down like a fellow with true grit in him, at a time too
+when he's feeling downright bad.  You won't hardly know him in a month."
+
+Sir John nodded and walked away, to go and stand by himself looking out
+to sea.
+
+"Whew!" whistled the captain, turning to the doctor.  "I hope I haven't
+offended our chief."
+
+"Offended him? no," said the doctor, taking his arm and walking him off
+in the other direction.  "It's all right, captain.  You spoke out the
+truth, and he'll tell you before the day's out that he is obliged.  Poor
+fellow! he is very tender-hearted about his boy.  Lost the lad's mother,
+you see, and he worships him.  But you're quite right, my plan's good,
+and I shall bring him back a healthy man."
+
+"You shall, doctor, for we'll all try and help you; there!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+JACK BEGINS TO COME ROUND.
+
+"Oh dear, I do feel so ashamed of myself," said the doctor at breakfast
+that morning.  "Edward, bring me another egg, and some more of that
+ham."
+
+"Well, sir, if you do," said the captain, smiling, "I ought to be, but
+I'm not.  More coffee, Sir John?"
+
+"Thanks, no, I'm taking tea.  Jack, my boy, will you try another cup?"
+
+The lad hesitated for a moment, and then drew aside for Edward to refill
+his cup, with which he had been eating sparingly of some well-made
+toast.
+
+"Find that rather stale, Mr Jack?" said the captain.
+
+"No; it is very nice," said the lad.  "Ah, the toasting takes it off.
+Four days out.  That's as long as we go with the same bread.  Begin
+making our own to-morrow."
+
+Just then Edward handed Doctor Instow a goodly rasher of broiled ham,
+upon which was a perfectly poached egg; and directly after the man came
+round behind Jack, and quietly placed before him, with a whisper of
+warning that the plate was very hot, another rasher of ham, and at the
+first sight of it the lad began to shrink, but at the second glance,
+consequent upon a brave desire not to show his repugnance, he saw that
+it was a different kind of rasher to the doctor's, and that there was no
+egg.  It was small and crisp and thin, of a most beautiful brown, with
+scarcely any fat, and showing not a drop in the hot plate.  There was a
+peculiar aroma, too, rising from it, grateful and appetising, and after
+sipping at his fresh hot cup of tea--the second--twice, Jack broke off
+another fragment of his crisp toast and ate it slowly.
+
+A minute passed away, his four companions eating in sea-going fashion,
+which is rather costly to the person that caters, and they were talking
+aloud meantime, but every one present made a point of not taking the
+slightest notice of the sensitive lad.
+
+That hot tea at the first mouthful of the first cup was nauseating, and
+Jack glanced toward the door and waited before venturing upon a second.
+But that second mouthful was not so bad, and it seemed to him that the
+captain certainly had good tea provided.  Then Jack had broken off a
+scrap of the brown toast and eaten it, feeling at the end of a minute or
+two that he had never before known what well-made toast was like.
+
+And so he had gone on very slowly, but certainly surely, till that piece
+of broiled ham--just such a piece as might tempt an invalid--was placed
+before him by Edward, who winked afterwards at the steward.
+
+Jack would have resisted with scorn the suggestion that he was an
+invalid, and he was in utter ignorance of the doctor having entered into
+a conspiracy with the steward and cook just before they sat down; but
+that triumvirate had conspired all the same, and the result was that dry
+toast and that thin shaving of brown ham, which from the moment it was
+placed under his nose began to tempt him.
+
+What wonder!  Three days lying in a berth aboard ship, three days of
+hardly touching food; and now at last sitting at a pleasant
+breakfast-table in an exasperating appetite-sharpening atmosphere, which
+came in through the open window along with the bright sunshine, while
+four people were cheerily chatting and eating away like men who knew how
+good breakfast can be.
+
+Then, too, there was that insidious preparation--that sending in of
+skirmishers of dry toast to attack the enemy before a bold advance was
+made with the ham.
+
+Was it strange then that after another glance round, and telling himself
+that it was really to keep the others from thinking him too squeamish,
+Jack daintily cut off a tiny brown corner of the fragrant, saline,
+well-flavoured ham, and placed it in his mouth?
+
+No: it did not disgust him in the least, and he ate it, and then glanced
+half-guiltily at the doctor, who was bending over his plate and gilding
+one of his own ham fragments with yolk of egg; but the doctor had very
+heavy eyebrows, and from behind them he had been watching the lad's
+acts, and as he saw him begin to cut another piece a little browner than
+the last, he winked to himself twice, and then burst out with--
+
+"I say, captain; I suppose when we get into smoother water we might get
+a bit of fresh fish for the table?"
+
+"Oh, yes, something of the mackerel kind; eh, Bartlett?"
+
+The mate entered into the conversation directly, and in a quiet, modest
+way chatted about the possibilities of success, but advised waiting
+until the yacht was gliding steadily before a light breeze.
+
+Still nobody turned to say a word to Jack, who sat and listened, growing
+by degrees a little interested over some remarks that were made about
+"the grains," which gradually began to take shape before him as a kind
+of javelin made on the model of Neptune's trident, and which it seemed
+had a long thin line attached to its shaft, and was thus used to dart at
+large fish when they were seen playing about under the vessel's counter,
+though what a vessel's counter was, and whether it bore any resemblance
+to that used in a shop, the lad did not know.
+
+It was somewhere about the time of the last remarks being made by the
+mate, in which "the grains" were somehow connected with the bobstay,
+that Jack proceeded to cut another fragment of that crisp juicy ham; but
+he did not cut it, for the simple reason that there was none left to
+utilise the knife and fork, which he laid together in his plate with a
+sigh.
+
+And somehow just the most filmy or shadowy idea of the possibility that
+the steward might ask him if he would take a little more crossed his
+mind, along with a kind of wondering thought that if the man did, what
+he would say in reply.
+
+But the man did not ask, and Jack glanced at the toast-rack, which was,
+like his tea-cup, empty.
+
+There was a pause now in the conversation, the captain looked
+inquiringly round, and then tapped the table lightly and said grace.
+
+"Like to see how we take observations by and by, Mr Jack?" he said.
+
+"With a telescope?" said Jack quickly, feeling relieved that no one
+asked him how he felt now.
+
+"Well, yes, we do use a little glass in the business attached to the
+sextant.  But you thought I meant observations of the land?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"No, we are far away from land now.  We take our observations from the
+sun at twelve o'clock, and then I can give you the exact spot where we
+are upon the chart."
+
+"That's curious," said Jack.
+
+"Yes, sir; curious, but quite commonplace now.  It's worth noticing
+though how cleverly scientific men have worked it out for us, and what
+with our instruments, the chronometer, and the nautical almanac, we only
+want a bit of sunshine to be able to find out our bearings and never
+feel afraid of being lost."
+
+"I'll come and see how it's done."
+
+"Do, sir, at noon; and you'll like to see the heaving of the log as
+well."
+
+The captain was right; the wind dropped--and quite suddenly--a good hour
+before noon, and Jack found himself beginning to feel a little hungry
+and hollow inside just about the time when the sextant was brought out,
+but he felt interested in what was being done, and found himself
+beginning to think that perhaps after all there might be something
+during the voyage to compensate for the deprivations he was to suffer
+with respect to his regular studies and his books.
+
+It was curious, too, how little he began to think of the rising and
+falling of the vessel, as she glided over the waves, which were rough
+enough, and sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine; but the fore-part of
+the deck was dry now and warm, while the yacht looked picturesque and
+cheery, with the crew busy over various matters connected with the
+navigation.
+
+But nobody made the slightest allusion now to his having been ill, or
+asked how he felt, and the colour came into the lad's cheeks once as he
+caught his father's eyes, which somehow seemed to wear a more contented
+and satisfied look, but he only said quietly--
+
+"I say, Jack, lad, do you think we could sit down in a chair now without
+being shot out?"
+
+Jack felt obliged to reply, so he said--
+
+"Let's try."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+Jack's eyes begin to open.
+
+"No," said Sir John, in reply to a question addressed to him by the
+captain, one beautiful moonlight evening, as they were running down
+within sight of the coast of Portugal; "unless it is necessary, or my
+son wishes to see the towns, I should prefer going steadily on eastward.
+For my part I want to get away from civilisation, and see Nature
+unspoiled or unimproved, whichever it is."
+
+"And that depends upon individual taste, eh, Jack?" said the doctor.
+
+"I suppose so," said the lad.
+
+"Bah! he's going back again," said the doctor to himself.
+
+"Would you like to stop at Gibraltar and see the Rock and its
+fortifications, Jack?"
+
+"No, father, thank you," said the lad.
+
+Sir John looked disappointed, but he said quietly--
+
+"Then we'll go right on, captain, according to your plans.  Let's see,
+what were they?"
+
+"If you wish to get right away to the East, then I propose that we just
+touch at Gib, and stay long enough to fill up our water-tanks and take
+in fresh provisions and vegetables, run straight on to Naples, do the
+same there again, and then make for the Canal, unless you would care to
+see Vesuvius.  Naples and its surroundings are very fine."
+
+"Yes, very," said Sir John.
+
+"Oh yes," growled the doctor; "but the place swarms with visitors.  I
+want to get where we can land on some beautiful coast with our guns and
+collecting tackle, where we shouldn't see a soul, unless it's a naked
+savage."
+
+"So do I," said Sir John.  "What do you say, Jack?"
+
+"Wherever you like, father," said the boy resignedly; and he rose and
+walked right forward to where a couple of the men were on the look-out,
+and Mr Bartlett was walking slowly up and down with a glass under his
+arm.
+
+Sir John sighed, and there was perfect silence for a few minutes.
+
+"It is very disappointing," he said at last.
+
+"What is?" cried the doctor sharply.  "Rome wasn't built in a day."
+
+"But he seems to take it all as a duty, and as if he was compelled to
+obey me."
+
+"And a good thing too," cried the doctor sharply.  "What's better than
+for a son to feel that he is bound to obey his father?  If I had been a
+married man instead of a surly bachelor, and I had had a son, I should
+have expected him to obey me and do what I thought was for his good; eh,
+captain?"
+
+"Yes, sir, of course; and on your part, tried to be reasonable."
+
+"Of course.  Well, we--I mean Sir John--is reasonable.  No, he isn't
+now.  He wants Rome built in a day with the fresh paint on as well, and
+a grand procession of big drums and trumpets and soldiers with flags to
+march through the principal streets."
+
+"Come, not quite so bad as that, Instow.  Don't be cross."
+
+"Then don't make me so.  Now, I appeal to the captain here.  Has not the
+boy been wandering about the deck all day with Bartlett, asking him
+questions about the sails, and talking to the men, and using his glass
+whenever there was a good bit of the land to see?"
+
+"Well, yes."
+
+"Well yes, indeed!  What more do you want?  We can only go on two legs,
+we men; we can't fly."
+
+"Captain Bradleigh seems of a different opinion with this yacht.  He
+makes us swim and pretty well fly."
+
+"Yes, but what was Jack a month ago?  Going about the house like a boy
+in a nightmare, or else with his hands supporting his heavy head, while
+he was A plus B-ing, squaring nothing, and extracting roots, or building
+up calculations with logs.  He isn't like the boy he was when he came on
+board."
+
+"That's true," said the captain quietly.  "His interest is being
+awakened, and something else too--his appetite."
+
+"Yes; he certainly eats twice as much, and is not so particular as to
+what it is."
+
+"There!" cried the doctor triumphantly.  "And what does that mean?"
+
+"That the sea-air makes him hungry."
+
+"Bah! that isn't all.  It means that Nature keeps on asking for more
+bricks and mortar to go on building up the works that were begun years
+ago and not finished--muscle and bone and nerve, sir, so as to get him a
+sound body; and mind you, a sound body generally means a sound brain.
+Everything in a proper state of balance."
+
+"I suppose you are right," said Sir John.
+
+"Right? of course I am.  Only give him time."
+
+"Where is he now?"
+
+"Along with Bartlett," said the captain.
+
+"Yes, I can see him.  They're examining something over the bows.  Found
+something fresh.  Isn't that a healthy sign?  He was only a bit tired
+and bored just now.  Look here, Meadows, you and I must not be too
+anxious, and keep on letting him see that we are watching him.  Why,
+look at the other morning when he was just up from his sea-sickness.  Do
+you think if I had begged him to eat that rasher of ham he would have
+touched it?  Not he.  Let him alone, and he'll soon be coming to us."
+
+"Certainly that will be the best course.  I should like to see though
+what he is doing now?"
+
+"Better leave him alone.  Sensitive chap like that, with a body like a
+little boy and a head like an old man, don't want to feel that he is
+being led about by a nurse.  But there, I must humour you, I suppose.
+Come away."
+
+The doctor set the example by rising, and they walked slowly forward,
+hearing Jack talking in an animated way as they drew nearer, and, as if
+in obedience to an order, one of the sailors trotted by them.
+
+As they reached the port bows Jack turned round where he was leaning
+over the starboard side, as if to look for the man who had gone on some
+errand, and he caught sight of his father.
+
+"Come and look here, father," he cried.  "Something so curious."
+
+"Eh?  What is it?" said Sir John coolly, and, followed by the doctor, he
+crossed to where his son stood with the mate.
+
+"Look over here, straight down into the black water," said Jack.
+
+"Hah!  Yes, very beautiful, looks as if we were sailing through a sea of
+liquid pale gold."
+
+"And it's all black where it is not disturbed.  As soon as the yacht's
+prow rushes through, everything is flashing out with phosphorescent
+light, and you can see myriads of tiny stars gliding away."
+
+"Yes, beautiful," said Sir John.  "Grand," cried the doctor.
+
+"And Mr Bartlett here says it is nothing compared to what he has seen
+off Java and the other islands.  Look now! it's just as if the sea as
+deep down as we can pierce was full of tiny stars.  Oh, here's the
+pail."
+
+The sailor had returned, and way was made for him to drop the bucket at
+the end of a rope down into one of the brightest parts, and bring it up
+full of the phosphorescent water.
+
+Just then the doctor gave Sir John a dig in the ribs with his elbow, as
+much as to say, "Now, who's right?"  While mentally agreeing that his
+friend was, Sir John moved out of the way, so as not to receive another
+poke.
+
+Then followed rather a learned discourse from the doctor on the
+peculiarities of the wonderful little creatures which swarmed in the
+bucket, whose contents in the light seemed to be so much clear
+sea-water, but which in the darkness flamed with light as soon as it was
+disturbed by a hand being passed quickly through.
+
+"Why, it makes my hand tingle and smart just slightly," said Jack.
+
+"Oh yes," said the mate.  "If you bathe in a sea like this you can feel
+quite an irritation of the skin, while the large jelly-fish sting like a
+nettle."
+
+"Then are these jelly-fish?"
+
+"Yes, almost invisible ones," replied the doctor.
+
+"But it seems so strange.  Why is it?" said Jack.
+
+"Well, we know that fish prey upon these things wholesale, and my theory
+is that the tiny things have the stinging power as a defence by day, and
+the ability to light up to make the fish think they will burn their
+mouths at night and leave them alone.  Sounds absurd, eh?  But I believe
+that's it."
+
+Jack spent an hour having bucketfuls of water drawn up from the spots
+where the luminous cold fire seemed to burn most fiercely, the mate and
+Edward, called in to assist, entering into the business with the
+greatest of enthusiasm, and helping, after Sir John and the doctor had
+gone, in another way, fetching tumblers and a glass globe from the
+steward, Edward having to carry these well-filled into the cabin, where,
+chuckling to himself, the doctor brought out his small microscope, and
+using a tiny water-trough designed for the purpose, proceeded to examine
+these little wonders of the world.
+
+Gibraltar was reached a couple of days later, and a very brief stay
+made, Jack contenting himself with watching the huge mass of rock with
+his binocular.  Then away over the rather rough sea, with a favourable
+wind, they ran for Naples, where it grew calmer, and at night the slow
+from the summit of the burning mountain was seen reflected on the
+clouds, while by day these clouds could be seen to be of smoke.
+
+On again for the Canal, and the doctor confided to Sir John his belief
+that he was a little anxious now.
+
+"It will be so tremendously hot down the Red Sea, that I'm afraid it
+will upset the lad; so as you are getting up steam for the run through
+the Canal, if the wind is light or contrary, I should use the screw till
+we get to Aden."
+
+"And make up our coal-bunkers there," said the captain.  "Yes; good
+advice, sir, for that is about the hottest place I know; but it's not
+often we get a contrary wind for the _Silver Star_.  She'll sail closer
+to the wind's eye than anything I ever saw."
+
+"But I feel disposed to say, steam through to Aden," said Sir John
+anxiously, "for if the wind is north-west, we shall have it like a
+furnace from the African desert."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the captain, smiling, "but, according to my experience,
+it isn't much better from the Arabian side.  There's no getting over it:
+the Red Sea might almost be called the Red-hot sea."
+
+The business going on in the engine-room seemed to be a break in what so
+far had been rather a monotonous voyage, and, to the father's great
+satisfaction the following morning, he came suddenly upon Jack ascending
+to the deck, wiping his face, and followed by the mate, just as they
+were slowly steaming into the Canal.
+
+Sir John said nothing, but noted that the lad went with the mate right
+aft, where they stood leaning over and gazing down at where the screw
+was churning up the water, the mate explaining its fish-tail-like action
+and enormous power in propelling the yacht.
+
+"Have an eye upon him, Instow," said Sir John; "the heat is getting
+intense, and it can't be good for him to go down into that engine-room."
+
+"Just as if I ever had my eyes off him," replied the doctor.  "You let
+me be."
+
+"But he seemed to be dripping with perspiration."
+
+"Best thing for him.  Open his pores, which have been shut up all his
+life.  Grand thing for him.  He couldn't be going on better.  I was
+afraid that the heat would depress him, and lay him on his back: don't
+you see that so long as he keeps active he will not feel it so much?"
+
+"I am not a doctor," said Sir John simply.  "I suppose you are right."
+
+"Well, give me a fair chance, old fellow.  You've had your turn with the
+bow, and made an old man of him."
+
+"Not I--his masters."
+
+"Well, let me now try if I can't make a boy of the old man.  Look at
+him.  Can you believe it?"
+
+Jack walked by them, in his white duck suit and pith hat, just then,
+with the mate.
+
+"Find it too hot, father?  Shall I fetch your white umbrella?"
+
+"No, no, thank you, my boy; I'm going to sit under the awning and watch
+the shipping.  But--er--don't expose yourself to the heat too much; the
+sun has great power."
+
+"Yes, it is hot," said Jack quietly, "but I like it."
+
+"Yes, Mr Jack, sir," said Edward, who had overheard his master's
+remarks, "and so do I like it; but it's a sort of country where you feel
+as if you would like to have a great deal of nothing to do, and lie
+about on the sand like the niggers.  I've just been watching 'em, and it
+seems to me that they don't eat much, nor drink much.  You see 'em
+nibbling a few dates, or swallowing lumps of great green pumpkins."
+
+"Melons, Ned," said Jack, correcting him.
+
+"Melons, sir?  Yes, I know they call 'em melons, but they're not a bit
+better than an old pumpkin at home, or an old vegetable marrow gone to
+seed.  I know what a melon is, same as Mackay grows at home, red-fleshed
+and green-fleshed, and netted.  They're something like; but as for
+these--have you tried one, sir?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then you take my advice, sir.  Just you don't try 'em, for they're
+about the poorest, moshiest-poshiest things you ever tasted."
+
+"But the people here seem to like them."
+
+"Oh yes, they like 'em, sir.  They seem as if they'd eat anything, and I
+suppose that's why their skins are so black.  But, as I was saying, they
+don't seem to want beef, or mutton, or pickled pork, and yet they get
+fat.  It's the sunshine, I believe.  They go on swallowing that all day
+long.  I mean to try how it acts as soon as I get a good chance."
+
+"You're quite lazy enough without doing that," said Jack, laughing.
+
+"Now I do call that 'ard, Mr Jack, sir--reg'lar out an' out hard.  I'm
+sure I never neglects anything.  You don't want, nor Sir John neither,
+anything like so much valeting as you do at home.  There's no boots to
+brush, nor clothes neither.  I'm sure, sir, I never neglected you, only
+just for that little bit when I seemed to be standing on my head because
+my legs wouldn't hold me up--now, have I, sir?"
+
+"Oh no.  You've always been very attentive, Ned."
+
+"Then that's why I call it 'ard, sir.  Ever since you've been growing
+sharp and quick, and wanting to do something else besides read, you've
+been getting 'arder to me, sir, and I don't like it."
+
+"Oh, nonsense.  I've only laughed at you sometimes."
+
+"Well, sir, look at that.  You never used to laugh at me at home, nor
+you usen't to order me about, nor you usen't to--well, you never used to
+do nothing, sir, but read."
+
+Jack frowned, and reddened a little.
+
+"I put out your clothes and boots for you, and you put 'em on--just what
+I liked to put for you.  You used to get up when I called you, and you'd
+have eat anything that was put before you, and said nothing.  While now
+you're getting particular about your food even, and you order me about--
+and I won't say bully me, because it ain't quite true; but you've said
+lots o' sharp things to me, and I feel 'mazed like sometimes to hear
+you, for it don't sound like you at all.  It's just as if you'd got
+yourself changed, sir."
+
+"Perhaps I have, Ned, for I feel changed," said the boy.
+
+"Yes, sir, you are changed a lot, and I hope it's right."
+
+"I hope so, Ned," said Jack, and he walked away.
+
+"Don't even use his legs like he did a month ago.  I can't quite
+understand it, but it ain't my business.  Couldn't have been right for
+him to be always sitting over a book, and when he got up, looking as if
+he was still all among the Romans and Greek 'uns.  But it seems so
+sudden like, and as if he might go back again.  But I s'pose we shall
+see."
+
+Jack at Sea--by George Manville Fenn
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+A FINNY PRIZE.
+
+The run through the Canal did not seem monotonous to Sir John, for a new
+feeling of satisfaction was growing within him, and everything looked
+bright.  The crew appeared contented, and the work went on with an ease
+and regularity that was pleasant to see.  The various objects of
+interest were pointed out, but Jack paid very little attention to them,
+his attention being principally taken up by the working of the yacht,
+and he was, in spite of the heat, up and down several times, the engine,
+with its bright machinery and soft gliding movements, so full of
+condensed power, having a strange fascination for him.
+
+Then they were out in the Red Sea, with its sandy and sun-baked
+mountains, and the water flashing like molten silver.
+
+Here it was perfectly calm, and Jack watched when the speed was
+increased; and as the captain wished to show Sir John what the yacht
+could do under pressure, the order for full speed ahead was given by the
+touch of an index, and they cut through the dazzling water, sending up
+an arrow-shaped wave of displacement, and for the next two miles going
+at a tremendous rate.
+
+Then all at once the captain began to give orders, and the neatly-furled
+canvas was cast loose and hoisted, for puffs of air came from the
+northeast like as if from a furnace mouth, and away they glided once
+more.  The fires were drawn, the steam blown off, and their rate
+decreased, though it was not far behind that of one of the great
+steamers which passed them on its way to China.
+
+Once well on their way, lines were brought out from the little magazine
+and furnished with sinkers of lead selected by the mate to suit the
+speed at which glittering silvered artificial baits were thrown out to
+drag forty or fifty yards behind; but though every kind of lure on board
+was tried, hours and hours went by without a touch.  But long before
+this Jack had turned to the mate, who was leaning over the stern on the
+opposite side.
+
+"Isn't this very stupid?" he said.
+
+"Oh no," said Mr Bartlett merrily.  "It's a capital practice for
+patience."
+
+"I don't know that I want to practise patience," said the lad
+thoughtfully.  "But I say, I felt it when we started.  Surely the fish
+will not be stupid enough to bite at these baits."
+
+"It does not seem like it," said the mate, smiling.
+
+"They will sometimes when the water's a bit rougher and we're going
+fast, but they are too clever for us to-day."
+
+"Then we can give up," said Jack with a sigh of relief.
+
+"Give up?  No, that will never do.  If we could only catch one fish, we
+could use it to cut up for bait."
+
+"Ugh! the cannibals," cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, plenty of fish are; but as we haven't one, and don't seem as if we
+can catch one, I'll go below and see if the cook can help me to a bit of
+pork skin to cut into a bait or two."
+
+He made his line fast and went forward, while, standing now in the
+shadow cast by the great sail behind him, Jack held the line in a quiet
+listless way, gazing at the distant mountains and wondering at the
+beauty of the colour with which they glowed in the pure air.  He felt
+calm and restful, and the soft sensuous warmth of the wind was pleasant.
+It was restful too this gliding over the sea, with the yacht gently
+rising and falling and careening over to the breeze.  The trouble of the
+days to come seemed farther off, and for a few moments the germs of a
+kind of wonderment that he should have looked upon this voyage as a
+trouble began to grow in his mind.
+
+Then he was roused from his pleasant musings as if by an electric shock
+attended by pain.  The line he had coiled round his hand suddenly
+tightened with a jerk which wrenched at his shoulder and cut into his
+fingers, and he uttered a shout for help which made the man at the wheel
+turn to look.  A big black-haired fellow, who was busy with a
+marline-spike and a piece of rope, dropped both and ran to the lad's
+help, but not before he had brought his left hand up to help his right,
+taking hold of the fishing-line and holding on with the feeling that the
+next minute he would be dragged overboard, but too proud to loose his
+hold all the same.
+
+"Got him, sir?" said the sailor.  "I've got something," panted Jack.
+"It's horribly strong."
+
+"They are in here.  Let him go."
+
+"What!" cried Jack indignantly; "certainly not."
+
+"I don't mean altogether, sir.  Let him run, or the hook will break
+out."
+
+"But how?"
+
+"You've plenty of line on the winch, sir; let him have some loose to
+play about and tire himself."
+
+"Oh yes, I see; but it's jerking dreadfully."  The man picked up the big
+wooden winch upon which the line was wound and held it fast.
+
+"Now, sir, hold on tight with your left hand, while you untwist the line
+from your right.  That's the way.  Now catch hold tight and let the
+wheel run slowly.  There's a hundred yards more here.  It will let him
+tire himself.  That's it, he won't go very far; then you can wind in
+again--giving and taking till he leaves off fighting."
+
+"Hallo! here, Mr Meadows," cried the mate; "this is hardly fair.  Why
+you're the best fisherman after all.  That's it, let him go every time
+he makes a dart like this: now he's slacking again.  Wind up, sir, wind
+up."
+
+Jack obeyed very clumsily, for it wanted practice to hold the big wooden
+winch steady with one hand while he wound with the other, and before he
+had recovered ten yards the fish made a fresh dart, not astern, but away
+nearly at right angles with the course of the ship, tiring itself by
+having to drag the now curved line through the water.
+
+"Now again," cried the mate; "wind--wind."
+
+Jack's inclination said, "Give the line over to the man who understands
+it," but pride said "No"; and he wound away till the wheel was nearly
+jerked from his hands by a fresh dart made by the captive.
+
+And so it went on for some minutes, till the fish began to show symptoms
+of becoming exhausted; so did Jack, upon whose face the perspiration was
+standing in beads.
+
+"Here, Lenny," cried the mate, "go and get the big gaff-hook.  We shall
+have this fellow."
+
+The man ran forward, and Jack, with eyes fixed, began to play his fish
+with a little more _nous_, but it was terribly hard work.
+
+"Tell me when you're tired," said the mate.
+
+"Now."
+
+"Shall I play him for you?"
+
+"No, no!  Don't touch it," cried Jack, who was unaware for some moments
+that he had an audience to look on.
+
+"Oh no, I won't touch till you tell me," said the mate.
+
+"Bravo!" cried the doctor; "capital.  Well done, Jack, that's the way.
+I ought to have been here.  Why you've got hold of a thumper."
+
+So it proved, for the fish showed no sign of giving in for another
+quarter of an hour, and various were the comments made as to the
+probability of its being got on deck; but at last the darts grew shorter
+and shorter, and far astern they saw a gleam from time to time of
+something silvery and creamy as there was a wallowing and rolling on the
+surface, and now the mate took hold of the keen hook attached to a light
+ten-foot ash pole.
+
+"Perhaps you'd like to gaff him, Doctor Instow," said the mate.
+
+"No, no," replied the doctor.  "Fair play.  You two were fishing.  Land
+him yourself."
+
+"What shall I do now?" said Jack, who was panting with his exertions.
+
+"Let the winch go down on the deck, and haul the fish in hand over hand
+till you get him close in."
+
+Jack followed his instructions, and the captive, completely exhausted,
+now came in fast enough, proving to be far larger than any of those
+present had expected to see, but about a tenth of what Jack had imagined
+from the strength the creature had displayed.  In fact there had been
+moments when the lad had again been calculating whether at one of the
+fiercest rushes he would not have to let go and so escape being dragged
+over the rail.
+
+But now, half drowned by being drawn through the water, the fish came in
+slowly and quietly, the lad having all the hauling to himself, till,
+leaning over, the mate made a dart and a snatch with the great
+gaff-hook, the weight on Jack's arms suddenly ceased, and, helped by the
+big dark sailor, Mr Bartlett hauled the prisoner quickly in over the
+rail, for it to lie beating the white boards with sounding slaps of its
+crescent-moon-shaped tail.
+
+"Well done!" cried Sir John.  "What brilliant colours!"
+
+"Hah! yes," cried the doctor.  "This is something like fishing.  What is
+it, captain?"
+
+"Oh, one of the great mackerel tribe fellows they have in the
+Mediterranean.  It isn't a bonito, for it's too big, but just as bright
+in its colours.  Can't be a small tunny come down through the Canal, can
+it?"
+
+"I'm puzzled," said the mate, bending over the beautiful prize.  "It may
+be; but whatever it is, Mr Meadows here has had a fine stroke of luck,
+and we shall have fish for dinner."
+
+Jack flushed with the excitement of the capture, and stood looking on at
+the beauty of the creature's colours in the bright sunshine, while the
+mate placed the end of the gaff-pole between its jaws before attempting
+to extract the great triple hook which hung by a swivel beneath the
+silvered shining bait.
+
+"I should say it is one of the bonitos," said the doctor thoughtfully.
+"It has that slimness just before the tail fin spreads out, and there
+are plenty of flying fish here, of course."
+
+"Plenty, sir," said the captain.  "I dare say if you go forward you'll
+see them beginning to skip out of the water, startled by the yacht.
+Seen any yet, Mr Jack?"
+
+"Not yet," was the reply.
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, "I think that's what it is.  They chase the
+flying fish, and this fellow must have taken your long spoon-bait for
+one of them.  Don't you think so, Bartlett?"
+
+"Yes, sir, you are right; but without exaggeration I never saw so fine a
+one as this.  Why," he continued, clasping his hands round the thin part
+near the tail and raising the fish for a few moments before letting it
+fall back on the white boards, "it is very little short of forty
+pounds."
+
+"It must be quite that," cried the doctor.  "Well, it's always the way,
+the new beginner catches the biggest fish.  I should have liked to hook
+that fellow.  Did he pull much, Jack?"
+
+"Dreadfully.  My arms feel strained by the jerks it gave."
+
+"I congratulate you, my boy," said Sir John.  "It is a beauty."
+
+Then the captain spoke:
+
+"When you've done admiring it, gentlemen, there is some one else would
+like to have a word.  I mean the cook.  This fellow is fresh now, but
+they go off at a tremendous rate, and it will be worthless in a few
+hours.  Pass the word there for the cook."
+
+The word was passed, and the worthy in question came up smiling.
+
+"What do you say to him?" said the captain.  "Too big and coarse?"
+
+"Oh no, sir," cried the man.  "I'll answer for it I can send some
+cutlets off it that will be excellent, and make plenty for the crew as
+well."
+
+It seemed a pity to Jack for the beautifully coloured prize to be handed
+over, but already some of the bright tints were fading, and as soon as
+it was borne off the mate made a sign to Lenny, who brought a swab and a
+bucket to remove the wet and slime.
+
+"What do you say to another turn, Mr Meadows?" said the mate, smiling.
+
+Jack smiled and began to rub his shoulder, so the tackle was hung in
+loops to dry, and the lad went forward to watch the flying fish spin out
+of the water and glide along upon their transparent wing-like fins; and
+he returned to watch the beautiful little creatures again and again as,
+evidently taking the hull of the yacht for some huge pursuing fish, they
+darted up from under her counter to drop back far away after their
+forced journey, and swim on till they gathered force and with
+swallow-like skim took another flight.
+
+"Isn't it near dinner-time?" he said at last to the doctor, who was by
+his side watching the flights.
+
+"Must be, I should say," was the reply, as that gentleman glanced at his
+watch.  "Yes: close upon it.  Glad of it, for I begin to feel a bit
+peckish in spite of this heat.  I wonder what your fish will be like."
+
+He soon learned, for the cook was right, and all pronounced it
+excellent; but there was something more than ordinary flavour about the
+fish from the Red Sea, and the doctor gave Sir John a meaning look, one
+to which Jack's father responded by a short nod.
+
+Edward had had his opinions too, about his young master--opinions which
+sometimes made him look pleased, at others shake his head.
+
+"Young governor's going it," he muttered, as he stood near watching the
+fishing.  "Fancy him getting excited over hooking a fish, and holding on
+by the line.  Beats anything I ever knew of before.  There, you never
+know what's in a boy till you begin to get it out of him.  Why that line
+must have cut his hands awful, but he never reg'larly 'owled about it,
+only rubbed the places a bit when he got a chance.  Wonder whether the
+doctor's giving him some kind of physic as makes him come out like this.
+If he is, I should like to have a dose or two to bring me up to the
+mark.  It's wonderful what a change he's made."
+
+Edward ceased for a few moments.
+
+"Wonder how he gives it him, and what he takes it in.  He don't know
+he's taking it, that's for certain.  It must be on the sly, or I should
+have seen it, and the glass and spoon.  That's it.  He puts it in his
+coffee; I'll be bound to say that's it--in his coffee.  I'll be on the
+watch."
+
+"Dunno why I should though," said the man, after a few moments' musing.
+"'Tain't my place to know anything about it, and if it does him good,
+where's the harm?  And it is doing him good, that's for certain; but I
+should like to know what it is, and when he gives it."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+BEGINNING TO GROW BACKWARD.
+
+"Regular volcanic cinder heap, Jack," was Sir John's not new opinion of
+sun-scorched Aden, where, while the coal-bunkers were filled up again,
+the lad had amused himself by inspecting the place with his glass as he
+sat contentedly under the awning, preferring to submit to the infliction
+of the flying coal-dust to a hot walk through the arid place.  Then he
+leaned over the side and half-contemptuously threw threepenny-bits and
+sixpences into the clear water in response to the clamouring young
+rascals who wanted to scramble for them far below and show their
+swimming and diving powers.
+
+"Come on board," cried the doctor, blowing his nose hard and coughing to
+get rid of the black dust.  "Sacks counted, iron stopper put back in the
+pavement, and the wagon's gone, Jack."
+
+The lad looked up at him as if wondering whether he had gone out of his
+senses.
+
+"What are you staring at, sober-sides?" cried the doctor.  "I know it's
+poor joking, but I'd have done better if I could.  Hallo! what's the
+matter?" he continued, as, in what seemed to be a motiveless way, the
+boy threw sixpence over the side.  "Got too much money?"
+
+"No: look!" said Jack.
+
+The doctor glanced over the rail to where the bright piece of silver was
+sinking fast and flashing as it turned over, while two merry little
+young scamps were diving down after it, racing to see which would get
+first to the coin.  This soon disappeared in the disturbed water, while
+the figures of the boys grew more and more shadowy and distorted by the
+varying refraction.
+
+"My word!" cried the doctor, "how the little niggers can dive!  Look:
+here they come again."
+
+It was curious to see them rising with the water growing more still as
+their frantic struggles ceased, and their forms grew plain as they rose
+quickly, one dark head suddenly shooting up like a cork on a pike line
+after the fish had rejected the bait, and its owner showing a
+brilliantly white set of teeth as he shouted, "Nurrer! nurrer!"
+
+The next moment a second head shot into the brilliant sunshine, the
+boy's lips opening into a wide grin of delight as he showed his white
+clenched teeth with the captured sixpence held between them.
+
+"Tell him to put it in his pocket, Jack," cried the doctor.  "Puzzle
+him, eh?  Hold your noise, you chattering young ruffians," he shouted.
+"Come, a dozen of you.  Here, Jack, I'm going to waste a shilling, for
+it won't do the young vagabonds any good.  It's only encouraging them to
+run risks of asphyxiating themselves or getting caught some day by the
+sharks."
+
+He held up a shilling as he spoke, and quite a dozen boys of all sizes
+splashed in out of canoes, and left the pieces of wood and one old boat
+to which they clung.  They came swimming about near where the doctor and
+Jack looked over, shouting, splashing each other, and generally
+clamouring for the piece of money to be thrown in.
+
+"Ah! we must have a race for this," said the doctor, and he drew himself
+up and made a feint of throwing the shilling.
+
+There was a rush like a pack of black water spaniels going after a
+thrown stick, but the boys had been tricked too often by passengers
+stopping at Aden in the regular steamers, and they did not go far, but
+turned round, treading water and shouting.
+
+"Come back then," cried the doctor.  "Here, close to the yacht."
+
+In all probability the boys did not comprehend a word, but the gestures
+made with the hand containing the shilling brought them all back, and
+they ranged themselves in a line close in, and shouted and splashed away
+till the doctor, whose left hand had been in his pocket, threw the
+shilling shining and twinkling through the sunny air as far as he could.
+
+Away went the boys with a tremendous rush, making the water foam, and
+naturally the biggest and strongest took the lead, leaving three little
+fellows well behind.
+
+The doctor had anticipated this, and drew their attention with a shout,
+at the same time holding up another shilling, and as they turned to swim
+back, he suddenly dropped the coin about six feet away from the yacht's
+side, where the water was still.
+
+_Plop_! down went one little fellow, who rose up, turned over, sent his
+heels gleaming in the sunshine, and disappeared, as _plop! plop_! down
+went the two others.
+
+"Just like a lot of dabchicks," cried the doctor; "now we shall see them
+race for it.  See the shilling, Jack?"
+
+"Yes; here it goes."
+
+"Yes, and here they come.  Look at them.  Why, they go down faster than
+the coin.  It's wonderful."
+
+Wonderful it was, for the dark little figures glided through the crystal
+water like seals, and every motion could be followed till the coin was
+reached and ceased to twinkle as it sank.  Then once more the dark
+figures grew plainer and rose and rose, but somehow more and more
+astern, and Jack looked startled.
+
+"Why, there must be a tremendous current here," he cried.  "They're
+being swept away.  A boat! a boat!"
+
+The doctor looked as much startled as his companion, but a very gentle
+vibration enlightened them the next moment, for the engine was once more
+in motion, the screw revolving slowly, and the _Silver Star's_ prow was
+gradually coming round in answer to the helm, till she pointed straight
+for the open sea, where the throbbing and quivering of the vessel
+increased as she went easily ahead, and then faster still over the
+perfectly calm water, for there was not a breath of air.
+
+Then away and away through the burning sunshine the yacht glided, with
+the sea glistening like damascened steel frosted with silver, till the
+mountains above the coaling port grew distant; and away over the burning
+Afric sands there was a wondrous orange glow which deepened into fire,
+vermilion, crimson, purple, and gold of the most refulgent hues, and
+soon after it was night.  It seemed to Jack as he stood gazing forward
+that they were gliding on between two vast purply black basins studded
+with stars, which were larger and brighter than any he had seen before,
+while deeper and deeper in the wondrous depths there were more and more,
+till the farthest off seemed like clusters and patches of frosted gold.
+
+There was not a breath of air when they went on deck after dinner, and
+with the exception of the throbbing and humming of the engine and
+propeller, and soft whish of the sea as it was divided and swept along
+the sides, all was wonderfully still.  But the silence was soon after
+broken by a sharp call from somewhere forward, a clear musical voice
+rang out, and then, sounding very sweet and melodious on the soft air,
+the men began glee-singing, showing that they had good voices among them
+and no little knowledge of singing in parts.  They were simple old glees
+and madrigals, and no doubt the surroundings helped, but Jack sat
+listening and thinking he had never heard music so sweet and beautiful
+before.
+
+"Why, captain," said Sir John, "this is a surprise."
+
+"Is it, sir?  Hope you don't mind."
+
+"Mind?" echoed Sir John and the doctor in a breath.
+
+"Bartlett's fond of a bit of music, and he has a good voice too, but he
+is so precious modest you can't get him to sing alone; he's singing with
+the men though now.  He trains them a bit when we're not busy, and they
+like it.  Nothing pleases men like them more than singing in chorus; you
+see, they're most of them Cornish and Devon lads, and they take
+naturally to it.  Many's the time I've heard the fishermen going out on
+calm evenings to their fishing-ground singing away in parts, so that
+you'd think that they had been well taught, and perhaps not one of them
+knowing a note of music."
+
+The glee-singing went on for about an hour, and ceased as suddenly as it
+had begun.  Then the watch was set, and after standing leaning over the
+bows gazing at the glittering stars reflected in the deep water, and
+seeing the phosphorescent creatures add to the lustre as they were
+disturbed by the yacht's prow, or some large fish darting away, Jack
+heaved a deep sigh and turned to go aft to the cabin.
+
+"Unhappy, my boy?" said a voice at his elbow, which made the lad start
+and remain silent for a few moments, utterly unable to give expression
+to his feelings, before he said softly--
+
+"No, father, not unhappy, but low-spirited and sad."
+
+"Sad, my boy?" said Sir John.
+
+"No, it isn't sad, because somehow, father, it makes me feel happy,
+and--and I can't explain it, but I never felt that I cared to stand and
+look at the sea and sky like this before.  It seems so grand and
+beautiful, and as if--as if--"
+
+"The great book of Nature was being opened to you for the first time, my
+boy.  Yes; this wonderful soft air, this glorious star-lit heaven, and
+the silence of the ocean through which we are gliding, impress me too in
+a way I cannot explain.  But tell me now, my boy, are you sorry we
+came?"
+
+"Sorry!" cried Jack excitedly, as he caught at his father's arm.  "No;
+glad."
+
+That night the melody of one of the old West-country ditties the men had
+sung in parts seemed to lull Jack Meadows to rest, and he slept one of
+those deep healthy slumbers which give us the feeling when we awake on a
+bright sunny morning, that a strange vigour is running through our
+veins, and that it is a good thing to live.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+DOCTOR INSTOW PAINTS A PICTURE--WITH HIS TONGUE.
+
+A quick run with a favourable wind across to Colombo, a very brief stay,
+and then on again.  There were baffling winds and a sharp storm, during
+which it was found necessary to get up steam, but the yacht was as good
+in foul weather as in fair, and to Jack's great satisfaction he found
+that, in spite of the pitching and tossing of the vessel, he was not
+ill, but found a strange pleasure in being on deck in mackintosh and
+leggings, watching the yacht careen over and race through the foam.
+Every now and then a wave would appear gliding along like some huge bank
+of water, ready to roll over them and sweep the deck, but the
+well-trained hands at the wheel sent her racing up the watery slope, to
+hang poised for a few moments and then rush down again.
+
+"Isn't it glorious, Jack, my lad?" said the doctor, wiping the spray out
+of his eyes and off his beard, just in the height of the storm.  "I
+don't know how you find it, but it excites me."
+
+"I like it," said Jack quietly; "it seems so grand, and as if the yacht
+was laughing at the waves and tossing them off to right and left.  I
+wonder whether Captain Bradleigh would let me steer."
+
+"I hope not," said the doctor, with a droll look of puzzledom in his
+face.  "Why, what's come to you, you reckless young scamp?  No, thank
+you.  If you're going to be indulged in any luxuries of that kind, I'm
+going to land at Penang or Singapore, and make my way home by the next
+boat that touches."
+
+Jack laughed.
+
+"Don't believe it," he said.  "But doesn't it seem as if it would be
+nice to have full command of the yacht like that, and send her here and
+there just as one liked?"
+
+"Can't say that my desires run in that groove, Jack, my lad; I'm quite
+content to play the part of looker-on.  But this storm is grand, and
+it's splendid to see how the little vessel shakes the water off her and
+rushes through it all.  But I did want some calmer weather; we haven't
+done a bit of fishing since we left the Red Sea, and I meant to try
+every day.  Well, captain, how long is this going to last?"
+
+"Another twelve hours, I should say," replied the captain, "and then we
+shall have calm weather all the way to Singapore, and with the exception
+of a few thunderstorms, light winds among the islands."
+
+It turned out exactly as the captain had said.  The weather calmed
+rapidly, and their run down to the equator, between the Malay peninsula
+and Sumatra, was in brilliant hot weather all through the morning; while
+early in the afternoon, with wonderful regularity, there came on a
+tremendous thunderstorm, with peals heavier and lightning more vivid
+than anything Jack had ever encountered, and then at the end of a couple
+of hours all was clear again, and the evening was comparatively cool and
+beautifully fine.
+
+Singapore was so fresh and attractive that of necessity a few days were
+spent there, before a fresh start was made for a cruise through the
+islands in the region which was now exciting Jack's expectations.  Soon
+after they were passing great heavy-looking junks with their Celestial
+crews, or light Malay prahus with their swarthy, coffee-coloured sailors
+in tartan skirts, in whose folds at the waist the formidable wavy dagger
+known as a kris was worn, the handle, like the butt of a pistol in form,
+carefully covered by the silk or cotton sarong to indicate peace.
+
+"If you see one of them with the handle bare," said the mate to Jack,
+"one has to look out, for it means war."
+
+Malay prahus were so thoroughly connected in the lad's reading with
+piracy, that he looked curiously at the first they encountered, and
+eagerly scanned the calm, rather scornful faces of the men who
+apathetically stood about the bamboo deck, and watched the passing of
+the swift, white-sailed yacht, while they distorted their cheeks by
+slowly chewing something within.
+
+"What's that fellow doing?" said Jack, handing his double glass to the
+mate, who gave a quick glance through and handed it back.  "Look for
+yourself."
+
+Jack resumed his inspection of the prahu's deck, for it was not above
+forty yards away.
+
+"Doing something with a bit of--I don't know what, which he has taken
+out of a little bag."
+
+"Betel-nut from one of the palms which grow in these parts," said the
+mate.
+
+"Now he has slowly taken a leaf out of the same bag."
+
+"Sirih leaf; a kind of creeping pepper plant which runs up trees," said
+the mate.
+
+"And now he is opening a little brass box, which has something that
+looks like a white paint."
+
+"Lime," said the mate, "lime of a very fine kind, made by burning
+shells."
+
+"And he is spreading some of it with one finger upon the leaf."
+
+"Yes!  See what he does next."
+
+"Rolled the piece of nut in it and put it in his mouth."
+
+"Yes," said the mate; "all the Malays do this betel-chewing."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"It is a habit like our sailors chewing tobacco.  The Malays think it is
+good for them, and keeps off all choleraic attacks."
+
+"Does it?" asked Jack.
+
+"Ah, that I can't say.  You must take the doctor's opinion."
+
+But Jack was too much interested in watching the prahu, which, in spite
+of only having matting sails, sped along over the calm water at a rapid
+rate, and he went on questioning his companion.
+
+"They seem fierce-looking fellows, and as if they could do a deal of
+mischief.  Are they such terribly bloodthirsty people?"
+
+"Certainly not," said the mate.  "I have always found the better-class
+Malays simple, gentlemanly, and courteous if they are properly treated;
+but if injured, I believe they can be treacherous and relentless."
+
+"But I remember once reading how bloodthirsty the Malay pirates are."
+
+"I don't think the English, Spanish, or French pirates were much
+better," said the mate, laughing.  "Pirates are generally the scum of
+the ports they sail from; reckless, murderous ruffians.  But I should
+say that of all pirates out in the East, the gentle, placid,
+mild-looking Chinaman makes the worst; for he thinks nothing of human
+life, his own or any one else's."
+
+"But there are no pirates now, of course," said Jack quietly.
+
+The mate turned and looked him in the eyes.
+
+"Do you want me to tell you some murderous narrative?"
+
+"Oh no; I don't care for such things.  I know, of course, that there
+used to be plenty."
+
+"So there are now," said the mate.  "They have hard work to carry on
+their piracies; but every now and then we have a bad case.  They mostly
+come from the Chinese coast; but they are made up of ruffians of all
+kinds."
+
+Jack was silent for a few moments.
+
+"I heard Captain Bradleigh say that the men were all trained to use the
+small-arms," he said at last quietly.  "Would they fight if we were
+attacked?"
+
+The mate hummed over a bit of a once popular song, beginning, "We don't
+want to fight, but by Jingo if we do."
+
+"That pretty well expresses the nature of English sailors, sir," he said
+quietly.  "They don't want to fight, and never would if they were left
+alone.  But if they do fight--well, Mr Jack, if they do they hit very
+hard."
+
+Jack laughed merrily, to the great satisfaction of two gentlemen across
+the deck, who turned their heads so as not to seem as if they noticed
+anything.
+
+"I dare say," continued the mate, "you remember how it was at school;
+you never wanted to fight, but when you had to I suppose you hit hard?"
+
+Jack was silent again, and at last said quietly--
+
+"I never did have a fight at school."
+
+During the next few days they sailed slowly on at a short distance from
+the coast of the long island of Java, and except that the weather was
+very hot, and that they could see in the distance mountain after
+mountain rising up like a huge, blunt cone, several of them showing a
+cloud of smoke drifting slowly away before the wind, sailing here seemed
+in nowise different from by the coast of Spain or Portugal.  But Jack
+was to see the difference before long.
+
+One evening over dinner their plans were discussed, the captain saying--
+
+"Then I understand, Sir John, that you quite leave the choice to me?"
+
+"Certainly.  We have not sailed these thousands of miles for the sake of
+visiting towns and show places.  Take us to some one of the islands such
+as you described to me; uninhabited if you can.  If you could cast
+anchor by one never yet trodden by the foot of man, so much the better."
+
+"Ah, that I can't promise you, sir," replied the captain, "for the
+people out this way are nearly all venturesome sailors, and for any
+number of years have put to sea in the most crazy of bamboo craft, and
+set sail to land where they could, some of them even going in mere
+canoes.  So you see we may come upon people in the most unexpected
+places.  But I have several islands in my mind's eye, between here and
+the east end of New Guinea, where you gentlemen may collect to your
+hearts' content."
+
+"Birds?" cried the doctor.
+
+"Birds, sir?  Yes; some of the most beautifully coloured to be found on
+the face of the earth.  Parrots, cockatoos, birds of paradise,
+sun-birds, something like the little humming-birds of the West Indies
+and South America.  Oh yes; you'll find as many birds as you want."
+
+"Butterflies?" asked Jack.
+
+"Yes, and moths, some of them bigger than a cheese-plate."
+
+"Flies, of course?" said Sir John.
+
+"Oh yes, sir, and beetles too, some of the ugliest you can imagine, and
+some of them looking as if made of burnished metal.  Then of course
+you'll have plenty of fireflies and mosquitoes too."
+
+"Of course we shall get them," said Sir John.  "But what about
+serpents?"
+
+"Plenty, sir, sea and land; curious lizards too."
+
+"There will be no animals to shoot," said the doctor rather regretfully.
+
+"Tigers, elephants, or leopards?  No, not unless we make for the
+mainland.  But there is a great deal of unexplored country on the coast
+of New Guinea and Borneo, and there's no knowing what we might come
+across.  There are elephants in Borneo, and our old friend the
+orang-outang."
+
+"Let's try one of the smaller islands first," said Sir John.  "I'm
+getting eager to begin doing something."
+
+"I can't exist much longer doing nothing but parade up and down this
+deck.  My joints are growing up.  How do you feel, Jack?" said the
+doctor.
+
+"Lazy.  I feel as if I could go on doing nothing for any length of
+time."
+
+"Here, this won't do," cried the doctor in mock horror.  "'Bout ship,
+captain, and let's get back home, or else to one of these wonderful
+islands that make my mouth water.  Let me see, something of this kind: a
+beach of coral with the waves always rolling over and breaking in foam,
+so that just within there is a beautiful blue lagoon of water, calm as a
+lake.  Across the lake stretched right and left golden sands, at the
+back of which are cocoa-nut groves, with their great fern-like leaves
+rustling in the sea-breeze, crabs and fish scuttling about beneath them;
+and farther on where the land commences to rise the glorious tropic
+forest begins, trailed with orchids and wonderful creepers.  Great palms
+rise like columns, and huge trees of the fig persuasion spread and drop
+down at several spots to form green bowers, and capital places to make
+huts.  Monkeys climbing about.  Birds swarming--nesting or swinging by
+the rotan canes.  Farther on the land rising and rising, and all forest
+till it begins to be seamed with valleys, or rather deep gorges which
+run up to the central mountain, from which they radiate all round down
+toward the sea, and all of them forming glorious collecting grounds for
+naturalists.  Then higher up the air growing cooler, save for a peculiar
+hot puff now and then with a taste in it of sulphurous steam.  Then the
+trees growing thinner and not so majestic, but the flowers more abundant
+and the valleys more moist, where the streams trickle down; and here and
+there are little waterfalls, over which in the spray enormous fronds
+spread their green lace-work and sparkle with the fine pearly dew which
+is formed by the spray from the falling water.  Here an icy spring of
+crystal purity gushes from amongst the mossy stones, and oddly enough a
+little farther on we come upon another spring, from which steam rises,
+but the water itself is of wonderful clearness, so hot that you cannot
+bear your hand in it, and the basin is composed of delicate pinky-white
+as beautiful as the inside of some of the shells which lie in the
+glorious marine garden at the bottom of the lagoon which spreads all
+round the island.  We push on and at last leave the trees behind, to
+find the vegetation curiously dwarfed, masses and tufts of wiry grass,
+and we have to tramp over sandy, cindery stuff which gives way under our
+feet, and sets some of the big stones in motion.  For we have come upon
+a slope which grows steeper and steeper, and runs up and up, till, quite
+breathless, we stop short among the great grey masses of pumice-stone
+and glassy obsidian which cut our boots.  We look about and see from
+where we are over one side of the island, in whose centre we nearly
+stand.  The forest is glorious, the lagoon looks like turquoise, and the
+coral reef which forms a breakwater round the place seems from our great
+height to be one mass of creamy foam, while beyond it stretching far and
+wide is the glorious sapphire sea.  We are terribly hot with our climb,
+but the air here is splendidly invigorating, and we turn to finish our
+last hit of a few hundred feet over loose lava, pumice, and scoria.  It
+is hard work, but we give one another a hand, and at last we stand at
+the edge of a tremendous depression like a vast cup in the top of the
+mountain, whose other side, similar to that on which we stand, is a mile
+away, while below its the cup is brimming with the verdure which runs up
+from a lovely blue lake a thousand feet below.  All is beautiful, so
+beautiful, that it seems to take away our breath, for flowers are all
+about, the gorgeous butterflies are on the wing, noisy paroquets are
+climbing head up or head down, and there is nothing to show that we are
+on the edge of the crater of some tremendous volcano, but we catch sight
+of a thin thread of steam rising to form a cloud over a bare rock-strewn
+patch on one side.  That tells us the fierce gases below are not quite
+extinct, but are smouldering ready to burst out at any time, sending
+forth the fiery rain to destroy the verdure, torrents of molten stone to
+run in streams down to the sea, or a flood of boiling mud to turn the
+lovely island into a wilderness.  All is so beautiful that we can hardly
+turn away to begin our descent to where the yacht is lying in the
+lagoon, which forms a perfectly safe port into which it has been towed
+by the crew.  But go down we must, for we are choking with thirst--at
+least I am, through talking; so long, and I'll trouble you, steward, for
+another glass of water."
+
+"Oh," cried Jack, who had been drinking in every word, his face flushed
+and eyes bright with excitement as he pictured mentally the glorious
+place the doctor had described, "what a cruel mockery to raise one's
+expectations like that.  It's like waking one suddenly from a beautiful
+dream."
+
+"Don't quarrel with him, my boy.  I say, Jack!  I did not know the
+doctor could be so florid."
+
+"I didn't either," said the doctor, laughing, "not till I tried."
+
+"Capital!" cried the mate, clapping his hands softly.
+
+"Yes, excellent," said the captain, smiling, with a peculiar twinkling
+about the eyes.  "But it seems to me, Sir John, that you do not need any
+guide."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I see the doctor has been there."
+
+"I never was farther from home than Switzerland in my life."
+
+"That's strange," said the captain, "for that's the very island I am
+making for now."
+
+"Oh! won't do," said the doctor.  "Mine was all exaggeration, built up
+out of old books of travels."
+
+"The description was perfect, sir," said the captain quietly.  "Eh,
+Bartlett?"
+
+"Photographic," said the mate.
+
+"Come, come, gentlemen, that won't do," said the doctor merrily.  "I
+gave rein to my fancy.  I knew that the coral islands are very lovely,
+and the volcanic islands very grand, and so I said to myself, I'll paint
+a regular tip-top one, such as ought to please friend Jack here, and I
+joined the volcanic on to the coral and astonished myself."
+
+"And me too," said Sir John, laughing.
+
+"And disappointed me horribly," said Jack; "I really thought there was
+such a place."
+
+"So there is, Mr Jack, and we're sailing for it now," said the captain
+quietly.
+
+"Aha!  Which?" cried the doctor merrily, as he felt that he was trapping
+the captain fast,--"coral or volcanic?"
+
+"Both, sir," said the latter, and he looked at Jack as he spoke.  "There
+are plenty of islands where a volcano has risen from the sea, and the
+coral insects in the course of ages have built a rampart of limestone to
+act as a breakwater, and thus prevented the lava and pumice from being
+washed away.  The island I am making for is one of these."
+
+"But not so beautiful," cried Jack.
+
+"Well," said the captain, "our friend here the doctor did lay the paint
+on very thick in the picture he drew, and used all the brightest colours
+he had in his knowledge-box; but after all Nature's colours are purer
+and lovelier than any we can mix, and well as he painted he did not
+quite come up to the mark; and I think, sir, that when we've climbed up
+to the top of the mountain you will say the same."
+
+"Oh!" cried Jack rapturously, and he turned to his father.
+
+"_If_!" said the captain, very emphatically.
+
+"If?  If what?" said Jack.
+
+"There has not been an eruption, and the whole island blown away."
+
+Jack felt as if some one had suddenly poured cold water all down his
+back.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+JACK IS WIDE-AWAKE.
+
+"Land ho!"
+
+It was Lenny, the black-bearded sailor, who raised the cry at sunrise
+one morning, and made Edward spring out of his berth and run up, closely
+followed by Jack, who appeared on deck half-dressed, and with his face
+lit up by a strange look of animation, but he gazed round over the
+golden waters in vain.
+
+But it was not only a golden sea that met his eyes, for the sky was
+golden too, and the _Silver Star_ from deck to truck, with every yard
+and rope, appeared to be transmuted into the glittering metal.
+"Morning," cried the captain, coming up to him.  "Did you hear the
+hail?"
+
+"Hear it? yes," said Jack, "and it's a mistake, unless the land's hidden
+by the sun.  I can see nothing."
+
+"No?" said the captain, smiling.  "Well, it would take long-trained eyes
+to make it out on a morning like this, when everything is dazzling.  But
+let's try."
+
+As he spoke the captain took his glass from under his arm, laid it on
+one of the ratlines of the mizzen shrouds to steady it, and took a long
+and patient look through.
+
+"Ah!" he said, raising himself and keeping the glass in position.  "Now
+take a peep through my spy-glass.  One moment: do you see that little
+patch of cloud like fire, just a little north of the sun?"
+
+"Is that north?  Yes.  I think I see the patch you mean."
+
+"Then fix your glass on the horizon just on the line where the sea melts
+into sky, under the middle one of those three patches.  Quick, before
+they change."
+
+Jack took the glass and looked through.
+
+"See it?"
+
+"No," he said.
+
+"Haven't got the glass straight perhaps," said the captain.  "Take a
+shot with it first as if it were a gun--look along the top and fix it
+upon the horizon line, and then sweep it right and left till you make
+the land."
+
+"I've got it," cried Jack.
+
+"The land?"
+
+"No, the line of the horizon.  I wasn't looking through the eye-piece.
+That's it; now I can see the edge of the sea quite plainly."
+
+"Then you are clever," said the captain, laughing.  "I never did.  Well,
+sweep it about to right and left.  See the land?"
+
+"No," said Jack after a good long try.  "Isn't it a mistake?"
+
+"Let me try again," said the captain, taking the glass.  "Yes, there it
+is plainly enough, just under the little golden cloud to the right; they
+are floating northward.  Try again."
+
+Jack took the glass, brought it to bear, and was silent.
+
+"See it?"
+
+"No.  I can make out that beautiful golden cloud."
+
+"Well, now look under it."
+
+"Yes, I've been looking right under it, but there's nothing there but a
+little hazy patch."
+
+"Then you do see it," said the captain.
+
+"That?"
+
+"Yes; what did you expect to see?"
+
+"Why, the island you talked about."
+
+"Well, I don't say that is it, because I want to make an observation
+first, but I feel pretty sure that it is the place."
+
+"But that looks so little."
+
+"It's a little island."
+
+"Yes, but that looks so very small."
+
+"So would you seem small if you were thirty or forty miles away," said
+the captain, taking the glass and having another good long look.  "The
+air is very clear this morning, and the island looms up.  But we shall
+see better by and by."
+
+They had been steadily sailing east for some days, and land had been
+sighted several times since.  Jack had stood gazing longingly over the
+starboard rail at the tops of the Java volcanoes, which had followed one
+another in succession, some with the clouds hanging round their sides
+and their peaks clear, but two with what looked in the distance like
+tiny threads of smoke rising from their summits, and spreading out into
+a top like a mushroom.
+
+This long island had tempted him strongly, and he had suggested to his
+father that they should make a halt there, but Sir John and the doctor
+both shook their heads.
+
+"No," said the latter, "I vote against it.  I believe Java to be a very
+interesting country, but for our purpose it is spoiled."
+
+"Yes," said Sir John; "we don't want to get to a place full of
+plantations and farms; we want an out-of-the-way spot where the
+naturalist and traveller have not run riot over the land; where Nature
+is wild and untamed."
+
+"And where we can find something new," said the doctor.  "That place the
+captain talked about is the very spot."
+
+"But we may not find it," said Jack.
+
+"Let's chance it, my boy," said his father; "and even if we do not hit
+upon that, there are plenty of places far more interesting to us than
+Java is likely to be."
+
+And now at last they were in sight of the very place, and a wild
+excitement began to fill the boy's breast as he went over the doctor's
+imaginary description, one which the captain declared to be perfectly
+accurate, for so many islands existed formed upon that very plan.
+
+It did not occur to Jack that a great change had come over him, nor that
+people on board were noticing him when he hurried down to finish
+dressing that morning, and back on deck with his powerful binocular
+glass, to stand gazing away toward the east.
+
+"This is clearer and better than the captain's glass," he thought to
+himself, "and easier to use," as he made out the misty little undefined
+patch, but was disappointed to find how slightly it had changed in the
+time he had been below.
+
+He ate his breakfast hurriedly, and came on deck again with his
+excitement growing, and Sir John and the doctor exchanged glances, but
+nothing was said, as they leisurely finished their meal and then
+followed him.
+
+"When shall we make the land, captain?" said Sir John.
+
+"Perhaps not till to-morrow morning," was the reply, "under sail: the
+wind's falling."
+
+"Why, where is Jack?" said the doctor suddenly.  "He came on deck."
+
+The captain gave him a queer look, and jerked his head backward, as he
+stood facing the wheel.
+
+"Forward in the bows?" said the doctor.
+
+"No: look up."
+
+Sir John and the doctor looked up in astonishment to find that Jack had
+mounted the mainmast shrouds, and was now perched in the little apology
+for a top, with his arms about the foot of the topmast, against which he
+held his glass, gazing east.
+
+Sir John drew a deep breath, and looked at his friend.
+
+"Don't take the slightest notice," said the latter; "treat it as quite a
+matter of course.  He has taken his spring and is out of his misery.  He
+won't want any corks to swim with now, nor for us to hold him up."
+
+"That's right, gentlemen," said the captain.  "His spirit's rising, and
+that will carry him along.  I wouldn't notice anything."
+
+"Hi! father!" cried the lad, as he lowered his glass and caught sight of
+them.  "I can't make much out even here.  I say, Captain Bradleigh, are
+you sure this is the island?"
+
+"Well, I'm sure it's land," replied the captain.
+
+"But we don't seem to get a bit nearer."
+
+"Sun's getting higher and makes it fainter.  But the wind is falling,
+and we'll clap on a little more sail."
+
+As the morning went on sail after sail was added, the men springing
+aloft and shaking out the squaresails, while long triangular pieces of
+canvas were run up the stays till the yacht was crowded, and she glided
+along with a delightfully easy motion.
+
+But it was all in vain; the wind sank and sank, till at mid-day the
+sails hung motionless in the glowing sunshine, while, save for a slow
+soft heaving, the glassy transparent sea was absolutely without motion.
+
+"Oh, this is vexatious!" cried Jack impatiently.
+
+"Yes, you'll have to whistle for the wind, Jack," said the doctor,
+stretching himself under the awning and lighting his cigar.
+
+"Whistle for nonsense!" said the lad irritably.  "So tiresome, just too
+as we have come in sight of the place."
+
+"Practice for your patience, my boy," said Sir John merrily.  "Oughtn't
+he to come under the awning out of the scorching sun?" he continued to
+the doctor, as Jack went forward to where Captain Bradleigh was giving
+orders about lowering some of the studding-sails.
+
+"Won't hurt him so long as he does not exert himself," replied the
+doctor.  "The sun, sir, is the real fount of life.  Nature incites all
+animals to bask in it, even the fish.  There's a shoal swimming yonder.
+We'll have a try for some presently.  Do him good."
+
+"Then why don't you go and lie in it?" said Sir John, smiling.
+
+"Because I don't want doing good.  Too idle.  I'm drinking all this in.
+I never felt so well in my life."
+
+"Nor I," said Sir John, watching his son's movements, "but I begin to
+feel as if I should like to be doing something active.  What's Jack
+about?"
+
+The answer came in the boy's voice, heard distinctly enough in the clear
+air,--
+
+"I say, don't take the sails down, Captain Bradleigh," he said; "the
+wind may come again soon."
+
+"Not before sundown," replied the captain, "and then we shan't want
+stuns'ls."
+
+"But it might!"
+
+"Yes, and it might come with a sudden touch of hurricane, my lad.  We're
+getting where dangers lie pretty quickly, and we old sea-going folk
+don't like to be taken unawares."
+
+"What would it do then if a touch of hurricane did come?"
+
+"Perhaps take our masts short off by the board before we could let
+everything go.  Not nice to have half our canvas stripped away.  You
+haven't been at sea so long as I have, squire."
+
+"No, of course not," said Jack impatiently.  "But I say, why don't you
+get up steam?"
+
+"Because we want to keep our coal for an emergency, or when we want to
+get on."
+
+"Well, we want to get on now."
+
+The captain smiled.
+
+"Go and ask your father what he thinks."
+
+"Yes; come with me."
+
+The captain humoured him, and they walked aft to where the awning cast
+its grateful shade.
+
+"Here, father, hadn't we better have the steam up and get on?"
+
+"I hardly think so, Jack.  What do you say, captain; will the calm
+last?"
+
+"Only till sundown, sir; then I think we shall have a nice soft breeze
+again."
+
+"Then I say no, Jack," said Sir John.  "We're quite hot enough, and it
+does not seem fair to the men to send them down making roaring fires
+when there is so little need."
+
+"You'd be getting brown on both sides at once, Jack," said the doctor.
+"Look yonder; fish rising.  What do you say to having a try?"
+
+"Yes," said Jack eagerly, "let's get up the lines.  Hi, Mr Bartlett,
+come on."
+
+The mate had taken the captain's place, and was superintending the
+lowering of the studding-sails.
+
+"Yes, all right, Bartlett," cried the captain, "I'll see to that;" and
+giving the lad a friendly nod, he went forward, the mate coming aft.
+
+"Look!  Fish!" cried Jack.  "What had we better do, Mr Bartlett?"
+
+"Yes; send out some light lines floating in the current," said the
+doctor.
+
+"No, I don't think we should do much that way.  More likely to get
+something from close in under the bows with the grains," replied the
+mate thoughtfully.  "But what I should do would be to lower a boat and
+gently scull her toward one of those shoals; we might do something
+then."
+
+"That's the way," cried Jack.  "Here, hi!  Lenny, we want you."
+
+The big black-bearded fellow looked inquiringly at the captain, who
+nodded, and the man came aft, while Jack and the doctor went below, the
+former in a hurry, the latter with a good deal of deliberation.  The
+mate and the man then proceeded to lower the light gig and cast off the
+falls, leaving her hanging by the painter.
+
+"Strong tackle and bright artificial baits, Jack, my lad.  The water's
+wonderfully clear."
+
+These were selected from the ample store, and carried up to the boat,
+into which a basket, a bucket, and a big stone bottle covered with a
+felt jacket, and full of fresh water, were lowered.
+
+"Won't you come, father?" said Jack suddenly.
+
+"Well--er--no," said Sir John; "there is hardly room for another in that
+boat."
+
+"Then we'll have a larger," cried Jack in a decisive tone, speaking as
+his father had never heard him speak before.
+
+"No, no," cried Sir John; "don't alter your plans.  But look out there."
+
+He pointed away from the side of the yacht, and Jack shaded his eyes,
+for the sun flashed from the surface.
+
+"Fish of some kind," said the lad eagerly.  "Look, Mr Bartlett; what
+are they--eels?"
+
+"Snakes--sea-snakes," said the mate quietly; and they stood gazing at a
+little cluster of eight or ten beautiful mottled creatures lying close
+to the surface, almost motionless, except that one now and then changed
+the S-like figure into which it lay by bending and waving its long
+sinuous body into some other graceful curve, progressing by a slight
+wavy motion of its tail.
+
+"Proof positive, Jack, that there are sea-snakes," said Sir John.
+
+"We shall have to look out," said the doctor, laughing.  "Perhaps these
+are the babies, and papa and mamma not far off."
+
+"Hallo! what have you got there?" said the captain, coming up.  "Snakes,
+eh?  Plenty of them to be found."
+
+"And big ones?" asked Jack eagerly.
+
+"I don't say that, my lad," replied the captain.  "There's a pretty good
+big one there though."
+
+"What, that?" cried Jack.  "Three or four feet long."
+
+"Nearer eight when he is out of the water."
+
+"Would they take a bait?"
+
+"Doubtful.  But I would not try.  Those things can bite, and, as I said,
+I've known cases out in the Indian Ocean where men have died from their
+bites.  They're best dealt with from a distance.  Why don't you shoot
+one for a curiosity?  You could keep it in spirits."
+
+"Ah, why not?" said the doctor; and he ran below, to return directly
+with a double gun and some cartridges, a couple of which he inserted at
+the breech.
+
+Sir John looked at his friend inquiringly.
+
+"There you are," said the doctor, handing the gun to Jack.  "I'd rest
+the barrels on the rails as we're rolling a little.  Then take a good
+aim as we're rising, not as we're going down, and fire as if you wanted
+the shot to go under its head."
+
+Jack hesitated, and shrank a little, but mastering his feeling of
+trepidation, he took the gun, and rested the barrels on the rail.
+
+"Why am I to fire under if I want to hit the snake?" he said.
+
+"Because you will be in motion, and if you do not, your charge of shot
+will be carried above the reptile for one thing; another is to allow for
+the refraction, which makes the snake seem higher in the water than it
+is."
+
+"But that one has its back right out."
+
+"Yes: quick! a quick aim, and then draw the trigger."
+
+Jack had never fired a gun in his life, and he shrank from doing so now,
+but every one was watching him; and as the barrels still lay on the
+rail, he glanced along between them as he had along the captain's
+telescope that morning, and pulled the trigger, but no explosion
+followed.
+
+"Quick!" cried the doctor.  "Do you call that quick?"
+
+"It won't go off," said Jack, with a touch of irritation in his voice.
+
+"Of course it won't," cried the doctor.  "Why, you had not cocked it."
+
+Jack had had no experience of guns, but he knew what ought to be done,
+and quickly drawing back the hammers, he took aim just beneath the
+largest of the snakes, and fired.
+
+He had not placed the stock close to his shoulder, so he received a
+sharp blow, and the report sounded deafening, the smoke was blinding,
+and it was some moments before he was able to see what luck had attended
+his shot.
+
+Better than he expected.  The large snake was writhing and twining about
+in the water, and splashing it with blows from its tail, but the others
+had disappeared, and the mate had dropped down into the boat, and taken
+up the long-handled gaff-hook.
+
+"Mind what you're about, Bartlett," cried the captain.  "Don't lift it
+into the boat while it's so lively."
+
+"I'll take care," was the reply, and after giving the gig a thrust which
+sent it near enough, the mate watched his opportunity, and lowering the
+hook made a snatch with it, catching the snake somewhere about the
+middle.
+
+The touch seemed to fill the reptile full of animation, and quick as
+thought it twined itself in a knot about the hook, bit at it, and began
+lashing at the strong ash pole with its tail.
+
+"Don't be rash, Bartlett," cried the captain.  "We mustn't have any
+accidents.  There, keep the end down in the water while Mr Meadows here
+gives it the other barrel."
+
+"Fire at it again?" said Jack, who was full of excitement.
+
+"Yes; give it him and finish him off," cried the doctor.
+
+Jack raised the piece again, and it was none too soon, for the serpent
+was beginning to make its way along the pole toward the mate's hands,
+while it held on by tightening the folds of the lower part of its body.
+
+The lad took aim at the knot twined round the hook, and then shivered as
+he saw the head of the dangerous beast gliding, or more correctly thrust
+along the ash handle, and changing the direction of the muzzle of the
+piece a little to the left, he once more fired, when the snake's head
+fell with a splash into the sea, the tight knot about the hook relaxed,
+the tail fell limply, and writhing with a feeble motion, the two ends
+hanging down together, prevented from falling by one twist round the
+gaff.
+
+"Bravo! well done, Jack!" cried the doctor.  "I say, my lad, if you
+begin by shooting like that you'll turn out a good shot.  Now, Bartlett,
+let's have the beast on board and see what it's like."
+
+The mate placed the gaff across the bows of the gig and thrust an oar
+over the stern, sculling the boat alongside, with the snake trailing in
+the water.  Then taking hold of the gaff handle, climbed on board, and
+the prize was drawn on the deck, to lie writhing feebly and quite beyond
+the power of doing mischief, but it was scarcely disfigured, the small
+shot having done their work without much injuring the skin.
+
+"Well, this is something to begin with," said Sir John, examining the
+beautifully mottled creature, as it lay in the sun, the dark, almost
+black ground of the skin showing up the ochre yellow markings, while in
+certain lights the black glistened with iridescent hues.
+
+"A good eight feet long," said the captain; "but you'd better be
+careful.  Cut his head off: he won't revive and show fight then."
+
+"What, and spoil that beautiful skin!" cried the doctor.  "No!"
+
+"Get a length of stout fishing-line, Lenny," said the captain quietly;
+and the man trotted forward, his companions of the crew making way for
+him to pass, and then closing round again to examine the capture, which
+kept on raising its head a little and letting it fall back on the deck,
+after which a wave ran along the body right to the tail, which, instead
+of being round and tapering off, showed the creature's adaptability for
+an aqueous life by being flattened so that the end was something like
+the blade of a sword.
+
+"We had better start a spirit tub at once," said the doctor; and he bent
+down over the head.  "What sharp eyes!" he continued.  "Malignant
+looking little beast."
+
+"That's right," said the captain, as Lenny came up with the stout line.
+"Now make a noose in it.  No, no, not at the end: a couple of fathoms
+in.  That's the way.  Take hold, one of you others.  Now together draw
+the loop over the thing's head."
+
+"What are you going to do?" cried Jack excitedly.
+
+"Take care that he doesn't do any mischief, my lad," cried the captain;
+and standing about a dozen feet apart, the two sailors carefully drew
+the noose along the deck, till the bottom touched the snake's head, but
+it would not pass under.
+
+"Bring your gaff, Bartlett," cried the captain, "and raise the head a
+little."
+
+Hardly had he uttered the words, when the snake lifted it of itself a
+few inches from the white deck, and its whole body was in motion.
+
+"Look out," cried Jack; and several of the men started back, but the
+sailors who held the line stood fast, and drew the noose over the
+reptile's head, and with a quick snatch tightened the strong cord about
+its neck.
+
+The effect seemed magical, and the shot to have done nothing more than
+stun the creature for a time.  It was now apparently as strong as ever,
+twining itself into knots and then writhing free again, to beat the
+white deck with its tail.
+
+But this did not last many minutes, and as the men kept the line tight
+across the deck the reptile gradually stretched itself out, till it hung
+perfectly limp and almost motionless by the neck.  Then a small cask was
+brought on deck, a stone jar of prepared spirit poured in, and the snake
+drawn over the mouth and allowed to sink in.  Then the head of the cask
+was held ready and the tightened fishing-line cut short off.  There was
+a hollow splash, and the cask was covered and secured.
+
+"That's specimen the first," said the doctor, with a smile of
+satisfaction.  "We shall have to fill that pickle-tub up before we go
+back, Jack.  There, go and put away the gun and let's have our fish."
+
+"I'll take the gun, Mr Jack, sir," said Edward, who had been watching
+all the proceedings with the greatest interest.  "I must clean it before
+it's put away."
+
+Jack handed him the piece, and the man whispered quickly--
+
+"Mr Jack, sir; do please tell me to come."
+
+"What, with us?  Impossible," said Jack hastily.  "You heard my father
+say that there was not room for another."
+
+"Yes, sir, of course, not room for another like him, but I'm nobody.  I
+don't want any room; I can sit down in the bottom, or kneel down.  And I
+should be so useful, sir.  I could cut up bait, or put on hooks, or take
+'em off, or anything."
+
+"What, do you understand fishing?"
+
+"Me, sir? yes: I used to go up our river when I was a boy.  I've caught
+roach and chub many a time, not that they were very big.  Do take me,
+sir."
+
+Jack hesitated.
+
+"Say you will, sir," cried the man eagerly.  "I can clean the gun after
+we come back."
+
+"I don't like to refuse you, Ned," said Jack.
+
+"That's right, sir: keep on don't liking, and say I may come.  You don't
+know how useful I'll be."
+
+"Very well: come then."
+
+"Hurray!" whispered the man, "who'd be without a good master?  I'll be
+back directly, sir."
+
+He ran below with the gun, laid it in his berth ready for cleaning, and
+was up again just as the mate and Doctor Instow approached the side.
+
+"Hallo, sir, you coming?" cried the latter.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"But we don't want you."
+
+Edward's face became puckered with disappointment, and his eyes were
+full of misery, as he turned them piteously upon his young master.
+
+"Yes, I want him," said Jack, in response to the appealing look, and the
+man's hopes rose.
+
+"What for?" said the doctor, and Edward's aspirations went down to zero.
+
+"I don't know," said Jack coolly; "to unhook the fish.  I'm not going to
+soil my hands."
+
+"Oh, very well," said the doctor; "I don't mind, but we had better catch
+the fish before you take them off the hook.  Now then, in with you."
+
+Lenny and the mate stepped down into the boat, Jack and the doctor
+followed, and then, looking flushed and excited as a boy, Edward jumped
+in, giving, his young master a grateful look as soon as the doctor was
+not looking.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+AN AWKWARD CUSTOMER.
+
+There was no need to go far afield in search of sport, for before Lenny
+and the mate had rowed them a couple of hundred yards, with Jack and the
+doctor preparing their lines, they were passing close by a large shoal
+of fish, another being some distance astern.
+
+These were leaping and playing about on the surface, making the water
+ripple and sparkle, and every now and then there was a flash as of a bar
+of silver darting into the sunny air, and falling back with a loud
+splash.
+
+"This looks promising," said the doctor; "but my word, how hot the boat
+is.  I touched that copper rowlock, and it quite burned my band."
+
+"I could hardly bear mine on the side," said Jack; "but let's begin."
+
+"Yes, we must have a few of these fellows, Jack.  I wish we had rods, we
+could throw so much better."
+
+"I don't think you will need them," said the mate, as he finished
+attaching a spoon-bait to Jack's line; "the current will carry the bait
+right through the shoal."
+
+"Yes, but fair play, Jack.  I'm not ready, let's start together."
+
+But he was too late.  Jack dropped his bait over the side as the doctor
+spoke, and away it glided, sinking slowly and turning and twinkling in
+the sunlit water, while when, in obedience to the mate's instructions,
+Jack checked the line as it ran over the side, and drew it a few feet
+back, the resemblance to a fish was strangely apparent.
+
+"There you are," cried the doctor, as, after laying a quantity of line
+in rings beside him, he threw his own bait so cleverly that it fell with
+a light splash nearly on a level with his companion's.
+
+"Now then; a race for the first fish!" he cried, and they let out a good
+fifty yards of line, with the result that, while, by Lenny giving a
+gentle stroke or two with the oars, the boat was kept pretty well in its
+place, the artificial baits were carried by the current right into the
+middle of the shoal of fish playing about on the surface.
+
+"Now for it," said the doctor, who looked as excited as the boy.  "We
+must have one directly."
+
+"If they will take the artificial bait," said the mate.  "Keep jerking
+your line, Mr Jack."
+
+"That way?"
+
+"Yes; capital.  Fish like to take a bait that seems to be trying to
+escape from them."
+
+"Then why don't they do it?" said the doctor impatiently.
+
+"Give them time," said the mate, smiling.
+
+"Time and line too, but they don't seem to notice the bait."
+
+"They notice mine," said Jack.  "Look here."
+
+He gave a snatch with his line, Edward sitting ready to unhook the fish,
+and as he drew the bait along toward him, there was a rush made while it
+passed, but whether in pursuit or to escape from the novel object the
+occupants of the boat could not make out for some time.  At last,
+though, the mate came to the conclusion that the spoon-bait scared the
+shoal.
+
+"That shows what a set of ignorant savages they are, Jack," cried the
+doctor; "never saw a spoon-bait before in their lives, and don't know
+it's meant to catch them.  But never mind, we shall have one directly,
+and then the others will know better."
+
+"And go right away," said Jack dryly, as he kept on taking advantage of
+the mate's instructions, and making his bait play about in the bright
+water in a way which ought to have tempted a run, but without effect.
+
+"Let's try another kind," said the mate, and the line being drawn in, an
+artificial sand-eel was fastened by the stout twisted wire hook to the
+swivel on the line.
+
+"I'll wait and see what luck you have, Jack, before I change mine," said
+the doctor.
+
+"I don't think I shall have any," replied the lad.
+
+"The fish may be stupid and ignorant, but I don't think they will be so
+stupid as to try and bite at the absurd thing I have on now."
+
+"There's no accounting for what fish will do," said the mate, smiling.
+"That's right; let it go.  I've caught mackerel often enough on the
+Cornish coast with a hook at the end of a piece of gut run through a
+broken scrap of clay tobacco-pipe."
+
+"Yes, mackerel are splendid fellows to bite.  I've caught them myself
+with a soft white goose feather tied on to a hook, and thrown as if it
+were a fly, and--"
+
+"Oh!" cried Jack, with a cry of excitement, "I've got one," and Edward
+half rose in his excitement from his seat.
+
+For as he let the line run gently through his fingers from where it lay
+in rings at the bottom of the boat, it was suddenly snatched away and
+began to run rapidly.
+
+"Stop it!  Catch hold quickly," cried the mate; and Jack seized the line
+again and held on.
+
+"I've got it!" he cried, as he felt thrill after thrill run up his arms
+in the fish's struggles to escape.
+
+"Haul him in, Jack," said the doctor.  "Bravo! first one to you.  We
+shall begin to take some now."
+
+"It won't come," cried Jack, as he held on by the line, with the fish
+evidently diving down into deep water in its frantic efforts to escape.
+
+"Pull, lad!"
+
+"But it's a monster, and the line cuts my hand.  No, no, not you," he
+cried to his man.
+
+"Let me try," said the mate.
+
+"No, no, I mean to catch it myself," said Jack excitedly.  "Ah, don't
+touch it."
+
+"Only to see what it's like," said the mate, reaching over so as to take
+hold of the line.
+
+"Not a very large one," he said, "two or three pounds perhaps.  There, I
+think you can haul that in; I'll lift it into the boat with the gaff."
+
+"Oh, don't touch it with that," cried Jack quickly; "it's all snaky, and
+we shall want to eat the fish."
+
+"I'll give it a good wash in the water," said the mate, smiling.
+
+"No; let me lift it in when I get it to the side," said Jack excitedly.
+"Yes, it's coming now."
+
+"But if you try to lift it in, the hook will drag out of the fish's
+jaws," said the mate.
+
+"Yes; let him lift it in, Jack," said the doctor.  "Don't let it get
+away, or it will go and tell all the other fish not to bite."
+
+"Of course," said Jack dryly, "and give a full description of me and my
+line."
+
+"I shall have to try a fresh bait," said the doctor, beginning to draw
+in.
+
+"I caught a glimpse of him," said Jack, as he hauled slowly on his line.
+"How strong a fish is in the water!--Ah!--Oh, I say, Mr Bartlett, how
+can you say it is not a big one!" cried the lad, as there was a
+tremendous jerk given at the line, and then a series of sharp tugs,
+followed by a steady drag which made the line begin to run through the
+fisher's hands again.
+
+"It cuts! it hurts!  I can't hold it!" cried Jack excitedly, and he was
+about to let go, when Edward caught hold, and then the mate's firm
+strong hands reached over and took hold of the line beyond his and began
+to haul.
+
+But at the first drag he made at the line, the fish gave a peculiar
+wallow, which felt as if it had spun itself round in the water, and
+began in spite of the mate's efforts to move off, the line gliding
+through his fingers, till by a sudden action he twisted the slack round
+his hand and held on.
+
+"Now isn't it a big one?" cried Jack.  "Look here, doctor."
+
+"I'm looking.  Why, Jack, you've got hold of that snake's grandfather.
+Mind what you're doing, or you'll have the sea serpent aboard."
+
+"What!" cried the lad, looking aghast.
+
+"Hurrah!  I've got one too," cried the doctor.  "Humph! only a little
+one;" and he began to haul in.  "Hurrah! something else has taken it,"
+he shouted.  "Here, Bartlett, I've got hold of a whale."
+
+"We've got a shark," said the mate.  "Look at the boat."
+
+"Let go--let go quick!" cried Jack excitedly; "the fish is running away
+with us."
+
+"And no mistake," said the doctor.  "Mine's helping.  Why, Jack, this is
+something like sport."
+
+"How can you laugh!" cried the boy; "it must be horribly dangerous.  Cut
+the line;" and Edward's knife was hastily opened.
+
+"Oh no," said the mate, "we don't want to lose that, it will break
+directly close to the hook."
+
+"Think we could get them both alongside?" said the doctor.
+
+"Not with tackle like this," replied the mate; "we should want fine rope
+and a bit of chain.  Mine must be six feet long.  Look what a rate we're
+going at."
+
+"Why, it's like being fast to a whale," cried the doctor.
+
+"Not quite so bad as that," said the mate, laughing.  "There he goes,"
+he added, as the line suddenly hung loose in his hands.
+
+"Gone?" cried Jack with a sigh of relief.
+
+"Yes, and it's a good proof of the quality of the lines.  They are
+wonderfully strong to hold out so long.  Cut into my hands pretty well."
+
+"Come and give me a hand, Jack," cried the doctor.
+
+The boy moved unwillingly, but he reached over and took hold, half
+expecting to see a head come out of the water, a pair of menacing jaws
+open close to his hands, and a pair of fierce eyes give him a
+questioning look as to what he was doing to a peaceable inhabitant of
+the deep.  But he had hardly felt the throbbing drag at the end of a
+hundred yards of line when the shark dived, and he and the doctor sank
+back in the boat, whose steady progress through the water was checked.
+
+"How do you like fishing?" said the doctor merrily.
+
+"But I don't quite understand," said Jack.  "Oh, it's easy enough, boy,"
+cried the doctor, smiling; "we threw out little fish or imitations.
+Bigger ones took them.  Then a pair of monsters seized the bigger ones
+and began to tow the boat; and if we had held on much longer we should
+have had a pair as big as the yacht take our monsters, and end by
+swallowing us, boat and all."
+
+"But you don't think they were sea serpents?" said Jack, whose face
+looked a little sallow.
+
+"Oh no," said the mate.  "Sharks without doubt.  Look here, the twisted
+wire is regularly cut through, as if by a pair of shears," he continued,
+as he held up the end of the line he had drawn in.  "How is yours?"
+
+"Haven't got the end yet," said the doctor, who was hauling away.  "Here
+we are," he cried; "mine's broken where the snood joins on.  What's to
+be done now?"
+
+"Put on fresh baits," said Jack sharply; and Edward reached for the
+basket.
+
+The mate and the doctor exchanged glances.  "Very well," said the
+latter; "but I expect it only means another fight like the last.  Eh,
+Bartlett?"
+
+"I'm afraid so.  The sharks are evidently following this great shoal to
+pick up a helpless one now and then."
+
+"But it's so disappointing," said Jack.  "I wanted to see what we had
+caught, and take them aboard for dinner."
+
+"Yes, it's disappointing," said the doctor.  "What do you think they
+were that we had hold of--there in the shoal?"
+
+"They look to me like some kind of sea perch," said the mate, "something
+like the bass one gets down in Cornwall."
+
+"Seem like it from their playing about," said the doctor, and drawing
+the basket toward him, he proceeded to fit on another artificial bait.
+"I'll try and stir them up again with the spoon," he said, with a droll
+look at Jack.
+
+"I shall keep to the imitation fish," said Jack, who was deeply
+interested.  "I think we ought to pull them in more quickly, before the
+sharks have time."
+
+"Couldn't pull in more quickly than I did," said the doctor.  "Well, we
+will have this try, and if we don't succeed we had better give it up.
+We don't want to be towed right away from the yacht."
+
+"What?" said Jack, looking up sharply.  "I say it would be rather
+awkward to be towed out of sight of the yacht."
+
+Jack gave an anxious glance in the direction of their sea-going home,
+and then laughed.
+
+"No fear of that," he said; and as soon as Lenny had placed the boat
+once more quietly at a little distance from the shoal, the boy threw in
+his bait, seeing the fish rush in all directions; but directly after
+there was a jerk, and a thrill, and he felt that he was fast to a big
+fish.
+
+This time he began to haul at once, as quickly as he could, hand over
+hand, while after a few frantic dashes the fish gave in, and was
+half-way to the boat, then three-parts of the way, showing its silvery
+sides, and apparently about two feet long, and all before the doctor had
+thrown out.
+
+"Get your hook, Mr Bartlett," cried Jack eagerly.
+
+"All ready."
+
+"Washed?"
+
+"Yes, thoroughly."
+
+"Now then, here he is!  Oh!"
+
+"Murder!  Look out!" shouted Edward, ducking down.
+
+There was a tremendous splash, the water being thrown in their faces as
+Jack and the mate stood up, the one drawing in the fish, the other ready
+to make a snatch with the gaff-hook, when a great dark object suddenly
+rose within six feet of the boat, taking the fish in its jaws, curved
+over, and dived down, waving a great grey and black tail high in the
+air, and sending the water flying over them as it disappeared with the
+line running rapidly out.
+
+"Let me come, Mr Jack," cried the mate; "it's of no use to let it burn
+or cut your hands.  I'll show you."
+
+As he spoke he stooped, took hold of the line a few rings below those
+which were rapidly gliding over the side, and passed it round the copper
+rowlock, letting it still run, but at a slower rate, and gradually
+adding weight, till the boat began to move, when he checked the line
+entirely by giving it another turn round and holding on.
+
+"Now take hold.  You can let him run or make him tow us, whichever you
+like," he said to Jack, who seized the line, and stood there feeling as
+if he were driving in a marine chariot drawn by sea monsters that were
+quite under his control.
+
+"The line cannot bear such a strain long," said the mate.  "If we had
+heavy tackle we might haul the brutes alongside, and kill them with a
+lance or a shot."
+
+"Let's try next time," cried Jack excitedly.  "How it is pulling us
+along."
+
+"Yes; we are going pretty well," said the doctor dryly.  "I _hope_ the
+brute won't turn round and attack us."
+
+"Not likely, is it?" said Jack with an anxious look.  Then quickly,
+"Well, let it come.  You take hold of the boat-hook, Mr Bartlett; you
+would spear it with that."
+
+"But I say, Jack, don't you feel frightened?" said the doctor.
+
+"Him frightened! likely!" muttered Edward.
+
+"No; I don't think I do," said the lad frankly.  "I feel a curious
+fluttering kind of sensation, as if my heart was beating very fast, but
+I don't think I'm frightened--I'm sure I'm not," he added gravely, and
+with a simple sincerity far removed from boastfulness.
+
+"How can you be sure?" said the doctor, giving him a searching look.
+
+"Because if I really were frightened I should cut the line."
+
+"Of course you would," said the doctor.  "Stands to reason.  But I
+didn't come out prepared for shark-fishing, so I'm beginning to think we
+may as well cut or break the line, and go back.  We don't want to have
+far to row on such a day as this."
+
+"Oh, don't do that," cried Jack.  "It's so exciting and strange to be
+dragged along like this."
+
+"What do you say to trying to get the fellow up to the surface, so as to
+have another look at him?"
+
+"But suppose it attacks us?"
+
+"I don't think there is any fear," said the mate, smiling.
+
+"Try and get it up then," said Jack eagerly.  "Come and lend a hand,
+Edward," said the mate; and they began to take a slow, steady pull on
+the line, drawing in the strong hemp fathom by fathom, till the number
+of rings in the bottom of the boat showed that they must be near their
+captive, but there was no sign of it till another dozen yards were
+hauled in, and then, as Jack leaned over the bows, he could dimly see
+deep down a shadowy form going right onward, slightly agitating the
+water as it passed through.
+
+Then as the pair in the boat hauled, the dark shadow began to show more
+and more clearly, proving that the buoyancy of the boat was beginning to
+tell upon it, and draw it nearer to the surface.
+
+"Can't stand this much longer, Jack," said the doctor; "the line must
+break."
+
+"I wonder it has not parted before now," cried the mate.  "It is of
+wonderfully good quality, and stretches like india-rubber.  Hah! he's
+coming up now.  Will you take the boat-hook and give him a prod, doctor,
+if he is disposed to show fight?"
+
+"Well, yes, unless you would like to, Jack."
+
+"Yes, I should like to," said the lad, with a couple of red spots
+appearing in his cheeks; and he bent down, picked up the light
+boat-hook, and stood with one foot upon the thwart, holding the
+implement as if it were a lance.
+
+"Bravo!  Mr Jack," whispered Edward.  "See him plainly?" said the mate.
+"Yes, very clearly now.  It is not above six feet down, a great long
+black creature.  Would it be a shark?"
+
+"Oh yes, that's a shark, sure enough," said the mate.  "I saw him
+plainly enough when he took your fish.  But you had better watch him,
+for at any moment the line may give way."
+
+Another pull or two resulted in the great fish being brought so close to
+the surface that its back fin showed from time to time.
+
+"Aren't we quite near enough?" said the doctor in a low tone to the
+mate; "it's a big, dangerous-looking creature."
+
+"The line will go at the first struggle it makes," replied the mate,
+"and there is no danger.  A splashing is the worst thing that can
+happen.  Let him do as he likes."
+
+"What's the matter?  What are you whispering about?"
+
+"I was just thinking of cutting loose," said the doctor, taking out a
+knife.
+
+"No, no; let it be," cried Jack.  "Look here; we are nearly over it, and
+you can see how it tows us along by just gently waving its tail.  Pull,
+Mr Bartlett; both of you pull."
+
+_Bang_!
+
+At the fresh tightening of the line, which drew the bows of the boat
+partly over the fish, there was a tremendous blow delivered on the side,
+accompanied by a shower of spray, a violent ebullition which rocked them
+to and fro.  Then the line hung slack, and the last fathom was drawn on
+board by the sailor, while the mate went down on his knees and examined
+the slight planking of the boat to make sure that it was not stove in.
+
+"Oh!" groaned Edward; "look at that!"
+
+"Any damage, Bartlett?" said the doctor hastily.
+
+"No; but I was a little startled.  What enormous power these creatures
+have in their tails!"
+
+Jack laid down the boat-hook, looking rather serious.
+
+"What would have happened," he said, "if the shark had made a hole in
+the boat?"
+
+"All depends on the size," said the mate, laughing.  "If it had been
+very small we might have plugged it with our jackets till we managed to
+row back, or the skipper, seeing we were in distress, sent another boat
+after us.  If it had been a very large hole we should have had to hold
+on to the gunwale outside all round, for she wouldn't have sunk, and
+then again the captain would have sent a boat to pick us up, if he sent
+in time."
+
+"What do you mean by in time?" asked the lad rather huskily.
+
+"Before the sharks had pulled us all under, and there was no one left to
+pick up."
+
+Edward turned sallow, and looked at the speaker in dismay.
+
+"Are you saying that to frighten me?" asked Jack.
+
+"No, I don't make jokes about such things as that, sir," said the mate
+quietly.  "I ought to have known better than to run such a risk, but I
+did not imagine that a shark could strike such a tremendous blow."
+
+"It was my fault," said Jack quickly.  "I wanted to see how far it would
+drag us before the line broke."
+
+"And the sharks would have picked us all off," said the doctor
+thoughtfully.  "Humph!  Not a very pleasant look-out.  There's a deal of
+trouble and disappointment in the world; eh, Jack?  Especially in
+fishing."
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," replied the lad, looking at the speaker curiously.
+
+"But take it altogether, it's a very grand and glorious place, and full
+of wonders for those who like to use their eyes.  I don't think I should
+have liked for our voyage to have been brought to a sudden end like
+that, eh?"
+
+"No; it is too horrible to think of," said the lad with a shudder, and
+he cast a wistful look around him at the silver-looking sea, and the
+white yacht standing up apparently at the top of a slope.
+
+"Won't try any more fishing to-day, will you?"
+
+"No.  Let's row back now, and come another time with one of the big
+boats, stronger lines, and a lance."
+
+"Oh, then you haven't had enough of it?" said the doctor.
+
+"Enough?  No.  I want to catch some of those fish, and have a try if we
+cannot kill one of these sharks.  My father would like the adventure
+too, I'm sure."
+
+"Well, yes, I'm thinking he would," said the doctor, looking quietly at
+his young companion as if he were studying him.  "What do you say to
+another try to-morrow?  I think I should like to have another turn."
+
+"I hope we shall be at the island to-morrow," replied Jack, as the
+doctor followed the mate back to the stern sheets.  "But the first time
+there is an opportunity."
+
+He seated himself on the fore thwart as he spoke, and held out his
+hands.
+
+"Let me have one oar, Lenny," he said.  "I want to try and learn to
+row."
+
+"Rather too hot for you, won't it be, sir?" said the man, smiling.
+
+"It is hot; but I can leave off if I'm tired," replied Jack.
+
+"Here you are then, sir," said the man; "I'm stroke, and you bow, so you
+take your time from me, and hittings in the back don't count fair."
+
+The next minute they were rowing slowly back toward the yacht, with the
+doctor looking on very silent and thoughtful, as he furtively watched
+the young oarsman.
+
+"Boat ahoy!" came at last from the yacht's deck.  "What sport?  Caught
+anything?"
+
+Jack answered in the familiar old way in which fishermen do reply to
+that question.
+
+"_No_!"
+
+"Tired, Jack?" said his father, as the boat grazed the yacht's side.
+
+"A little--not much," replied the lad; and he sprang on deck actively
+enough, and ready for the dinner which was to follow in due course.
+
+"Brayvo!  Mr Jack, sir!" said Edward, who had followed him to his
+cabin.  "I never see anything like the way you're going on now.  It's
+grand, that it is."
+
+"Look here, Ned," cried the boy, flushing; "do you want to offend me?"
+
+"Offend you, sir?  Why, of course not.  I said it to please you."
+
+"Well, it doesn't please me a bit," cried Jack.  "I don't like flattery,
+so don't do it again."
+
+"Why, that ain't flattery, sir," cried the man indignantly; "that's
+plain honest truth, sir, and it was because I felt so proud of you."
+
+"Why?" said Jack sharply.
+
+"Because of what you used to be a bit ago, sir.  Why, a couple of months
+back I wouldn't have believed it, for you were just like a great--"
+
+The man's tongue had run away with him, and he now pulled up short.
+
+"Well, like a great what?" said Jack.
+
+The man set his teeth hard and compressed his lips now it was too late.
+
+"Why don't you speak, sir?"
+
+"Beg pardon, Mr Jack, sir," stammered the man.
+
+"I know what you were going to say," cried Jack angrily.  "You were
+going to say that I was like a great girl.  Now then--the truth.  You
+were going to say that, were you not?"
+
+"Well, sir?"
+
+"Speak out, or I'll never believe in you again, Ned."
+
+"Don't say that, Mr Jack, sir.  I didn't mean to make you cross.  I
+only spoke because I was so proud to see you picking up so, and getting
+to be such a man."
+
+"A man now!" cried Jack sharply.  "You were going to say a great girl a
+little while ago."
+
+Edward was silent.
+
+"Once more, will you speak out frankly?" cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, sir, that was it, sir," said Edward hastily.  "Wish I'd held my
+tongue, but it would come."
+
+"Like a great girl, eh?"
+
+"Well, sir, I can't help it, sir.  You did seem more like a young lady
+in those times.  But you're as different as can be now, sir.  You really
+aren't like the same."
+
+"That will do," said Jack.  "You can go now."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the man with alacrity; "but you won't leave me behind
+another time, sir, for speaking out so free?"
+
+"Wait and see," said Jack shortly; and the man was obliged to content
+himself with that reply, and left the cabin.
+
+"My word, he is getting a Tartar," said Edward to himself as he went to
+his own quarters.  "Fancy him dropping on to me like that!  Well, it's a
+change; and after all he's better so than being such a molly as he was."
+
+"Like a great girl--like a great girl," muttered Jack as soon as he was
+alone.  "To say that to me!  How it shows what people must have thought.
+It was quite time there was a change.  But I wonder what they all think
+of me now."
+
+A burning sensation made him turn to the glass, to see that his face was
+growing brown, while in each of his cheeks there was a bright spot.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+JACK SEES A VOLCANO LIGHT UP.
+
+"Is there going to be any wind to-night, captain?" said Sir John as they
+went on deck.  For answer the captain pointed away to the west, and Jack
+saw here and there dark patches of rippled water, but the sails that
+were left still hung motionless from the yards.
+
+"In half-an-hour we shall be bowling along, Mr Jack," said the mate;
+"and if the wind holds, before morning we shall be lying off the land."
+
+"Then I think I shall sit up," said the lad eagerly, for his brain was
+buzzing with expectation, and as full of exaggerated imaginations as it
+could possibly be.
+
+But with the nightfall, in spite of the inspiriting, cooling breeze
+which sent them, as the mate had it, "bowling along," there was the
+familiar sensation of fatigue, and at the usual time, after a long look
+out into the darkness, Jack went to his cot, to dream that the island
+was getting farther and farther off, and woke up at last with the
+sensation that he had only just lain down.
+
+For a few minutes he was too sleepy and confused to think, but all at
+once the recollection of what he expected to see came to him, and he
+leaped out of his berth and ran to the cabin window, but from thence he
+could only see the long level plain of water.
+
+Hurriedly dressing himself, he ran on deck, to see that the dawn was
+only just appearing in the east, and as they lay to, rocking gently,
+with the sails flapping, there rose up before him, dim and dark, one
+vast pyramid which ran up into the heavy clouds, and filled him with a
+strange sensation of awe, the greater that there was a heavy booming
+sound as of thunder right and left and close at hand.
+
+He grasped the fact directly after that it was not the low muttering of
+thunder which he heard, but the booming of the heavy billows which
+curved over about a couple of miles away and broke upon a reef which
+extended to right and left as far as the dim light would let him see.
+
+Then came a sense of disappointment which was almost painful.  Had they
+sailed by without stopping at any of the lovely islands they had
+encountered, to come to this awfully gloomy-looking spot in the ocean?
+The captain must be half mad to speak so highly in its favour, and for a
+few moments the boy felt disposed to return to his berth and try to
+forget his disappointment in sleep.
+
+He took a few steps, and suddenly came across Edward.
+
+"That you, Mr Jack, sir?" said the man.
+
+"Can't you see it is?" replied the lad shortly.
+
+"Yes, sir, and sorry for you I am."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, sir, about the island.  They've been a-cracking it up to us, and
+making believe as it was the loveliest place as ever was, and now we've
+got to it, why it's all gammon."
+
+"Then you've seen it, Ned?"
+
+"Seen it, sir?  I wish I hadn't.  It's a trick they've played on us
+because we're what they call longshore folk.  Makes me long for the
+shore, I can tell you.  A jolly shame, sir."
+
+"It does look dreary, Ned."
+
+"Dreary aren't the word for it, but you can't gammon me.  I know what it
+is; I've read about 'em.  It's one of them out-of-the-way stony places
+where they used to send convicks to.  `Rubbish may be shot here' spots.
+And a lot of the rubbish used to be shot there if they tried to escape.
+Oh, it is a dismal horror place.  Give me the miserables as soon as I
+saw it, after spoiling my night's rest for fear I shouldn't wake up at
+daylight to see what it was like.  I've seen it though, and I don't want
+any more, thankye.  Don't want me, I suppose, sir?"
+
+"No, Ned.  I'm going back to bed."
+
+"Are you, sir?  Well, that's a good idea, and I don't see why I
+shouldn't do the same."
+
+"Let's have another look at the place first."
+
+"No thankye, sir.  If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not.  Once
+was quite enough.  Of course, if you say I am to look, sir, there I am."
+
+"Oh no, I don't want you.  Go back to bed.  It's a miserable place, Ned,
+but I dare say there will be some good fishing."
+
+"Take a lot of good fishing, sir, and they'd have to be very fresh, to
+make it worth staying for.  Good-night, sir."
+
+"Good-morning, Ned," said Jack with a faint smile, and the man went
+below, while, feeling chilly and depressed, and as if it would be wiser
+to follow the fellow's example, he walked moodily forward, gazing over
+the side in the direction of the island, and noticing now that there was
+a low line of thick mist lying just over where the billows broke in foam
+and produced the deep thunderous roar.
+
+Cold, chilling, and repellent as it was, Jack could not repress a
+shiver, and the feeling of dislike to the voyage, which had been rapidly
+dying out in the new interests he felt, came back with renewed force.
+
+"Why did we come?" he muttered.
+
+As his eyes grew more accustomed to the gloom, he saw that the low
+clouds seemed to be in bands above each other, increasing the strangely
+forbidding aspect.
+
+Just then there was a light step on the deck, and the mate came up.
+
+"Morning," he said.  "Here we are, you see."
+
+"See?  Yes; but what a place!"
+
+"Eh?" cried the mate in surprise; "what, don't you like the look of it?"
+
+"No; it is horrible.  Just a black and grey mountain rising out of the
+sea.  Are we at anchor?"
+
+"No; only lying-to, waiting for the full light, so as to find the
+opening through the reef.  There is no anchorage out here; I dare say
+the lead would go down a mile."
+
+"What, so close to the shore?"
+
+"Oh yes.  These volcanic mountains rise up suddenly--steeply, I mean,
+from very great depths, and then the coral insects begin building upon
+them, and form regular breakwaters of solid stone all round, and these
+coral reefs rise just to the surface, and keep the waves from washing
+the sides of the volcano away."
+
+"What a pity!" said Jack mockingly.  "I don't see any good in preserving
+a great black-looking heap like that."
+
+"Don't you?" said the mate, smiling, and looking back up at the gloomy
+eminence.
+
+"No, I don't," replied Jack, with a touch of early morning ill-humour in
+his tones.  "But isn't that nonsense?  The sea could not wash away an
+island like that."
+
+"What!  Why, give it time and it will wash away a continent.  But an
+island like this would be nothing to it without the coral insects
+stopped it.  Some volcanoes rise in these seas and never get much above
+the surface--the waves wash them away as fast as they form.  You see
+they are only made up of loose cinders and ashes which fall over outside
+as they are thrown up.  Others are more solid if liquid lava boils over
+the edge of the crater and runs down.  This gradually hardens into
+massive rock, and resists the beating of the sea till the coral insects
+have done their work, building up to the surface of the sea, and then
+going on at the sides."
+
+"I suppose you are right," said Jack with a yawn, "but the sooner we get
+away from this ugly place the better."
+
+"Think so?  Well, wait and see it by daylight first.  Look!"
+
+He pointed to where, nearly a mile above them, a bright golden spot had
+appeared.
+
+"Why, the volcano's burning," cried Jack excitedly.  "Look!  It's
+red-hot, and gradually increasing.  There's going to be an eruption.
+How grand!  But shall we be safe here?"
+
+"Quite," said the mate, smiling, and he stood watching his companion's
+face, and its changes in the glowing light of the magnificent spectacle,
+as the golden red-hot aspect of the mountain top rapidly increased,
+displaying every seam, ravine, and buttress, that seemed to be of
+burning metal, fiery spot after fiery spot, that the minute before was
+of a deep violet black.  And this went on, with the fire appearing to
+sink gradually down till the whole of the mountain top was one grand
+blaze of glory, which went on apparently sinking behind a belt of
+clouds, till from being of dark and gloomy grey they began to glow and
+become of a wonderful translucency.
+
+"Oh!" panted the lad, "I never saw anything so grand as that.  Look how
+the awful fire is reflected in the sky all round there."
+
+"Yes, it's brightening it well up," said the mate, smiling; and then the
+boy looked in his face, and the truth came to him like a flash from the
+great orb to enlighten his understanding.
+
+"Why, you're laughing at me," he cried.  "How stupid!  I thought the
+mountain was burning.  You should have told me.  How was I to--Yes, I
+ought to have known that mountain tops first caught the light.  Oh, I
+wish I were not so ignorant."
+
+"You are not the first who has been deceived," said the mate quietly.
+"Well, the mountain does not look so gloomy now, does it?"
+
+"Glorious!  Up there it is grand.  I wish we were on the top."
+
+"All in good time.  But you know how quickly the full day comes here
+near the equator.  Keep looking."
+
+Jack wanted no telling, and for the next few minutes, with a curious
+sense of awe, wonder, and delight, he stood watching the line of light
+descending and making the beauties of the volcanic island start out of
+the gloom.  The bands of cloud which hung round the sharp slope became
+roseate, golden, orange, and purple, and soon after the lad was gazing
+below the barren, glowing rocks at patches of golden green, then at the
+beginning of billows and deep valleys running down, the former of
+wonderful shades of green, the latter of deep dark velvety purple,
+across which silvery films of vapour were floating.
+
+And still the light came down, casting wonderful shadows, setting
+towering pyramidical trees blazing as it were; and then all at once the
+boy could have believed that he was gazing where there was a gash of
+liquid fire pouring down into a dark valley, flashing and coruscating
+till it disappeared.
+
+And still lower and lower, with wonderful rapidity now, as the great
+glowing disk was seen to rise above the edge of the sea, till the whole
+island was ablaze in the morning sunshine, and the gloomy, forbidding
+mass was one glorious picture of tropic beauty.  Forests grouped
+themselves about the lower mountain slopes, lovely park-like stretches
+could be seen lower still, and beneath lower groves of palm-like trees a
+band of golden sand.  Nearer still, thin lines of cocoa palms edging
+what appeared to be a lake of the purest blue, edged in turn with a
+sparkling line of foam, where the billows seemed to be eternally
+fretting to get over the surrounding reef and plunge themselves into the
+placid, perfectly calm lagoon.
+
+Lastly there was the dark sea, now lit up into a gleaming plain of
+gently heaving waves; all being shot as it were with purple, where again
+patches of rippled damascened silver flashed in the opening of a new
+day.
+
+"It is too beautiful," muttered the boy to himself.  "It seems almost as
+if it hurt and made one sad.  Oh," he said aloud, "and I never called
+him up to see."
+
+"Eh, what's that?" said Sir John.  "Think we were sleeping through all
+this?  Oh no!  What a glorious sunrise, my boy."
+
+"Glorious," cried the doctor, grasping the boy's arm.  "I didn't think
+Nature could be so grand.  Here, I don't feel as if I could wait for
+breakfast.  Oh, Jack, my lad, what times we're going to have out there."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the captain, coming up with his face shining in
+the morning light, "will this do for you?  What do you say to my island
+now?"
+
+"Thank you," said Sir John, offering his hand.  "I don't think we shall
+want to go any farther, Bradleigh.  There will be enough here to last us
+for life."
+
+"Right," cried the doctor, rubbing his hands.  "Only to think of our
+pottering away our existence at home when there were places like this to
+see.  I say, you know, Nature isn't fair.  The idea of such grand,
+clever chaps as we are--or think we are--having to put up with our
+gloomy, foggy island, and a set of naked savages having such a home as
+that.  I say it's quite unnatural."
+
+"I don't suppose they appreciate the beauties of the place," said Sir
+John.
+
+"Will it do?" cried the doctor.  "I'm philosopher enough to say that
+this is just the sort of place where a man can be happy.  You don't get
+me away from here, I can tell you.  I mean to stay."
+
+"For the present, at all events," said Sir John.  "I question though
+whether Captain Bradleigh here will want to stop very long."
+
+"Just as long as you like, gentlemen," said the captain.  "I can make
+myself contented anywhere.  That is," he added with a laugh, "if I can
+find good safe anchorage for the vessel I command.  Well then, if you
+think this place will do for a stay, the first thing to be done is to
+find the way through the reef into the lagoon.  There's an opening
+somewhere near here."
+
+Just about that time Jack cast his eyes aft and saw that Edward was
+standing by the cabin hatch with one of Sir John's serge jackets in his
+left and a clothes-brush in his right hand, for though the clothes on
+ship-board seemed as if they could not by any possibility gather dust--
+they did get some flue in the corners of the pockets--Edward gave them
+all a thorough-going turn every morning before he rubbed over the shoes
+with paste, the blacking bottle remaining unopened and the brushes
+unused.
+
+Jack went quickly up to him, and Edward began rubbing his head with the
+back of the clothes-brush; but before the lad could speak the man began.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," he said, "but you didn't happen to see me on deck in
+the middle of the night, did you?"
+
+"No, Ned," said Jack, staring.
+
+"Of course you didn't, sir," said the man, speaking as if relieved.
+"Made me feel as if my head was getting a bit soft."
+
+"No wonder, if you keep on tapping it with the clothes-brush."
+
+"Oh, that won't hurt it, sir, my head's hard as wood.  I'm a bit late
+this morning--over-slept myself.  Had the rummiest dream I ever knowed
+of."
+
+"What did you dream?"
+
+"Dreamt as I come up in the middle of the night, just when it was
+thinking about getting to morning, and we'd sailed to about the
+horridest place as ever was, and then I looked round and saw you like a
+black shadow going about the deck without making a sound."
+
+"I had no shoes on," said Jack.
+
+"Then it wasn't a dream, and it was only that the place looked so dismal
+drear in the dusk."
+
+"Of course it was, Ned."
+
+The man gave his head a rap with the clothes-brush.  "Then that's a
+lesson for a man never to be in too much of a hurry.  'Pon my word, Mr
+Jack, sir, when I came just now and had a look, I felt as if I must have
+been dreaming, for as soon as I went below I lay down for a snooze, and
+went off like a top."
+
+"The light has made a wonderful change, Ned," said Jack.  "Well, what do
+you think of it now?"
+
+"It's beyond thinking, sir, it's wonderful.  We've seen some tidy places
+as we come along, but this beats everything I ever saw.  Seems to me
+that we'd better stop here altogether.  They say `there's no place like
+home,' but I say there's no place like this."
+
+"It really is beautiful, Ned.  You should have stopped on deck and seen
+the wonderful transformation as the sun rose."
+
+"Couldn't have been anything like coming upon it sudden, sir, after
+going below feeling that you'd been cheated.  How I should like to send
+for my poor old mother to see it.  But I dunno: she wouldn't come.
+She's got an idee that Walworth is about the loveliest place in the
+world.  But it ain't, Mr Jack, you may believe me, it really ain't, not
+even when the sun shines; while when it don't, and it happens to be a
+bit muddy, or it rains, or there's a fog, it's--well, I don't think
+there's anything short of a photo to show what it really is like, and
+one of them wouldn't do it credit.  But this isn't Walworth, sir, and
+the next thing I want to do is to go ashore and see what the place is
+like."
+
+"All in good time, Ned.  I suppose we shall soon begin collecting now."
+
+"Any time you like, Mr Jack, sir, and please remember that your
+obedient servant to command, Edward Sims, is aboard, and whether it's
+sticking pins through flies and beetles like Sir John does, or shooting
+and skinning birds and beasts like the doctor, I want to be in it.  My
+word, there ought to be some fine things here."
+
+"There's no doubt about it."
+
+"Then if you'll remember me, sir, as the song says, there isn't anything
+I won't do, even to being your donkey for you to ride when you're tired,
+and," added the man with a smile full of triumph, as if defying any one
+to surpass his offer, "you can't say fairer than that."
+
+"I'll try for you to come, Ned," he replied.
+
+"Do, sir, if it's only to carry the vittles.  Thankye, sir, all the
+same."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+FINDING THE WAY IN.
+
+Meanwhile the captain went forward.  The men were piped on deck, and in
+a short time they were under easy sail in search of the opening, the
+captain keeping about a mile from the lovely shore, which Jack scanned
+eagerly with a glass as they glided on, but he saw no sign of
+inhabitants either in the open or among the palms.
+
+Then he searched the open spots which could be seen here and there among
+the trees where the ground began to rise, but there was nothing in the
+shape of hut or shelter of any kind.
+
+"Well, can you make anything out?" said Sir John, coming up to where
+Jack was resting his elbows on the rail and sweeping the island in a
+peculiarly effortless way, which only necessitated his keeping the glass
+steadily to his eye and holding himself rigid, the result being that the
+object glass had three separate motions given to it by the yacht,
+namely, its gliding straight on, its fore and aft rise and fall as it
+passed over the gently heaving swell, and thirdly the careening movement
+as the _Silver Star_ yielded to the pressure of the wind.  Hence every
+part along the shore was being thoroughly searched.
+
+"No, father, nothing.  I thought I should see some canoes drawn up on
+the shore of the lagoon, but there is no sign of any one being there.
+Oh, I do hope it is an uninhabited island."
+
+"So do I, my boy; but we may come at any time upon a village.  The place
+is quite big enough to hold towns even on the other side, hidden from us
+by the mountain."
+
+"But Captain Bradleigh thinks that if we do find any one there it will
+only be a wandering party who have sailed from some other island.  He
+says that they are famous people in this direction for taking long
+journeys in their canoes, sailing from island to island, for the sea is
+dotted with them in every direction for hundreds and hundreds of miles."
+
+"So I suppose," said Sir John thoughtfully; "but I do not see any signs
+of an opening in the reef to let us through into the smooth water.  All
+depends upon that, for if we do not get into a sheltered part we can
+only make a few short visits."
+
+The wind began to fall so light when they had sailed a few miles, that
+it was evident that before long they would have a similar calm to that
+which they had experienced on the previous day.
+
+"My brain's a little foggy about where the opening in the reef is," said
+the captain soon after breakfast; "and I am rather anxious to get inside
+before the wind drops, for one never knows what weather one is going to
+have in these latitudes at this time of year, especially after a calm."
+
+"Are you sure there is an opening in the reef?" asked the doctor
+anxiously.
+
+"Oh yes, I'm sure of that," said the captain, "for I rowed through it
+and landed; but it's some years ago, and one can't recollect everything.
+Suppose you go aloft, Bartlett, with the glass, and see what you can
+make out."
+
+"May I come with you, Mr Bartlett, and bring mine?" said Jack eagerly.
+
+"Glad of your company," replied the mate.  "You take one side and I'll
+take the other."
+
+"Ay, that will be best," said the captain; "for our main-top is not like
+that of a man-o'-war."
+
+Sir John looked a little anxious, but he said nothing, and stood
+watching as Jack went to the starboard main shrouds and began to ascend
+rather awkwardly but with a quiet determination which soon landed him in
+the little top, where he and the mate levelled their glasses, and began
+to trace the edge of the reef where the great rollers were foaming, but
+nothing was visible, till all at once Jack said--
+
+"What will the opening be like?"
+
+"A spot where there is no foam--no breakers curling over."
+
+"I've found it then," said Jack quickly, "but it seems to be a very long
+way off."
+
+"I'm afraid you are mistaken," said the mate, who repeated the process
+of sweeping the reef with his glass.  "My eyes are pretty good ones, but
+I can make out nothing but breakers.  Try again, and see if you see the
+place now."
+
+Jack had not taken his double glass--a very good one presented to him by
+his father--from his eyes, and a minute had not elapsed before he said--
+
+"Yes, there it is: a dark bit in the white rollers.  It's a long way
+off, but I can see it quite plainly."
+
+"Make anything out?" cried the captain anxiously, as he watched them
+from the deck.
+
+"I can't, sir," replied the mate, "but Mr Jack here says he can see it
+quite plainly."
+
+"Well done, young mariner," cried the captain.  "Good for the first
+voyage.  Have another look, Bartlett, and see how far it is off."
+
+The mate looked again through his long glass, and Jack with his short
+one.
+
+"Yes, there's the dark spot," said the latter.  "Can't you see it now?"
+
+"No.  Your eyes are better than mine, my lad."
+
+"Perhaps it's my glass that is better than yours," said the lad.  "Try."
+
+The mate lowered his own telescope and took the little binocular handed
+to him, had a look, focussed it a little better for his own sight, and
+then cried sharply--
+
+"Yes, sir, there's the gap in the reef."
+
+"How far away?"
+
+"About a couple of miles, sir."
+
+"Tut--tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated the captain; "and we shan't make it
+till the wind rises at night."
+
+"What! be rocking out here all day again?" said the doctor.
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm afraid so."
+
+"But we could land here in the boat."
+
+"What, through that surf, Sir John?  Impossible.  It looks very trifling
+from here, but it would be a certain capsize if it was attempted, and
+the boat smashed to pieces.  But we must do better than that;" and
+giving the orders sharply, the firemen and engine-driver turned to
+below, and five minutes later the great wreaths of black smoke were
+pouring out of the funnel and rising high, forming a huge feather that
+was very slowly left behind.
+
+Before there was steam enough to use they were once more in a dead calm,
+but the swell consequent on the check given to the current by the
+obstacle formed by the reef was far heavier than on the previous day,
+and the captain frowned as the yacht rocked from side to side, her masts
+describing arcs against the sky.
+
+"I don't like that," he said.  "Bad place to be in if we had a bit of a
+hurricane, with that reef just under our quarter."
+
+"But there seems to be no likelihood of such a misfortune, for the glass
+promised fine weather."
+
+"All the same, though, sir," said Captain Bradleigh, "I am always
+anxious when I find myself in a place which might prove dangerous, and I
+am not so situated that I could get out of it."
+
+At last there was a welcome hissing sound from the valve, the order was
+given, and once more the yacht began to throb, as if it had its heart
+pulsating rapidly, and the distance which separated them from the
+opening in the reef was soon passed, the panorama being lovely in the
+extreme.  Once there the engine was slowed, stopped, and the captain
+gave orders for one of the boats to be lowered.
+
+"Why not steam in at once?" asked Jack.
+
+The captain smiled.
+
+"It is some years since I was here, my lad.  Then we rowed in, with the
+lead being heaved all the time, and there was plenty of water for a ship
+to sail in; but since then the coral insects may have been busy building
+up walls or mushroom-shaped rocks, or a bit of a mountain top ready to
+make a hole in our bottom, so we must feel our way.  Going with them?"
+
+For answer Jack sprang into the boat, and they pushed off, riding easily
+over the swell caused by the breakers stretching away in a long line to
+right and left; and as they rowed on, a man in the bows kept on heaving
+the lead, and sounding to find deep water everywhere.
+
+"Make a pretty loud din, don't they?" said the mate quietly, as, with a
+feeling of awe beginning to increase as they neared the opening, Jack
+sat watching the great rollers which came gliding in with the tide, and
+then, as if enraged at the barrier to their progress, rose up foaming
+and curved over to fall with a boom like thunder.
+
+This increased as they drew nearer, the opening proving to be about a
+hundred yards in width, and the water, which had seemed to be so smooth
+and calm at a distance, being just outside one wild turmoil of eddy and
+cross currents consequent upon the action of the breakers on either
+side.
+
+The boat danced about so at last, as they rowed slowly on to enable the
+man in the bows to sound more frequently in this the entrance part, that
+Jack was unable to keep back the question he felt ashamed to put.
+
+Out it came.
+
+"Is it safe for such a small boat as this to go through there, Mr
+Bartlett?"
+
+"If it were not I should row back," said the mate with a quiet smile.
+"Oh, yes, we could go through far worse places than this.  But look
+there to the right; you see now why the captain said no boat could cross
+the reef."
+
+Jack could not forbear a shudder.
+
+"The oars are nearly useless in that broken water, nearly all foam.  The
+men can get no grip.  But here we could run in twice as fast if we
+liked.  Seems to be deep water.  Capital channel.  Not a suggestion of a
+rock."
+
+Then after contenting himself with letting the lead go down a few
+fathoms in the deep water, the man began to keep to one level length of
+ten fathoms, and this always went down without finding bottom till they
+were well in the jaws of the reef, when all at once he cried the
+depth--"By the mark nine," and repeated the announcement again and
+again.  Then it was eight, then seven, and as they glided out of the
+turmoil into perfectly smooth water the depth shallowed to six fathoms,
+and kept at that, no less, wherever they rowed.
+
+"Plenty of good anchorage in shelter," said the mate, slewing the boat
+round head to the opening once more, and they rowed out, sounding again
+as they went back, after proving that there was a perfectly clear
+channel for the yacht to pass in.
+
+Once well outside the mate bade the men lie on their oars, and he
+hoisted the boat-hook with a handkerchief on the end for the signal
+agreed upon with the captain.
+
+Then the _Silver Star_ began to move, and glided slowly in, picking up
+the boat as she passed.
+
+Half-an-hour later the anchors were dropped, and the yacht lay moored in
+perfectly still water, through which Jack gazed down at a wonderful
+submarine garden, and then at the line of cocoa-nut trees in the sandy
+beach to their right.  Then his eyes went wandering over the forest, and
+up and up to the perfectly formed volcano which shot skyward.
+
+And so on till his eyes grew misty, and the back of his neck ached with
+the way in which it had been bent, and he was still gazing through his
+glass when the announcement came that the meal was ready.
+
+All too soon, for the boy did not know he was hungry, there had been too
+much mental food to devour.
+
+But he found that he could eat and pay attention to the conversation
+too, which was upon the, to him, glorious subject of going ashore that
+afternoon in the boat for the sake of a little exploring before the
+night closed in, and ended what was to Jack a most exciting day.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+THE FIRST RUN ASHORE.
+
+Jack dropped down into the boat with a feeling of pity for the men who
+had to stay on board with the mate.  Sir John, the doctor, and Captain
+Bradleigh were of the party, all well-armed, and, to Jack's excitement
+and satisfaction, he found that the crew of the boat all wore cutlasses,
+with the peculiar hilt which enables the wearers to fix them
+bayonet-fashion to the muzzles of their rifles.
+
+"Just as well to be prepared, Mr Jack," said the captain, smiling, as
+he saw the interest the boy took in the men's appearance.  "I don't
+think we shall find a soul in the island.  If there had been, they must
+have caught sight of us, and would have shown themselves, even if they
+had gone off into the woods when they saw us coming ashore.  Well, what
+do you say to this for a treat?  Think it's as good as Doctor Instow
+described?"
+
+"Better, ever so much," said Jack excitedly; "but please don't talk to
+me now.  There is so much to see, I want to look about me.  It is all so
+fresh and beautiful.  But are there cocoa-nut trees?"
+
+"Yes, of all sizes, from little ones a year old, to old ones in full
+bearing.  There they are."
+
+"But I thought cocoanuts grew on a sort of palm-tree which went up from
+the ground as straight as an arrow."
+
+"No: never.  The cocoa-nut sapling springs up with a beautiful curve
+like you see yonder, all alike, and no matter how the wind blows they
+keep to it, bending down and springing up again as if they were made of
+whalebone.  They get it badly though when there is a hurricane; scarcely
+anything can stand that.  But look down."
+
+"Look down?"
+
+"Yes, into the sea.  You must not pass that over."
+
+The boy glanced over the side of the boat, as the men rowed gently
+across the lagoon, to find that they had gradually come into a shallow
+part, whose waters, save for the disturbance made by the boat's passing,
+were perfectly calm and of crystal clearness.  As they neared the sandy
+shore, the bottom, by the refraction, seemed to come nearer and nearer
+to the surface, through which he sat gazing into one of Nature's
+loveliest aquaria, strewn with the most wondrous corals and madrepores,
+not dry, harsh, and stony, but glowing in colours imparted by the many
+creatures which covered them.  The seaweeds were exquisite, and the
+flowers of this submarine garden were sea anemones of wondrous tints,
+some closed like buds, others open wide, aster-like, and as bright in
+tint, but with a slow, creeping movement of their petal-like arms, as
+some unfortunate water creature touched them and was drawn into the
+central mouth.
+
+Shell-fish too of wondrous forms lay or crept about in the grottoes of
+coral rock.  Some were anchored oyster-like, and of gigantic size, lying
+as traps with shells apart, like the mouth of some terrible monster
+lying hidden among the weeds; others with strange, striped shells
+crawled snail-like over the bottom, amidst many so small that they were
+mere specks.  And all the while, as the boat glided on over the surface,
+there were flashes of gold, silver, ruby, topaz, sapphire, and amethyst,
+for shoals of fish, startled by their coming, darted through the sunlit
+water, to hide in the waving groves of sea-weed, or nestle down among
+the coral stones.
+
+"Stop rowing, please," said Sir John suddenly; and Jack turned to see
+that his father and the doctor had been gazing down into the water from
+the other side of the boat.  "Only for a few minutes, captain: we must
+not pass over this too quickly."
+
+"You have only to give your orders, sir," said the captain, smiling with
+satisfaction; and as the men sat with their oars balanced, the boat
+glided slowly on, hardly disturbing the surface; but her shadow was
+sufficient as it darkened the water to still startle the fish from their
+homes.
+
+"Here's work, Meadows--here's collecting.  Jack, boy, what do you think
+of it?"
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated the lad, without raising his eyes from the wondrous
+scene he was watching once more.
+
+There does not seem much in that simple little interjection; but the
+meaning put into it by the tone and the face of the lad who uttered it
+spoke volumes.
+
+"Ah, it is oh!" cried the doctor.  "Here, Jack, it's all nonsense, I
+can't be thirty-six; I feel only sixteen, and I want to begin wading in
+here."
+
+"I'd advise you to wear very thick boats then," said the captain.  "Some
+of these things are knife-edged, some sharp as thorns.  You'll have to
+take care."
+
+"Oh, we will; eh, Jack?"
+
+"Yes; but we must get a lot of these as specimens.  Here, look--look!"
+
+"Ah, one of those snakes," said Sir John.  "One?  Look--look! there are
+dozens of them gliding about."
+
+"Then I shan't wade," said the doctor decisively.  "I don't want any
+patients this trip, and there wouldn't be much fun in laying myself up
+with a bad leg, and having myself to attend.  I shall do my wading in a
+boat."
+
+"Yes; and we must fish for and catch some of these little fellows.  Do,
+father, look at that one gliding along by that clump of branched stuff,
+plant or coral, or whatever it calls itself.  Why it's like a gold-fish
+with a great, broad bar of glittering blue across it."
+
+"Lovely!" cried the doctor.
+
+A discordant burst of shrill, whistling screams came from the cocoa-nut
+grove ashore, and Jack looked up sharply.
+
+"Paroquets," said the captain.  "There they are, quite a flock of them."
+
+Jack's hand stole behind him toward the guns and just then there was a
+fluttering of wings, and a little cloud of green, shot with orange
+yellow and blue, glided out of the grove and flew inland.
+
+"Let's land," said Sir John.  "There is so much to see, that we had
+better content ourselves with a preliminary look round."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor, "and devote separate days after to some
+particular branch.  Pull away, my lads."
+
+"Yes; but very gently," cried Jack; and they glided on, the men guessing
+the wishes of those on board by swinging together with a slow, steady
+motion, and just lightly dipping their oars without a splash, so that,
+as they glided on toward a patch of sand some four hundred yards away,
+where the grove of palms was the highest, and the shade from the glowing
+sun the deepest, a glorious view of the submarine treasures was enjoyed.
+Jack sighed as the boat's prow touched the sands, the men sprang out on
+either side in the shallow water, and ran her right up on the shore,
+close to a great cocoa-nut tree, ready for the painter to be attached in
+case the tide should rise as high.
+
+Two men were left as keepers, and the party, shouldering their arms,
+prepared to start inland.
+
+"It will be best, gentlemen," said the captain, "to make our way along
+the open ground between the lagoon and the forest to-day, and to keep
+well together.  I don't think there is a soul but ourselves on the
+island, but it is as well to take every step as if we were in face of
+enemies.  For no doubt once upon a time the people who live among these
+tropical islands were fairly amiable when not provoked; but I'm sorry to
+say that they have been so ill-used by the sailors and traders of all
+nations, that whatever they may have been, they are often now ready to
+behave in a very treacherous manner to white people."
+
+"Quite right," said Sir John; "and it is hard to make them understand
+that we are perfectly peaceable.  I quite agree with Doctor Instow that
+our pleasant voyage ought not to be made arduous to him and painful to
+us all by any sad accident.  We do not want any patients suffering from
+spear-thrust, or poisoned arrow sent from blow-pipe or bow, and I beg
+that every one will understand that I should look upon it as a calamity
+if, in defence of our lives, we were forced to fire upon a set of
+ignorant savages.  Captain Bradleigh, we trust to your guidance on
+board, we will continue to do so, please, on shore."
+
+"Thank you, Sir John," said the gentleman addressed; "you have uttered
+my sentiments exactly, and I am glad to say that I can trust my lads
+thoroughly.  So now, then, we'll go west slowly and easily, so that you
+can take a look at anything which takes your fancy, and we will just
+skirt the woodland patches while we go as far as seems reasonable in
+this direction, our main object being to find out whether we have the
+island to ourselves."
+
+"But we shall only be examining the narrow band by the water side.  What
+about inland?" said the doctor.
+
+"If we go partly to-day and partly to-morrow round the island, I fancy
+we shall learn all we want," replied the captain.  "If there are any of
+the black fuzzy-headed Papuans here, or the browner South Sea Islands
+type of men, more like the Maoris, or lastly the Malay flat-nosed
+fellows, we are sure to find traces of them by the shore or up the
+little rivers.  They don't care for the inland parts of an island like
+this, where there is a volcano still more or less active.  They
+generally give these mountains a wide berth, unless there happens to be
+a tribe of the original people who have been driven inland by the more
+warlike folk, who go filibustering about searching for new lands in
+their great outrigger war canoes."
+
+"Hang their war canoes!" said the doctor gruffly, "we don't want them
+here."
+
+"You, my lads," said the captain to the two men by the boat, "will not
+leave your posts, and you will keep the cutter just afloat, so that you
+can leap aboard and keep her off at the first sign of danger.  If there
+is anything you will fire two shots sharply, as a warning to Mr
+Bartlett, though probably he will see it first and send help to you.
+Then keep on firing a shot every minute till you get an answer from us,
+followed by one shot, and then two more, which mean that we have heard
+you and are coming back.  Now I don't expect anything of the kind, but
+we must be on the look-out till we have examined the place.  You
+understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"That's right.  Don't leave your rifles, and don't go to sleep."
+
+"Right, sir."
+
+"Then now, gentlemen, we'll advance in a line.  No straggling, mind.
+When one halts, all will stand fast.  Forward!"
+
+Jack shouldered his perfectly new double gun and stepped out, not
+feeling the weight of either that or the satchel and cartridge pouch
+slung by cross-belts, while from that at his waist hung a leather
+holster containing a revolver and a strong, handy sheath knife, suitable
+for a weapon, for skinning a specimen, or for hacking a way through
+tangled scrub.  A feeling of subdued excitement set his heart beating
+steadily, and a thrill of returning health made his muscles feel tense,
+while his eyes flashed with eagerness, and there was an elasticity in
+his step that sent a feeling of satisfaction home to his father.
+
+He was between Sir John and the doctor as they stepped off in a line
+over the soft sand, and the latter turned for a moment, looking serious.
+
+"One word to you two," he said,--"medical adviser's word.  This is a new
+country, and you are new to it.  Just mind this: with quiet steady going
+you can do a great deal; but there must be no over-exertion so as to get
+too much heated.  Chills are easily taken in these tropic lands, and
+they mean fever and weakness, so let there be no false delicacy or
+shame, and fighting to keep up with men better fit for the work than we
+are.  If either of you feels tired, stop at once and rest."
+
+"That's all meant for me," said Jack, smiling.
+
+"No, it isn't," cried the doctor sharply.  "It's meant as much for your
+father, who has a deal more weight to carry than you have, and if I am
+not much mistaken, Jack Meadows, Esquire, he is a good deal older.  Now
+you understand.  No over-exertion, no drinking cold water while you're
+hot.  As I told you before, I don't want patients till I get back home.
+I've come out to enjoy my trip, so have a little mercy, if you please."
+
+They tramped on under the blazing sunshine, and where they could under
+the shade of trees, starting crabs running in all directions, fish which
+had been basking on the wet sand by the water's edge wriggling and
+flopping back into the lagoon, and birds of brilliant colours from the
+trees they passed; all of which excited a desire in Jack to begin trying
+his skill with his double gun; but it was an understood thing that
+shooting was not to commence that day, but every hour be devoted to
+exploring.
+
+Everything looked superlatively beautiful.  Metallic-armoured lizards
+darted over the dry sand to hide amongst the scattered blocks of
+sun-baked coral, lovely butterflies and other insects flitted amongst
+low growth, in company with tiny sun-birds which seemed clothed in
+brilliant burnished mail, and at every few steps larger birds, perfectly
+new to the visitors, took flight or hurried thrush-like to take refuge
+beneath the bushes.
+
+On their left the wondrously blue lagoon glittered through the tall
+stems of the cocoa-nut trees which fringed the shore; on their right
+they had the open park-like stretches of land, dotted with bush and
+stately tree; and every here and there, through an opening, they had
+glimpses of the forest, which rose upward covering the flanks of the
+mountain.
+
+At the end of an hour, long after--through the curving of the shore--the
+yacht had disappeared from view, they made their first halt.  They
+stopped at a valley-like opening which ran in a sinuous manner up and up
+till they had a glimpse of the central mountain nearly to its highest
+part.
+
+The captain, in his caution, set a man on the highest part to act as
+sentry and guard against a surprise, and he himself took another and
+walked a quarter of a mile farther in search of traces on the sands of
+canoes.
+
+Jack threw himself down beneath a group of cocoa-nut trees, with the
+soft sand for his couch, and was delighted and puzzled at the pleasant,
+restful sensations he enjoyed.  Sir John and the doctor sat down a
+little apart, and the sailors chose another group of cocoa-nut trees to
+indulge in a quiet chat.
+
+Jack had just half-closed his eyes, to lie gazing through the lashes at
+dazzling light and rainbow-like effects seen in the mist caused by the
+breakers on the reef, when a rustling sound behind him made him start
+and find that it was their man.
+
+"Only me, Mr Jack, sir.  Hope I haven't woke you out of a nap."
+
+"Oh no.  I was not asleep, Ned."
+
+"Tired, sir?"
+
+"No, not a bit."
+
+"Feet hurt you?"
+
+"No.  Why should they?"
+
+"With the walking, sir.  You see, you're not used to it."
+
+"No, I'm not used to it, Ned; but I soon shall be."
+
+"That's right, sir.  If they had been hurting you and your boots felt
+tight, I was going to say, come down to the water's edge and paddle your
+feet a bit."
+
+"But they're all right."
+
+"Glad of it, sir.  Mine ain't.  At least they're better now.  That's
+what I went and did, and it's lovely.  Thirsty, sir?"
+
+"Well, yes, I am thirsty."
+
+"Then I'll get you a drink, sir, same as the men's had.  Two of 'em's
+been up one of those trees--these trees like we're under, sir.  They
+calls 'em cocoa-nut, but that's all nonsense.  They're not nuts."
+
+"Oh yes, these are real cocoa-nut trees, Ned."
+
+"Well, sir, I don't like to contradick you; it wouldn't be my place.
+But if these are real cocoanuts, them we buys--I mean I buys--at home
+are sham ones."
+
+"Oh, they're all the same, Ned."
+
+"Well, sir, 'tain't for me to contradick.  I dessay you're quite right
+and they are all the same, but they're quite different.  Them at home's
+hard shells with rough shaggy hairs on 'em, and inside they're white
+solid nut."
+
+"So are these, Ned."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir, have you tasted one?  You must have seen 'em hanging
+here in the trees."
+
+"Of course I've seen them."
+
+"Yes, sir, and they're twice as large as ours, with a cover to 'em like
+a piece of solid door-mat."
+
+"That's the outer husk, Ned."
+
+"Oh, is it, sir?  I thought it was something.  But you ain't tasted
+one?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, sir, it's hard work to cut them at home with a knife, they're
+that hard; as for these here they're too soft to cut with a spoon.  Have
+one, sir?"
+
+"Oh no, I'm not disposed to eat nuts," said Jack, laughing.
+
+"But you don't eat 'em here, sir; it's more drinking of 'em.  Let me get
+you one, sir."
+
+"Very well: I do feel as if I could drink something."
+
+"Then these are the very thing, sir," said the man, and he hurried off,
+Jack lying back watching him till he reached the knot of sailors
+enjoying the shade.
+
+Then as Jack watched quite out of hearing, a kind of pantomime began, in
+which the sailors seemed to be laughing, and Ned gesticulating, and
+holding his hand first to one and then another, slapping his knee
+afterward, and seeming to go on in the most absurd manner; but the next
+minute Jack began to grasp dimly what it all meant, and that the sailors
+were daring their man to do something, and telling him it could not be
+done.
+
+There it all was: directly after Ned slipped off his straps and belt,
+pulled off his jacket, and then rapidly got rid of his boots.
+
+Jack did not hear him say, "Now, my lads, I'll show you," but he seemed
+to say it, after shading his eyes and staring upward for a few moments
+before spitting in his hands, taking a run and a jump, and beginning to
+hug and climb one of the cocoa-nut trees, while the sailors all sprang
+up to stand clapping their hands, and evidently bantering him or urging
+him on.
+
+This brought Jack into a sitting position, and the next minute he had
+out his glass, and was watching with the actor apparently close at hand,
+drawing himself up a few inches at a time, as one would mount a
+scaffold-pole, and his wrinkled forehead, compressed lips, and
+determined eyes so plain that Jack could have fancied that he heard him
+breathe.
+
+"I wonder whether he'll do it," said the lad softly.  "He is just one of
+those obstinate fellows who, if they make up their minds to do a thing,
+manage it somehow."
+
+And feeling as deeply interested as the man himself, Jack felt ready to
+run across to the cocoa-nut grove and shout encouragement.
+
+"Look so precious undignified if I did.  But how strange it seems!
+There was he only the other day in his quiet livery and white tie
+valeting us, and waiting at table, and now he's climbing that tree like
+a boy."
+
+"Or a monkey, Jack," said the doctor, who had come up behind, and Sir
+John with him.  "I didn't hear you," said Jack, starting.  "Not likely
+when you were talking aloud with your ears glued to that lorgnette.
+Well, eyes then.  But it's the air, my lad; I feel ready to do any
+stupid thing of that kind.  I'd challenge you to climb the two next
+trees if we were alone."
+
+"_I_ hope the foolish fellow will not meet with an accident," said Sir
+John.
+
+"Pooh! not he," said the doctor.  "The lads have been challenging him, I
+suppose."
+
+"I think that's it, but he has gone to get a cocoa-nut for me."
+
+"You did not send him to do it, Jack?"
+
+"No, father: he came and proposed it."
+
+"Tree's getting gradually thinner," said the doctor.  "Easier to climb."
+
+"I hope he will be successful," said Sir John.  "The men will banter him
+so if he fails."
+
+"How the tree begins to bend!" said Jack anxiously.  "Why don't you
+shake it?" he cried, without considering that his words could not be
+heard.  But, oddly enough, just at that moment the idea seemed to have
+occurred to Ned, who held on with his legs and shook the tree violently.
+
+"You will not do it like that, my fine fellow," said the captain, coming
+up; "and lucky for you that you can't.  A crack from one of those nuts
+would be no joke."
+
+"Yes, they must be pretty heavy," said Sir John.
+
+"Heavy enough to kill any one if they fell upon his bare head."
+
+"Oh, look how the tree's bending over!" cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, he had no business to choose such a slight one," said the captain,
+as the tree swayed beneath the man's weight.
+
+"Had I better stop him?" said Sir John.
+
+"I think perhaps you had better not startle him and make him nervous,
+father.  We don't want any accidents."
+
+"Indeed we don't," said the doctor; "better let him be.  Why, if he goes
+on like this the tree will bend over like a fishing-rod, and he can drop
+from the top to the ground."
+
+Then silence fell upon the group, and the sailors ceased to cheer, as,
+with the elastic rod-like tree bending more and more over, and swaying
+up and down, Ned climbed on, till the last part of his progress was
+after the fashion of a sloth, hanging back downward, and at every
+movement coming nearer, till the great crown of leaves and nuts, which
+had stood forty feet in the air, was not more than twenty.
+
+"Another two or three feet will do it," said the doctor; "but I'm afraid
+he will not be able to get the nuts off."
+
+"Oh yes; he can screw them off," said the captain.
+
+"What I'm afraid of is--"
+
+_Crack_!
+
+A sharp loud snap, and the top of the tree came down, the big leafage
+hiding Ned; but he was standing up close to the broken-off tree, which
+was now like a thick pole, and rubbing himself hard, with the sailors
+about him, when the lookers-on reached the spot.
+
+"Oh, Ned!" cried Jack, who was first up.
+
+"Yes, sir, it is `Oh, Ned!'" replied the man angrily.
+
+"Hurt?" cried the others in a breath.
+
+"Don't know yet, Sir John," said the man, "I think my right leg's broke,
+though."
+
+"Here, let me see," cried the doctor eagerly.
+
+"No, it ain't, sir," said Ned, giving a kick.  "It's the left one."
+
+"Bah!" roared the doctor; "how could you stand upon it and kick out like
+that if it were broken?"
+
+"Right you are, sir; of course I couldn't.  But something's broke, for I
+heard it go.  Maybe it's my arms."
+
+"Maybe it's your head," said the doctor sarcastically, "for you are
+talking in a very crack-brained fashion.  Let me buckle your belt round
+it tightly to hold it together."
+
+The man stared wonderingly at the doctor, feeling his head all over the
+while, and his eyes having a puzzled look in them, as if he couldn't
+quite make out whether the doctor was speaking seriously.  But the next
+moment he took it as a piece of chaff and grinned.
+
+"It's all right, sir, but it did come an awful whack against one of
+these nuts."
+
+"Better see if you've damaged the nut," said the doctor sarcastically.
+"No, never mind.  Head's too soft."
+
+Ned grinned again, and gave himself a rub as he looked down at the crown
+of the tree and then at the broken stump, snapped off a good
+five-and-twenty feet from the ground.
+
+"Here," he said, turning to the group of sailors, "you were precious
+full of your brag about climbing, and saying I couldn't.  But I did, and
+now let's see one of you do that."
+
+There was a roar of laughter, and Sir John turned away, but the captain
+spoke rather seriously.
+
+"I wouldn't advise you to do this sort of thing again, young fellow.
+Now then, how do you feel?  Can you go on with us, or will you wait here
+till we come back?"
+
+"Me wait here, sir?" cried Ned.  "What, all alone?  No, thank you, I'm
+all right, sir.  Walk as well as any of them."
+
+"Then whoever wants a cocoa-nut had better have it, for we go on in five
+minutes."
+
+"Will you give me your knife, sir?" said Ned, turning to his young
+master.  "Thankye, sir; I know how it's done;" and chopping off the husk
+and the top of the soft shell of one of the great nuts, he handed it to
+Jack, the sailors quickly getting the rest of the others and serving
+them the same, to hand to Sir John, the doctor, and captain, who all
+partook of the deliriously cool, sub-acid pulp.  Then the word was given
+and the march commenced once more.
+
+Whether Ned suffered or not he kept to himself, for he resumed his
+jacket, boots, and belts, clapped on his pith hat, and stalked off with
+the rest, the way seeming to grow more and more beautiful, and the
+natural history specimens more attractive at every hundred yards they
+left behind.
+
+But there was no shooting, the object of the exploration being
+rigorously kept in mind, and they were just rounding what seemed to be
+the end of a great artificial dike that ran down from the slope on their
+right, when one of the men cried--"Look out!  They must be close here."
+Every one stopped short, and guns and rifles were brought to the ready.
+
+"What is it?" said the captain in a low voice.  "What did you see?"
+
+"Didn't see nothing, sir," replied the man.  "I smelt 'em."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Must be some huts or cottages close here, where the people keeps pigs."
+
+"Yes, look, sir," cried another man, pointing; "they've been down here
+to the sea."
+
+He pointed to where, about a dozen yards away, there were abundant
+traces of a drove of pigs, and as the captain advanced, the odour which
+the sailor had noticed now became plain to all.
+
+Sir John looked inquiringly at the captain.  "A good find," said the
+latter, smiling.  "We shall be able to shoot some fresh young porkers.
+Wild pig is not bad."
+
+"Wild?" cried the doctor.
+
+"Yes, there is evidently a herd of wild pigs in the island, if not
+several.  They have been down here lately."
+
+"But surely there would not be wild boars and sows in an island like
+this?" said Sir John.
+
+"No," said the captain, "but pigs that have run wild.  You see, the old
+voyagers left two or three pairs in a good many places, and they have
+increased largely.  This must have been one of the favoured islands."
+
+Further proof was given a short distance farther on, for they had a
+glimpse of a herd which seemed to be fifty or sixty strong, whose
+leaders stood grunting and staring at the new-comers for a moment or two
+before whisking round and dashing off among the trees, to be hidden
+directly by the low growth, a head or a tail being seen at intervals;
+and then every sign was gone.
+
+"Well," said the doctor to Jack, "that's another discovery to the good:
+fresh pork and poultry."
+
+"You can't eat parrots," said Jack, laughing.
+
+"Why?" said the doctor.
+
+"Oh, those highly-coloured birds can't be good."
+
+"Wait a bit, my young philosopher.  I never knew that gaily-coloured
+barn-door cockerels were `bad', and I know that a young peacock is as
+good as a pheasant; so where is your theory now?"
+
+"Yes, Jack, you are beaten," said Sir John merrily.
+
+"Oh, but I meant parrots and cockatoos and birds of paradise," said the
+lad hurriedly.
+
+"Parrots and cockatoos live on fruit," said the doctor; "fruit is good,
+ergo parrots and cockatoos are good, and I'll have a curry made of the
+first I skin."
+
+"You are right about the birds of paradise though, my boy," said Sir
+John.  "I should not like to try one of those, because they are so
+nearly related to the crow."
+
+"A bird of paradise related to a crow--a black crow?"
+
+"Oh yes, you'll find some of the most gaily painted birds out here in
+the tropics very nearly related to some of our more common friends at
+home."
+
+"Yes; look, there goes one, Jack.  I could bring him down easily."
+
+The lad had already caught sight of a lovely bird upon the ground, which
+stood looking at them for a few moments before hopping away beneath the
+bushes and undergrowth, appearing again farther on, and then spreading
+its wings for a short flight, and displaying the lovely colours with
+which it was dyed, the most prominent being shades of blue relieved by
+delicate fawn and pale warm drab.
+
+"What's that?" cried Jack eagerly.
+
+"That's a thrush," said the doctor.
+
+"A thrush!"
+
+"Yes; not one of our olive-green, speckled-breasted fellows, but a
+thrush all the same, and saving its colouring, wonderfully like one of
+ours."
+
+There was plenty to say about bird and insect as they went on, keeping
+just where the sand gave place to firm ground, for the birds were
+excessively tame, and gave evident proof that they were not much
+disturbed; while every now and then amid the lovely insects which
+thronged wherever there were flowers, appeared some magnificent
+butterfly, several inches across its wings, tempting Sir John to cease
+exploring for the sake of making captures.
+
+But everything was given up to the main object, and mile after mile was
+tramped, every step seeming to reveal some new beauty--peeps through the
+groves at the broad blue sea, or wonderful landscapes up ravines, with
+the mountain towering up behind.
+
+The natural history objects they encountered were plentiful enough.  In
+fact very few steps were taken without something attracting attention.
+Lizards which seemed as they basked on pieces of the heated rock to have
+been cut out of glittering metal, till, at the jar of a footstep, or the
+shadow of any one cast across them, they darted away.  In one place the
+doctor pointed out sinuous markings on the sandy ground which looked as
+if freshly made.
+
+"Yes, a snake," said Sir John, "and a good-sized one too."
+
+"How large?" said Jack with suppressed excitement.
+
+"Seven or eight feet long, I should say," replied his father.
+
+Jack looked with an expression of mingled dread and longing at the patch
+of dense growth into which the track led, and directly after Edward
+exchanged glances with him, the man's look seeming to say--
+
+"I've marked down that spot, sir."
+
+Glen after glen was passed, every one full of beauty and interest, and
+at last they were brought up short by what looked like some huge pier
+running right across their way, down over the sands, and ending suddenly
+about a hundred feet out in the beautiful blue lake.  At the first sight
+it seemed like some great landing-place or wharf, but there was no sign
+of handiwork about it, and the lad gazed at it in awe, as the doctor
+explained that it was the end where it had cooled and solidified in the
+lake of a huge lava-stream which had flowed down from the mountain, high
+up on their right.
+
+"But that means it must have run like so much liquid fire for miles."
+
+"Yes, that's exactly what it does mean, Jack," said Sir John; "six or
+seven or eight.  We shall know some day, when we have explored the
+place."
+
+"And that will be like a high-road to the top," said the doctor, "only
+I'm afraid it would be a rather rough one."
+
+"We'll try it some day," said Sir John.
+
+"Rather hard for your boots, sir," said the captain.  "Look at it: like
+glass, and as sharp in places."
+
+"Why, it must be quite fresh," said Jack.
+
+The captain smiled and shook his head.
+
+"But some of these pieces look quite bright," said Jack.
+
+"Yes; and these trees look quite green, and many of them may be a
+hundred or two hundred years old."
+
+"What has that got to do with it?" said Jack.  "Oh yes, I see now: they
+would have been burned up.  Of course."
+
+"Yes," said Sir John, as he stood looking at the huge solidified stream;
+"everything about here must have been burned to ashes, and it would,
+even with the rapid tropic rate, have taken fully a hundred years for
+these trees to grow."
+
+"How wide is the stream?" said the doctor; and he led the way to climb
+up, startling something, which went off with a tremendous rush inland.
+
+"What's that?" said Sir John.
+
+"Couldn't catch a glimpse of it; but it wasn't a man.  Four-legged
+creature of some kind.  There, that's its cry."
+
+A peculiarly weird howl rang out, and was answered from a distance off;
+but though the party waited in the hope of seeing what it was that had
+been started, they were disappointed.
+
+"Never mind," said the doctor; "we have proof that there are animals
+about.  Now then, how wide do you make the lava-stream to be?"
+
+"About four hundred paces," said Sir John.
+
+"Quite that," said the captain.  "Well, gentlemen, what do you say to
+making a halt just beyond the lava there--under one of those trees, say,
+beside that stream?"
+
+"Couldn't be a better place," cried Jack.  "I am getting hungry."
+
+"I think we all are," said the doctor, smiling, "for we have been
+tramping quite two hours since Edward had his adventure on the cocoa-nut
+tree."
+
+"If I might suggest, Sir John, I'd make this the farthest limit of our
+tramp to-day.  We shall be about four hours going back; and to-morrow we
+might go in the other direction--sail round the island, if you like."
+
+"I think we would prefer to explore it on foot, captain," replied Sir
+John.
+
+They crossed the remainder of the solidified stream of stone, ascended
+to the beautiful grove of trees on the other side, where a swift stream
+of the purest water ran gurgling along to the sea, and here enjoyed, in
+the cool shade, a delicious _al fresco_ meal, to which every one did
+ample justice.  After which a start was made for the yacht; but the heat
+proved to be so intense, there not being a breath of air, save a
+succession of hot puffs which seemed to be wafted down from the
+mountain, that the men began to flag and show signs of being overcome.
+Consequently, first one and then another halt had to be called, and when
+they were still a good three miles from where they had left the boat,
+the sun went down, and the night came on with startling suddenness, so
+that at the end of a quarter of an hour it was dark as pitch beneath the
+trees, and the order was given to bear off to the right, so as to follow
+the sand.
+
+"Can't go wrong," said the captain, "if we keep within touch of the
+sea."
+
+"Hark! hark!  What's that?" cried Jack.
+
+There was no need for him to speak, for every one had stopped short, and
+was listening intently to the echoes which ran reverberating along a
+valley, after what seemed to have been the firing of a heavy gun.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+FLOATING BLACKS.
+
+"Is that Mr Bartlett firing one of the yacht's guns for a recall?" said
+Sir John.
+
+"No, sir; they could not make a noise like that."
+
+"It could not be thunder," said Jack.
+
+"Oh yes, it could," said the captain.  "I've heard short sharp cracks
+like that often out here, but I don't think that was thunder."
+
+"Must have been," cried the doctor.  "Why, I saw the flash.  There!
+Look!"
+
+A bright light suddenly appeared from somewhere inland, followed at a
+few seconds' interval by a heavy detonation, exactly like the firing of
+a great gun.
+
+"Now what do you say, Captain Bradleigh?" cried Sir John.
+
+"That it is what I thought at first, sir.  The mountain yonder is firing
+a shot or two.  If we had been out at sea, I dare say we should have
+seen a great red-hot stone flying up and falling back."
+
+"Then there is going to be an eruption," cried Jack in excited tones.
+
+"That does not follow at all.  Some of these volcanoes do no more
+perhaps than make a rumbling, and send up a few red-hot stones now and
+then.  Forward now, gentlemen.  Close up, my lads, and follow two and
+two."
+
+The mountain, if the captain was right, made no farther sign, and now
+began the most interesting part of the journey.  With the exception of
+having to be careful not to stumble over the blocks of coral limestone
+which lay here and there in their road, it was easy walking in spite of
+the darkness, while this latter was modified by the brilliant stars
+overhead, the dazzling scintillations of the fireflies, which flittered
+out whenever any of the bushes which fringed the sands were approached--
+and the soft, luminous, oil-like appearance at the edge of the lake.
+
+But the sand was soft, and it seemed to Jack as if they would never
+reach the boat.
+
+In the darkness Edward edged up close to his young master, and
+whispered--
+
+"Tired, Mr Jack?"
+
+"Dreadfully."
+
+"Makes one's legs feel as if they were made of cast lead."
+
+"Or stones," said Jack.
+
+"Well, p'r'aps you're right, sir.  Stone is more like it.  Let me carry
+your gun, sir.  Seems to get heavier every step, don't it?"
+
+"Yes; and the cartridges too.  Thank you, Ned.  I should be glad to get
+rid of them.  No, you've got your own to carry, and--I say, how do you
+feel now?  I mean, after your fall."
+
+"Oh, bit stiff, sir.  There's nothing broken; but I don't go quite so
+well as usual.  Shan't be sorry to get back to the yacht.  Better give
+me your gun, sir."
+
+"Better give me yours to carry, Ned."
+
+"What, sir?  Well, 'pon my word, Mr Jack, you do talk.  I do wonder at
+you."
+
+Just then Jack started, for a hand was laid on his gun.
+
+"Who's that?" he cried.
+
+"Only me, sir--Lenny," said a dark figure behind him.  "Let me carry
+your gun, and pouch too.  I heerd what you said.  Take hold of t'other's
+weapon, mate," continued the man to the sailor by him, and Jack and his
+man tramped the rest of the way relieved of their loads, heartily glad
+to hear at last a hail from somewhere away in the darkness.
+
+It came from the boat; and directly after a bright light flashed out
+over the calm lagoon, like a star just rising to shine across the sea,
+and the men gave a cheer.
+
+"Is that the _Silver Star_, Captain Bradleigh?" said Jack eagerly.
+
+"Yes, my lad.  That's better than a figure-head, eh?"
+
+It was extremely beautiful just then, and looked very attractive and
+suggestive of rest and a good meal, beside being a guide to them along
+the lagoon, the men as they bent to their oars having the straight path
+of light to follow right up to the yacht's bows, and soon after the
+efforts of the cook and the cheery aspect of everything made Jack forget
+his weariness.
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the captain after their late dinner, "I think
+that there ought to be another exploration to the east to-morrow."
+
+"Certainly," said Sir John; "I want to feel that we can go about in
+safety."
+
+"I suppose you'll be too tired to go, Jack?" said the doctor.
+
+"Too tired?  Didn't I keep up well to-day?" said the lad quickly.
+
+"Capitally; but you look done up."
+
+"I shall be ready in the morning," said Jack shortly.
+
+"Don't attempt too much at first, Jack," said his father.
+
+"Oh no, I will not do that.  But I can't be left behind."
+
+There was no need for any question about the matter, for the captain now
+joined in the conversation again.
+
+"I propose, Sir John," he said, "that we should have the first cutter
+and the gig to-morrow morning, and let the men row gently along the
+lagoon, close in shore.  It will be a change; we can get along faster,
+and land as often as you wish.  I could have the awning rigged up."
+
+"Yes, capital!" cried the doctor.  "If you decide on that, Sir John, I
+should advise a start at daybreak, and a halt for breakfast when the sun
+begins to get hot.  But, of course, we should have some coffee and
+biscuit before we start."
+
+The captain's plan was agreed upon, and in what seemed to be the middle
+of the night, Jack was awakened from a dream of watching a cup-headed
+mountain playing at throwing up and catching a huge red-hot ball, by a
+voice at his berth-side saying--
+
+"Coffee's about ready, Mr Jack--t'other gents has begun to dress."
+
+For some moments Jack stared at him stupidly.  "What time is it?" he
+stammered at last.  "Some bells or another, sir--I dunno; but the men
+have got the boats out, and the things in for breakfast and lunch.  They
+were at it before I woke."
+
+"I won't be long," said Jack, yawning, and wishing the expedition at the
+bottom of the sea, for he felt dreadfully sleepy, and as if he would
+have given anything for another hour or two's rest.  It seemed absurd to
+be getting up in the dark when there was all the day before them, and
+altogether he was in that disposition of mind which people say is caused
+by getting out of bed the wrong way first.
+
+The doctor noticed it as the lad left his cabin to find a comfortable
+meal spread by the light of the cabin lamp, and the odour of coffee
+coming fragrantly from a steaming urn.
+
+"Here, look at him," cried the doctor.  "Mind, or he'll bite."
+
+"Why, Jack, my boy," cried Sir John merrily; "don't look so fierce as
+that."
+
+"I didn't know I looked fierce," said the lad in an ill-used tone.  "I
+can't help feeling tired and sleepy."
+
+"Of course he can't," said Doctor Instow.  "He had a very hard day
+yesterday.  Here, I'll set him right.  You go back to bed, Jack, and lie
+there till we come back.  You'll be as fresh as can be then."
+
+"What, let you go without me?" cried the boy, with a sudden display of
+animation.  "Of course.  It is too much for you."
+
+"Give me some coffee, Ned," said the boy irritably.  "Is there no new
+bread?"
+
+"No, sir.  Too soon.  Dry toast, sir?"
+
+"Bother the dry toast! you know I don't like dry toast."
+
+"Yes, and it isn't well-made, Jack.  You go to bed."
+
+The lad gave the doctor an angry glance, spread some marmalade upon the
+dry toast, and began to eat and sip from his coffee as fast as the heat
+thereof would allow.
+
+"Well, are you going to take my advice?" said the doctor, who was pretty
+busy over his own early breakfast.
+
+Jack made no reply, but went on sipping his coffee, and feeling much
+better.
+
+Sir John looked up, and raised his eyebrows a little.
+
+"Doctor Instow spoke to you, my boy," he said gently, and, to the
+speaker's surprise, his son said coolly--
+
+"Yes, father, I heard him."
+
+"Then why do you not answer?"
+
+"Because he doesn't expect me, father.  He knows what I should say."
+
+"Knows?"
+
+"Yes, father; he's only making fun of me.  He only said that to make me
+speak out."
+
+"Then why do you not speak out?  If you are so tired, it is excellent
+advice for you to go and take a good long rest."
+
+"And be fidgeting in that hot berth, thinking about the adventures you
+are having?  It would do me harm instead of good.  Bring, me some more
+toast, Edward."
+
+The doctor threw himself back in his revolving seat at the table, and
+clapped his hands on his knees.
+
+"Well done, Jack!" he cried.  "Bravo, lad!  You've got the stuff in you
+that good strong men are made of, after all.  You're quite right.  I did
+want to stir you up and make you speak.  Stop in bed all day!  Not you."
+
+The captain came in.
+
+"How are you getting on, gentlemen?" he said in his bluff way.
+
+"Nearly ready," said Sir John.  "Then you will not go with us to-day?"
+
+"No, sir.  Let Bartlett have a turn, and I'll take care of the yacht.
+One word though.  I don't for a moment think you will come across
+savages, but if you do I should like you to take the lead.  You don't
+want to fight, only to get back safely to the yacht, so make the best
+retreat you can."
+
+"Of course," said Sir John, and Jack looked from one to the other in an
+excited way, "I expect the doctor here would like a fight," said the
+captain with a grim smile.
+
+"I!  Why?" cried Doctor Instow, with a surprised look.
+
+"So as to be getting a specimen or two to take home.  I know what you
+naturalists are."
+
+"Oh, pooh! nonsense! absurd!" cried the doctor, taking a good deep
+draught of the coffee Sir John's man knew so well how to provide.
+"Doctors want to save life, not to destroy it--clever doctors do; and
+I'm not such a very bad one, am I, Jack?"
+
+"I can't talk properly with my mouth full," was the reply.
+
+"But this is not breakfast, my boy," said Sir John, smiling.
+
+"He's quite right, sir," said the captain.  "Always make your hay while
+the sun shines, especially when you're travelling."
+
+There was no sign of any light when they went on deck, to find the men
+in the boats, and the mate waiting with Edward who had slipped up by his
+side.
+
+"Hullo!" cried the doctor.  "You're not going, Ned?"
+
+"Yes, he is, doctor," said Jack quickly.  "I want him."
+
+Sir John said nothing, but stepped down into the large boat.
+
+"I'll go in the other," said the doctor.
+
+"You'll come with us?" said the mate to Jack.
+
+"No; I'll go in the little boat," replied the lad; and he followed the
+doctor, Edward, whose face by the gleam of one of the lanterns was
+puckered up by a broad smile of satisfaction, entering the gig after
+him.
+
+"You'll be able to go a bit farther to-day, sir," said the captain at
+parting.  "I'd halt at the best place you can find at mid-day, and have
+a good meal, rest for a couple of hours, and then make the best of your
+way back."
+
+Sir John nodded.
+
+"Save the men all you can, Bartlett.  You have the sails."
+
+"Yes, sir," cried the mate.  Then the oars dropped into the dark water
+and they rowed away, the lesser boat about a length behind.
+
+They seemed to Jack to have started too early, for it was very dark, and
+the lanterns they carried in the bows shed a strange light across the
+smooth water.  There was the black forest on their left, and the
+ghostly-looking reef with its billows on their right, with the dull
+thunderous roar sounding strangely awe-inspiring, and the boy could not
+help feeling a sensation of nervousness as he thought of what the
+consequences would be if they rowed on in the dark to a part of the
+lagoon where the protecting coral bank came to an end.
+
+"You're very quiet," said the doctor suddenly, from his seat in the
+stern sheets.  "What are you thinking about?"
+
+The boy told him.
+
+"Shouldn't have much chance then, my lad," said the doctor.  "But no
+fear, we should have ample warning long before we came to such a spot.
+The water of the lagoon would not be like this.  Perhaps, though, there
+is not another opening, for though the waves are always breaking on the
+outside, the little coral insects are always building on the in.  But
+only think; we must be passing over the most wonderful specimens here,
+and we can't see a thing.  How long is it going to be before the light
+comes?"
+
+"It's coming now," said Jack, pointing up to his left at a bright golden
+speck that seemed almost over their heads, and once more they witnessed
+all the glories of a tropic sunrise, the change from darkness to light
+being wonderfully quick, and soon after their eyes were aching with the
+beauties of coast and lagoon.
+
+"Oh, this is tiresome," cried the doctor; "fancy wasting our time
+hunting for danger when there are such chances for collecting.  Look at
+those birds flying into that grove."
+
+"Yes, and this glorious garden under us.  It's so clear that the bottom
+seems close enough to touch with the hand."
+
+"Look at those fish too.  Did you ever see such colours in the
+sunshine?" cried the doctor.
+
+"There goes a snake," said Jack, "quite a big one; and what's that long
+shadowy-looking creature?"
+
+"Small shark," said the doctor.  "Take notice.  Water's tempting for
+bathing, but it won't do here.  There's a shell!  Why, Jack, that great
+oyster must weigh a couple of hundred-weight!"
+
+"What's that?" cried Jack.  "Father's pointing to the shore.  I see: a
+lizard.  No, it's too big; it must be a crocodile."
+
+"Couldn't be in a bit of an island like this.  It is, though.  Ah, I
+see, there's a little river runs up into the land.  Look, it's one of
+the valleys.  I wonder the water's so clear.  Comes over rocks, I
+suppose."
+
+"There he goes," cried Jack, for just then the great heavy saurian,
+which had crawled out at daybreak to have a nap in the warm sun, divined
+danger, shut its jaws with a loud snap, and rushed clumsily into the
+water, giving its tail a flourish as it disappeared in a heavy swirl.
+
+"I should have liked his head," said the doctor, "but he may keep it for
+the present.  We'll remember this place and come and look him up another
+time."
+
+"Is it true that their horny skulls can't be penetrated by a bullet?"
+asked Jack.
+
+"I should be sorry to trust to it if a man was taking aim at me with a
+rifle, Jack.  Oh no: I dare say if you shot at one and it hit the beast
+at a very sharp angle it might glance off, but a fair straight shot
+would go right through one of them.  Look at that butterfly--or moth."
+
+"There's something drinking--two somethings--four or five.  What are
+they?"
+
+"Legs and loins of pork, all alive oh!" said the doctor merrily.  "Dear
+me! and we must not fire at them.  What a pity!  Look at that little
+fellow.  He's just the size for the larder."
+
+"You mustn't speak so loud, doctor," cried Jack, laughing; "the pigs
+hear what you are plotting against them."
+
+"Seems like it.  My word, how they can run!"
+
+"And swim," cried Jack.  "I did not see that fellow in the water."
+
+For one had suddenly appeared from behind a rock about a dozen yards
+from the sandy shore.  It was swimming as easily as a dog, in spite of
+what old proverbs say about pigs and the water, and it was evidently
+making eager efforts to reach the sands and rush after its companions,
+which had probably been making a breakfast off shell-fish, and were now
+disappearing among the trees.
+
+"Ah! look at that," cried the doctor.
+
+For suddenly the pig threw up its head, screaming dismally, and pawing
+at the air.
+
+"Stupid thing! it could have reached the sands in another half-minute."
+
+"It won't now," said the doctor, reaching back to pick up his double
+gun.
+
+"Let's row and try and save it from drowning," cried Jack eagerly.
+
+"It isn't drowning," said the doctor quietly.  "Look! there it goes."
+
+Still squealing horribly, the unfortunate little animal suddenly seemed
+to make a dart backward several yards farther from the shore, but with
+its head getting lower, till the water rose above its ears, and as it
+still glided farther, less and less was visible, till only its
+wail-producing snout was above the surface.
+
+"Poor wretch! it must be in a terrible current," cried Jack.  "Row, row,
+row."
+
+The men pulled hard, but the doctor shook his head and laid down his
+gun, for the pig's snout disappeared with a horrible last gurgling wail.
+
+"Yes, it's in a terrible current," said the doctor, "going down
+something's throat."
+
+"What!" cried Jack, upon whom the truth now flashed.
+
+"Yes, crocodile or shark has got him, my lad.  Another warning not to
+try and bathe."
+
+"Yes, and to try and kill all the crocodiles and sharks we can."
+
+"Which comes natural to all men," said the doctor.
+
+"See that, Jack?" came from the other boat.
+
+"Yes, father.  Horrible."
+
+A soft wind began to fan them as they rounded a well-wooded point, and
+the men stepped small masts and ran up a couple of lug-sails which
+carried the boats swiftly gliding along over the hardly rippled water.
+But the lovely garden below was now blurred and almost invisible, so the
+attention of all was taken up by the shore along which they coasted, and
+for hours now they went on past cocoa-nut groves, park-like flat, lovely
+ravines running upward, and down which tiny rills of water came
+cascading; past three huge black buttresses of lava, the ends that had
+cooled in the water of as many streams of fluent stone; and above all,
+grey, strange, dotted with masses of rock, seamed, scored, and wrinkled,
+rose from out of the dense forest, which rail up its flanks, the great
+truncated cone, above whose summit floated a faint grey cloud of smoke
+or steam--which they could not tell.
+
+But when mid-day arrived they had seen neither hut nor canoe, and in
+accordance with the captain's instructions they rowed into the mouth of
+a little river and landed in a lovely shady ravine, whose waters at a
+couple of hundred yards from the lagoon were completely shaded by the
+boughs of ancient trees.
+
+Their halting-place was a pool, at whose head the advance of such salt
+tide as ran up was checked by a huge wall of volcanic rock, down which
+trickled the bright clear waters of one stream, while another took a
+clear plunge only a few yards away right into the pool.
+
+"What a place for a lunch!" said Sir John, as the occupants of the two
+boats now met on shore, and Mr Bartlett placed one of the two keepers
+from each boat in good places for observation of sea and land, so as to
+guard against surprise.
+
+Edward was now in his element, and while men went with buckets to get
+water from the springs by climbing up the side of the huge lava wall, he
+spread a cloth for the gentlemen's lunch and emptied a flat basket.
+
+The sailors soon selected their spot a dozen yards away, and their
+preparations were very simple.
+
+"Hold hard a minute," cried Edward to the men as they returned with the
+buckets filled.  "I want one of those.  Let's see which is the coldest.
+Here, Mr Jack, sir, just you come and try this," he cried the next
+minute, and on the boy approaching eager enough, the man plunged a glass
+into the first bucket and dipped it full of the most brilliantly clear
+water possible, and handed it very seriously to his young master.
+
+"Oh, this won't do, Ned," cried the boy; "it isn't cold--why it's hot."
+
+"Hot it is, sir, but just you taste it.  I did."
+
+Jack took a pretty good sip and ejected it directly.
+
+"Ugh!" he cried with a wry face.  "It's horrible; hot, salt, bitter,
+filthy, like rotten eggs; and yet it's as clear as crystal."
+
+"Yes, sir, it's about the worst swindle I ever had."
+
+"Here, father--Doctor Instow," cried the boy; and they came up and tried
+the water in turn, and looked at each other.
+
+"Regular volcanic water," said the doctor.  "Why that would be a fortune
+in England; people would take it and bathe in it, and believe it would
+cure them of every ill under the sun, from a broken leg up to bilious
+fever.  There's no doubt where that comes from.  Look how full it is of
+gas."
+
+He pointed to a stream of tiny bubbles rising from the bottom of the
+glass.
+
+"Sea-water ain't it, sir?" said Edward respectfully; "but how did it get
+up there?"
+
+"Sea-water? no, my man.  Beautifully clear, but strongly charged with
+sulphur, magnesia, soda, and iron.  Which spring did it come from?"
+
+"That one which shoots out into the pool, sir," said one of the men.
+
+"And is the other the same?" cried Jack.
+
+"No, sir; cold as ice and quite fresh."
+
+Jack and the doctor climbed up to see the sources of the two springs,
+finding the hot not many yards from the edge of the rocky wall, where it
+was bubbling up from a little basin fringed with soft pinky-white stone,
+while the bottom of the pellucid source, which was too hot for the hand
+to be plunged in, was ornamented with beautiful crystals of the purest
+sulphur.
+
+The source of the cold stream of fresh water they did not find, for it
+came dancing down the dark ravine, which was choked with tree-ferns,
+creepers, and interlacing boughs laden with the loveliest orchids, and
+their progress was completely stopped when they had advanced some
+hundred yards or so.
+
+"The beginning of the curious features of the place," said Sir John as
+they sat down to their pleasant meal, gazing through an arch of greenery
+at the sapphire lagoon and the silver foam of the billows on the creamy
+reef half-a-mile away.
+
+Never did lunch taste more delicious to the rapidly invigorating boy,
+never was water fresher, sweeter, and cooler than that of which he
+partook.  Then a good long hour's rest was taken as they all lay about
+listening to the hum of insects, the whistle, twitter, and shrieking of
+birds; and beneath it all, as it seemed, came the softened bass from the
+reef.
+
+"What do you say to a start back, Mr Bartlett?" said Sir John at last,
+as he glanced at his son, who had just risen and gone knife in hand to
+dislodge a cluster of lovely waxen, creamy orchids from a tree
+overhanging the pool.
+
+"I think we ought to be going soon, sir," said the mate.
+
+"Here, Jack, my lad, what's the matter?" cried the doctor, springing up,
+as he saw the lad holding the flowers he had cut at arm's length.  "Ah!
+stand still!  Don't move whatever you do."
+
+"Help, help!" shouted Edward.  "Snakes! snakes!"
+
+"Down flat, my lads, quick!" cried the mate; and as the men obeyed he
+pointed out across the lagoon to where a great matting sail came gliding
+into sight, looking misty and strange as seen through the veil of foam
+hanging iridescent about the reef, and twice over rising up sufficiently
+for the long low hull of a great sea-going canoe crowded with men to
+come into sight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+AN ADVENTURE.
+
+Jack did not see the canoe, for his attention was taken up by the little
+serpent which had suddenly flung itself upon his hand, as he disturbed
+the cluster of flowers, and struck at his arm sharply--twice.
+
+Sharply does not express the way in which the reptile attacked him, for
+the whole business from its springing, coiling, and striking seemed
+instantaneous.  The effect upon the lad was peculiar.  He had man's
+natural horror of all creatures of the serpent kind, and as he broke off
+the sweetly-scented bunch of flowers a pang shot through him--a
+sensation of pain which made him turn cold and wet, while his senses
+felt exalted, so that sight, smell, hearing, and feeling were magnified
+or exaggerated in the strangest way, but his muscular power seemed to
+have failed.  His man's cries for help sounded deafening; the fragrant
+odour of the orchids made him feel faint; the little serpent appeared
+enormous, and its eyes dazzling, while the cold touch of its scaly body
+against his bare hand was of some great weight, and when it rapidly
+compressed his fingers with its folds, to give itself power to strike,
+and struck twice, the concussion of the lithe neck and jaws felt like
+two tremendous blows which paralysed him, so that he stood there as if
+turned to stone, with his arm outstretched staring down at the--as it
+seemed to him--gigantic head, which glided about over his enormously
+swollen arm, the sparkling malicious eyes seeming to search into his,
+and then about his arm for a fresh place at which to venom.
+
+It was in its way beautiful, in its golden-brown and greenish tints,
+while the back appeared to be shot with violet and steel, as the light
+which flashed from the glittering sea was thrown up beneath the trees.
+Jack was so utterly fascinated for the time being that his eyes took in
+every detail, and he noted how the reptile's tightly-closed mouth
+resembled a smile of triumph, and thought that the tiny forked tongue
+which kept on flickering in and out of the orifice in the front part of
+the jaws mocked at him as the creature laughed silently at his
+helplessness.
+
+"It has killed me," was the predominant thought in the boy's mind, as he
+stood there for what seemed to be a long space of time, with Edward
+shouting for help and calling upon him to act, the words thundering in
+his ears.
+
+"Throw it off, Mr Jack, sir.  Chuck it away.  D'ye hear me?  Oh, I say,
+do something, or you'll be stung."
+
+But the lad did not stir, merely remained in the same attitude with his
+arm outstretched.  He was, however, fully conscious of what was going
+on, and he watched with a feeble kind of interest the action of the man,
+wondering what he would do.
+
+For Ned, as he grasped his young master's peril, did the most natural
+thing in the world to begin with, he called loudly for help; but fully
+grasping the fact that as he was nearest the first help ought to come
+from him, he dashed to Jack's side.
+
+"Ugh!" he cried angrily, "I can't abear snakes and toads.  If I touch
+him he'll sting me too.  Tied himself up in a knot too.  Don't try to
+chuck it off, Mr Jack, the beggar will only be more savage and begin
+stinging again.  If I could only grab him by the neck I could finish
+him, but he'd be too quick for me.  Here, I know.  That's right!  Stand
+still, sir."
+
+This last was perfectly unnecessary, for the lad could not have stood
+more motionless and rigid if he had been carved in marble.
+
+"What a fool I am!" muttered Ned.  "Thinking about cutting sticks when
+there's something ready here to be cut.  I don't want a stick."
+
+He whipped his long hunting-knife out of the sheath fitted to his belt,
+and the light flashed upon the keen-edged new blade which had never yet
+been used.
+
+"Now then," he said softly, "if I can only get one cut at you, my
+gentleman, you shan't know where you are to-morrow."
+
+The plan was good, but not easy of performance, for he could not cut
+straight down at the reptile's neck without injuring Jack's arm, and for
+a few moments he stood watching and waiting for an opportunity, but none
+seemed likely to occur, and the serpent still held on by the boy's
+wrist, and the front of its long, lithe, undulating body kept on gliding
+about over the brightly-ironed white duck sleeve, the head playing about
+the hollow of the elbow-joint, turning under the arm, and returning to
+the top again and again.
+
+"I can't get a cut at him--I can't get a cut at him," muttered Ned; and
+then a happy thought came: he stretched out the point of the glistening
+blade toward the serpent's head, till it was a few inches from it.
+
+"I don't like doing it," he muttered fretfully; "it's running risks, and
+setting a dose myself, but I must--I must;" and he made the blade
+glitter and flash by agitating his hand.
+
+It had the desired effect, for the head was raised sharply from the
+lad's arm till it was six or seven inches above it, and the reptile
+seemed to be attracted for a moment by the bright light flashing from
+the steel.
+
+Then the head was drawn back sharply, and darted forward as Ned
+expected, and with a slight jerk from the wrist he flicked the blade
+from left to right.
+
+"Hah!" he cried joyfully, as the head dropped at his feet, and the long
+thin body writhed free from the lad's hand and wrist; "a razor couldn't
+have took it off cleaner.  Hurray, Mr Jack!  He half killed himself.
+But don't--don't stand like that.  You're not hurt bad, are you?"
+
+"Here, let me look," cried the doctor, who had now climbed up to where
+they stood, closely followed by Sir John.  "Snake, was it?"
+
+"Yes, sir; there's his body tying itself up in knots, and here's his
+head."
+
+As he spoke, the man stooped down quickly, made a dig with the point of
+his knife, and transfixed the cut-off portion through the neck just at
+the back of the skull, and the jaws gaped widely as he held it up in
+triumph.
+
+"Here, let me see," cried Sir John excitedly.  "Yes, look, Instow, the
+swollen glands at the back of the jaw, and here they are like bits of
+glass--the poison fangs.  Jack, lad, where did it strike you?"
+
+"Strike me?" said the lad feebly, and shuddering slightly, as he stood
+with his eyes half-closed, and dropped the cluster of orchids.
+
+"Yes; speak out, quick!" cried the doctor, grasping the lad by the arm.
+"Where are you hurt?"
+
+"Twined round my hand, and bit at my arm twice--just there."
+
+He stood pointing dreamily at the thickest part of his forearm, just
+where the jacket-sleeve went into wrinkles through the bending of the
+joint.
+
+"Yes, I see," cried the doctor.  "Here, Ned, man, jump down there and
+get my flask.  You'll find it in my coat.  A plated one full of
+ammonia."
+
+Ned leaped in a break-neck way down the lava wall, and the doctor forced
+his patient into a sitting position and stripped off his jacket.  Then
+he snapped off the wrist button and turned up the shirt-sleeve, to begin
+examining the white skin for the tiny punctures made by the two bites,
+while Sir John knelt by him, supporting his son, who looked very white
+and strange, and as if he were trying to master the sense of horror from
+which he now suffered.
+
+"See the places?" said Sir John hoarsely.
+
+"No," replied the doctor, shifting his position and raising the arm a
+little.  "The fangs are like needle-points, and make so small a wound.
+Can't see anything.  Whereabouts was it, Jack?"
+
+"Just there," said the lad, speaking more decisively; and he laid his
+left finger on his arm.  "Two sharp blows."
+
+"And a keen pricking sensation each time?" said the doctor, looking
+curiously at his patient.
+
+"No; I did not feel anything but the blows."
+
+"Here's the silver bottle, sir," panted Ned.
+
+"Hold it," said the doctor.  Then to Jack, "Did the snake strike at you
+anywhere else?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Pray, pray give him something," cried Sir John impatiently; "the poison
+runs through the veins so quickly."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor quietly, as he wrinkled up his forehead, and,
+dropping the boy's arm, he caught the jacket from where it lay.
+
+"Nothing here," he muttered.  "Pish!  Wrong sleeve."
+
+He hastily took the other, and turned the sleeve up to the light.
+
+"Hah!" he cried; "here we are.  Look, Meadows!"
+
+"Never mind the jacket, man," cried Sir John passionately.
+
+"Why not?" said the doctor coolly.  "Nothing the matter with the lad.
+Touch of nerves.  Horribly startling for him.  See this?"
+
+He held up the sleeve, and there upon the puckered part were two almost
+imperceptible yellowish stains, in each case upon the raised folds.
+
+[Half a page of text missing here.]
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Jack.
+
+"Of course you couldn't," said the doctor.
+
+"But father thinks that I was a dreadful coward."
+
+"Then he ought to know better," said the doctor quickly.  "Nothing to be
+ashamed of, my lad.  Imagination's a queer thing.  I once fainted
+because I thought I had cut myself, while I was skinning a dog which had
+been poisoned.  I was a student then, and knew the dangers of wounds
+from a poisoned knife; and, by the way, we must take care of the wounds
+from poisoned arrows.  Well, when I washed my hand there wasn't a
+scratch.  You couldn't help it, Jack.  Any man might be seized like that
+after seeing Death make two darts at him and feeling him strike."
+
+[Half a page of text missing here.]
+
+"Is any one hurt?" said a voice then; and Mr Bartlett's head appeared
+above the edge of the lava wall.
+
+"No; all right.  Only an alarm, and a narrow escape.  How about the
+savages?"
+
+"They're gone in the direction of the yacht, gentlemen, and we must get
+back as quickly as we can."
+
+"Ah, look! look!" cried Ned excitedly, as he pointed out to sea;
+"there's a canoe--two canoes--three."
+
+They followed the direction of his pointing finger, and saw plainly
+enough three long, low vessels full of men gliding by, with their
+matting sails glistening in the sun, and not two miles out from where
+they stood.
+
+"Worse and worse," said the mate.  "We must get back to the yacht,
+gentlemen."
+
+"Of course," said Sir John, drawing a deep breath.  "Why, there must be
+a hundred men in those canoes."
+
+"Quite that, sir, I'm afraid," replied the mate.  "Quick, please.  It
+will be terrible if they attack the captain while he is so
+short-handed."
+
+"But he has the big guns, and the men are well-trained," said the
+doctor, as they hurried down to the boats.
+
+"What is the use of them, sir, when a crowd of reckless savages are
+swarming over the sides?  He is lying at anchor too, and the yacht is
+made helpless."
+
+The men were soon in their places, pulling a long, steady stroke, and
+thinking nothing of the hot sunshine.
+
+"It is of no use to try and hide ourselves," said the mate, "for it is a
+race between us who shall get there first."
+
+"But they can't know the yacht is there," said Sir John.
+
+"Perhaps not, sir; but they will soon sight us, and then run for the
+opening in the reef, if they were not already going there."
+
+"Well, there's one advantage on our side," said the doctor; "they can't
+attack us till they get through the reef, so we're safe till then."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the mate bitterly; "but I was thinking of the captain,
+and his anxiety, alone there."
+
+"Yes, of course," said Sir John; and he looked at the mate when he could
+do so unobserved; and it seemed to Jack that he thought more highly of
+Mr Bartlett than ever.
+
+They had been rowing abreast, with the waters of the lagoon perfectly
+smooth; but as they began to round one of the huge buttresses of lava
+which had run down into the lake, they saw that the water all beyond was
+disturbed by a breeze.
+
+The mate started up and began to give his orders directly.  The mast in
+the bigger boat was stepped, the sail hoisted, and he shouted to one of
+the men to throw a line from the bows of Jack's boat, to make fast to
+their stern.
+
+"We can take you in tow, doctor," he said, with the men still rowing and
+the sail flapping; then a little spar was set up from the stern, and a
+triangular sail hoisted from the bows to the mast in front.
+
+"Four men in here," cried the mate; "unless you two gentlemen would like
+to come."
+
+"No; we'll stay here," said the doctor.  "Eh, Jack?"
+
+"Yes; we'll stay."
+
+"You'll manage better with men who can work, we shall be in the way."
+
+"I want them for ballast to steady us with all this sail up," said the
+mate, smiling; and without any pause the second boat was drawn close up
+astern, four men crept into the leader, and the rope was allowed to run
+out again.
+
+"Think we're going to have a fight, Mr Jack?" whispered Ned, as the
+doctor sat forward trying to make out the canoes through the sparkling
+cloud of spray here about a mile away; "It seems like it, Ned; but I
+hope not."
+
+"You hope not, sir?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Oh, well then, I needn't mind saying I hope not too.  I never was
+anything in that line, sir, even when I was a boy."
+
+"What difference does that make?"
+
+"Difference, sir?  Oh, all the difference.  Men can fight, of course;
+but if I was a king, and wanted to have a good army, I'd make it of
+boys."
+
+Jack stared at him, and in spite of the peril of their position, felt
+disposed to smile.
+
+"Why?" he said at last.
+
+"Because they can fight so.  They're not so big and strong; but then
+they're not so easily frightened.  They're always ready for a set-to,
+and 'cepting where there's snakes in the way, they never think of
+danger, or being hurt.  And when they are hurt, the more they feel it,
+the more they go, just like horses or donkeys."
+
+"Excepting in the case of snakes," said Jack bitterly.
+
+"Oh, don't you mind about that, sir.  I was as scared as you were, I can
+tell you.  I remember when I was a boy I wasn't good at fighting, and I
+used to get what we used to call the coward's blow, and that was the rum
+part of it."
+
+Jack stared.
+
+"Ah, you don't understand that, sir.  But it was rum.  You see it was
+like this; t'other chap as was crowing over me because I wouldn't fight,
+would give me an out-and-out good whack for the coward's blow, and then
+he wished he hadn't."
+
+"Why?" asked Jack, after a glance at the doctor, who was still in the
+bows.
+
+"Because it hurt me, and made me wild.  And then I used to go at him and
+give him a good licking.  That's what I was when a boy, sir, and I am
+just the same now; I don't feel at all like fighting, and, coward or no
+coward, I won't fight if I can help it; but if any one hurts me, or
+begins to shoot at us, I think I shall get trying what I can do.  But
+you see it won't be fist-fists."
+
+"No," said Jack thoughtfully; "it will not be fists."
+
+"Hi! look out!" shouted Ned.  "You'll be over."
+
+For a sudden puff of wind had caught the boat in front, and she heeled
+over so much with the large spread of sail that the water began to creep
+in over the leeward side.  But at a word from the mate half-a-dozen men
+shifted their positions to windward, and there were two or three inches
+clear once more, as the boat with her three sails well-filled began to
+rush through the water.
+
+"And now they're goin' to take us under," said Ned, nervously seizing
+the side with one hand.  "My word, we are beginning to go."
+
+"Yes; this is different to rowing," cried the doctor, as their boat
+danced about and ran swiftly through the disturbed water left by their
+companion.  "But, unfortunately, the wind will help the canoes as much
+as it helps us."
+
+"But if it does not help them more, we shall be up to the yacht first."
+
+"There's another side to that, Jack," said the doctor; "suppose they
+sail faster than we do.  What then?"
+
+This was unanswerable, and they sat back in the boat, running through
+the water with a little wave ever-widening on either side.
+
+"I hope the painter won't give way," said the doctor at last, "and that
+they will not leave us behind."
+
+"They'd miss us directly," said Jack.  "Their boat would go so much
+faster."
+
+"Couldn't go faster than she is.  Why, Jack, it must be a clever canoe
+that can beat us."
+
+"Goes too fast to please me," whispered the man at the first
+opportunity.  "Strikes me, Mr Jack, that one of these times when they
+swing over to the left so they'll drag us under, so that our boat will
+fill and go down; and if we do, what about that there pig?"
+
+"What pig?" said Jack wonderingly.
+
+"Why, you know, sir, close in there as we came along.  If there's things
+in this water that can pull down pigs, won't they be likely to pull down
+us?"
+
+"There's plenty of real trouble to think about," said Jack quietly,
+"without our trying to make out imaginary ones.  The boat will not
+fill."
+
+"Eh? what's that?" said the doctor; "this boat fill?  Oh no; she rides
+over the water like a cork.  Can't see anything of the enemy, Jack; the
+spray along the reef makes a regular curtain, and shuts off everything.
+I hope it hides us well from our black friends, for I don't want to get
+into a row of that kind.  Well, Ned, if it comes to the worst, do you
+think you can manage a gun?"
+
+"Cleaned Sir John's guns often enough, sir."
+
+"Yes, but can you shoot?"
+
+"That means holding the gun straight, sir, and pulling the trigger.  Oh
+yes, sir; I can do that."
+
+"That isn't shooting: you have to hit."
+
+"So I suppose, sir; but some of the governor's friends, who come down in
+September and October, go shooting in his preserves and over the farms,
+but they don't always hit anything."
+
+"But you will try if we want you, eh?"
+
+"Yes, sir, if the governor orders me.  And what about a cutlass?  Can
+you handle that, do you think?"
+
+"Don't see why not, sir.  I'm pretty handy with a carving-knife, both
+with meat and on the knifeboard."
+
+"Well," said the doctor gravely, "I hope we shall not have to come to
+anything of that kind, for all our sakes."
+
+"How long will it take us to get back?" said Jack, after a silence,
+during which the thoughts of the danger seemed to be chased away by the
+beauty of the shore along which they glided.
+
+"Hours yet," said the doctor.  "This wind will not last.  If it would,
+we might be there before the canoes."
+
+Very few greetings passed between the two boats, for every one engaged
+in the race seemed in deadly earnest.  There was the possibility of the
+people proving to be friendly, but as in all probability these great
+sea-going canoes belonged to a fighting fleet upon some raiding
+expedition, the hope in the direction of peace was not great.
+
+About half of the way had been accomplished, when, as Jack sat watching
+the foaming waves break upon the reef, he caught sight of something
+misty and weird-looking apparently just on the other side, but it was
+too undefined for its nature to be made out.
+
+He pointed it out to the doctor, who gave his opinion directly.
+
+"One of the canoes," he said.  "That's good, Jack.  It shows that they
+have not distanced us."
+
+A hail from the mate told them that they too had sighted the canoe from
+the boat in front; but though they gazed long and watchfully, they saw
+no more.
+
+Not long after the wind dropped suddenly, came again, and then fell
+altogether, the appearances being so marked that the mate had the sails
+lowered, and stowed after the oars had been going for some time, and now
+they made out from the boat astern that Mr Bartlett had divided his
+crew into two watches, one rowing hard while the other rested.
+
+It was all plain enough to those astern that everything was admirably
+arranged, so that the well-drilled men shifted their places without any
+confusion or difference in the speed of the boat, the men changing one
+at a time.
+
+And so the afternoon wore on.
+
+"We shall be no sooner," said Jack at last.  "In an hour it will be
+dark."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor with a sigh.  "It would not matter if the blacks
+are not there first, but the worst of it is, as soon as it's dusk the
+captain will be lighting up that firework business for a beacon, and
+that will show the canoes where to steer."
+
+It proved just as he said.  The darkness came on with awful rapidity as
+soon as the sun disappeared beneath the waves, all searching the edge of
+the reef most anxiously during the last rays which flooded the sea; but
+in vain; and then for a full hour they rowed steadily on, guided by the
+gleaming of the fireflies against the black darkness ashore, but all at
+once a bright star shone out.
+
+"There she is!" cried Jack excitedly.  "Look how Mr Bartlett has turned
+the boat's head straight for the light."
+
+"Yes; we shall follow the bright path straight away now," said the
+doctor.
+
+"How are you getting on there?" came from the boat in front.  "Hungry,
+or will you wait till we get on board?"
+
+"We'll wait, father," shouted Jack.
+
+"Yes.  Only half-an-hour now.  Mr Bartlett thinks we've distanced the
+canoes."
+
+They were soon to learn for certain, as they followed the bright path of
+light which minute by minute grew clearer, till they could see as it
+were right up to the anchored yacht.
+
+"Shall we hail the captain?" said Jack.
+
+He had hardly spoken when he felt a jar run through the boat, and found
+that the towing-line had been hauled upon till the prow of the second
+boat touched the stern of the first.
+
+"Hist there!" said the mate.  "Perfect silence, please.  We must creep
+alongside so as to give warning.  There must be no hailing.  This is the
+most dangerous time."
+
+"How far are we away?" said the doctor in a whisper.
+
+"About five hundred yards."
+
+"How is it the oars go so quietly now?" whispered Jack.
+
+"Muffled, and the men are just dipping them, so as to keep a fair way
+on."
+
+The next two or three minutes were passed in silence, Jack's boat having
+once more dropped astern to the full length of the rope.
+
+The lad had risen to stand up and watch the line of light extending from
+them right up to the source of the rays ahead, and from his position he
+could look right over the foremost boat.
+
+"How deceptive it is!" he thought.  "One can hardly tell how near we
+are, and--ah!--"
+
+"What is it, boy?" whispered the doctor.
+
+For answer Jack pointed right ahead to where something dark could be
+seen crossing the line of sight.
+
+"One of the canoes," said the doctor quickly.  "We shall be right aboard
+her."
+
+He crept forward, but Jack forestalled him, and was hauling in the line
+till they wore close up.
+
+"Mr Bartlett--father!"
+
+"Yes; what is it?"
+
+"You are rowing right into one of the canoes."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+A SHARP LESSON.
+
+The men ceased rowing, and Jack sat with his heart beating painfully,
+his mind full of memories of accounts he had read concerning encounters
+with savages, and wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows and spears.
+
+As he sat in the intense darkness, watching the brilliant star-like
+lamp, it all seemed to be dreamlike and impossible that he should be
+there--he who so short a time before was leading that quiet student life
+in the study or library at home.
+
+But there was the black canoe gliding by the light, and like so many
+silhouettes the dark, clearly-defined figures of the savages busy
+paddling.
+
+No, it could not be the canoe he had seen first, it must be another, and
+the next minute he had proof thereof, in this canoe passing across the
+disk of radiant light, leaving it for a few moments clear, and then
+another appeared, and he watched the little black silhouettes steadily
+moving as they paddled, till the long boat had gone by, when another
+appeared and passed.
+
+"Give way!" came in a whisper; then the oars dipped silently, and they
+began to move onward.
+
+"We must make a dash for it, or they will surprise the yacht," whispered
+the mate.  Then he leaned over backward, and the exciting words
+came--"Astern there.  Guns ready and load."
+
+A faint whisper or two from the mate's boat told that the men not rowing
+had received a similar command, and Jack, as he thrust a couple of
+cartridges into the breech of his gun, felt that the canoes would be
+paddling round the yacht, and have reached the other side by the time
+they were alongside.
+
+"Are we not going to shout and alarm Captain Bradleigh?" whispered Jack
+to the doctor.
+
+"No; sit still," said that gentleman sternly.  "He and your father are
+the leaders.  We have only to obey.  Don't fire till you receive
+orders."
+
+A low deep sigh came from Ned, but it was accompanied by a faint
+"click--click; click--click."
+
+"Both barrels at full cock," thought the lad.  "But how horrible to have
+to fire at any one, even if he is black."
+
+But all the same, horrible or no, the lad cocked both locks of his own
+piece, and felt the flap of his cartridge satchel to try whether
+everything was handy if he had to reload; and just then, as they glided
+silently along in the full glare of the great artificial star, a feeling
+of angry resentment ran through him, and he said half aloud--
+
+"Serve them right.  Why can't they leave us alone?"
+
+"And so say all of us, Mr Jack," whispered Ned, startling him he
+addressed, for he was not aware that his words were heard.
+
+The only sounds to be heard now were the regular heavy boom of the
+breakers on the reef--a sound so deep and constant that it had already
+begun to count as nothing, and curiously enough did not seem to
+interfere with their hearing anything else, acting as it did like the
+deep bass in an orchestra or great organ, and making the lighter,
+higher-pitched notes more clear--and the light soft dip of the boat's
+oars as the men silently pulled home.
+
+Then, all at once, as Jack strained his ears to catch the paddling of
+the canoes, the deep voice of Captain Bradleigh rang out as if from the
+other side of the yacht.
+
+"Ahoy!  What boat's that?"
+
+Then in the midst of a dead silence there was a quick flash, and Jack
+held his breath, expecting to hear the report of a gun, but his eyes
+conveyed the meaning of the flash, not his ears.
+
+The darkness was profound, for the light from the great star had been
+shut off in their direction, and directly after the shape of the
+graceful yacht stood out clearly, every spar and rope defined against a
+softly diffused halo as the star was made to perform the duties of a
+search-light, sweeping the lagoon beyond and showing plainly the long
+low shapes of four great canoes, each with its row of men, and about a
+quarter of a mile away.
+
+Then all was black as pitch.
+
+"Now for it, my lads," whispered the mate.  "Pull with all your might."
+
+The men made the water hiss as they drew hard at the long tough ash
+blades, and above this sound they could hear the hurry and rattle of
+something going on aboard the yacht.  Quick short orders were issued;
+then Captain Bradleigh's voice was heard again.
+
+"Ahoy there!  Sir John!"
+
+"Right.  Here we are."
+
+What the captain said in reply was confined to the word "Thank--" The
+rest was smothered by a sharp crash, and a check which took the small
+boat in which Jack sat sharply up against the other's stern.
+
+The crash was followed by a savage yelling and splashing; and as they
+went on again directly, the men pulling with all their might.  Jack was
+conscious of struggling and blows, and he grasped the fact that they had
+rowed at full speed against the stern or bows of another canoe which had
+been invisible in the darkness, and that some of her occupants had
+seized the men's oars on the port side.  The blows, he found, were
+delivered by their men to shake off their adversaries, some of whom he
+dimly saw struggling in the water as the boat passed on; and, unable to
+control himself, Jack leaned over and caught at a hand just within his
+reach, the fingers closing upon his in a fierce grasp and nearly jerking
+him out of the boat, a fate from which he was saved by Ned, who seized
+him round the middle and dragged him back.
+
+"Got him?" cried the doctor excitedly.
+
+"You should have said `Got it,' sir," grumbled the man, with a
+drawing-in of his breath as if in pain.  "But he's all right.  I wish I
+was."
+
+"What's the manner, man?"
+
+"Him a-holding his gun like that.  Oh, my crikey!  What a whack I got on
+the cheek!"
+
+"What an escape, Jack!" cried the doctor.
+
+"But the poor wretch was drowning.  Hark! their canoe must be sinking--
+men struggling in the water."
+
+"Never mind: let them," said the doctor.  "They can swim like seals, and
+their canoe will float like a log."
+
+"But the sharks!" panted Jack.
+
+"We can't stop to think of them," said the doctor.--"Are you all right
+there?"
+
+"Yes, and alongside," cried the mate, and there was the rattle of the
+oars being laid in.
+
+"Thank heaven!" cried the captain from the deck, as both boats ground
+against the yacht's side.  "Quick, all aboard!  Now then, hook on those
+falls and up with the boats."
+
+The boats were run up to the davits in regular man-o'-war fashion, the
+gangway was closed, and the men who were busy went on rigging up a stout
+net about six feet wide along from stanchion to stanchion, and shroud to
+shroud, while, after a word or two of congratulation upon their safe
+return, the captain went on giving his orders.
+
+"Nearly surprised us, Sir John," he said; "and it would have been
+awkward with us so weak-handed.  All go to your stations; they may try
+to board at any time.  Here, Mr Jack, you'd better go below."
+
+"What for?" said Jack quietly.
+
+"To be out of danger, sir," said the captain angrily.  "Quick, sir, I
+have no time to be polite."
+
+"Are you going below, father?" said the lad.
+
+"I?  No, my boy.  I shall stay."
+
+"So shall I," said Jack; and a voice whispered at his ear--
+
+"That's it, Mr Jack.  You stop; we don't want to be out of the fun."
+
+Sir John was silent, and stood behind the captain, who looked out ahead
+at the canoes, shown up clearly by the search-light as four lay in a
+cluster together, their occupants watching the light as if puzzled.
+
+The next moment the light was sent sweeping round to the other side; and
+there, plainly seen, was the fifth canoe, its gunwale level with the
+surface, and only its high stem and prow standing well above the water.
+And there clinging to her on either side were her crew, paddling away by
+striking the water, and sending the injured vessel slowly along, so as
+to cross the yacht's stem, and take her to where the rest lay waiting,
+as if their leaders were uncertain what to do.
+
+"There, you see, Jack," said the doctor.  "But what a crash! our speed
+saved us from being stove in, just as the tallow candle is said to pass
+through a deal board when fired from a gun."
+
+"Do you think they are all there?" said Jack.
+
+"Oh yes, they would help one another; but I don't think we should have
+been all here if they had had their way with us."
+
+They stood watching the damaged canoe till it had passed the yacht, and
+then the light was suddenly turned so that it lit up the four canoes, in
+which there might have been close upon a couple of hundred men; and to
+Jack's horror he saw that they had altered their position, and were prow
+toward them in regular battle array, and only about forty or fifty feet
+apart.
+
+"Does that mean coming on?" said Jack, and he thought of their own
+weakness.
+
+"I expect so," replied the doctor; "but I dare say a few volleys of
+small shot will give them such a sickening of the white man's magic that
+they will turn tail.  Why look at that."
+
+The light was now turned on to its full power, and the man who managed
+it kept on changing its position so that it blazed right upon each canoe
+in turn, with a singular result, each doing the same.  For, as if
+startled by the light, the occupants began to paddle backward in a
+hurried way, till the beam was shifted, when they ceased.
+
+"Why they're regularly scared at the lamp, captain," cried Doctor
+Instow.
+
+"Yes, that's so, sir," replied the captain; "and it looks as if they
+knew that their deeds were evil, shunning the light in this fashion; but
+it can't last.  They'll soon get used to it; and if they can only be
+scared until I get the steam up I don't mind."
+
+"Are you getting the steam up, captain?" asked Jack eagerly.
+
+"Yes; can't you hear the fires going?"
+
+Jack had been too much excited to notice any one special thing in the
+preparations to resist an attack, but he was now conscious of a dull
+humming sound which he knew was the softened roar of the furnaces.
+
+"The yacht's like a useless log lying here becalmed," continued the
+captain; "but once I have a good head of steam on she becomes a living
+creature, and I can do anything with her--and with them if they don't
+behave themselves.  I don't want to run down and drown any of the poor
+wretches; but if they attack us they must take the consequences."
+
+"Poor ignorant creatures!" said Sir John.  "I suppose they don't know
+our power."
+
+"That's it," replied Captain Bradleigh.  "The more savage a man is,
+according to my experience, the more vain and conceited he seems.  He
+believes in himself thoroughly, for he is generally vigorous and active
+as a wild beast, and looks down on an ordinary white man with a kind of
+scorn.  You would be surprised, Mr Jack, what a number of lessons have
+to be given him before he will believe in our machinery and weapons of
+war, unless you can appeal to his brain by making him believe that they
+are what the Scotchman calls uncanny.  If you once find him thinking
+that steam, or the gun which kills a man a couple of hundred yards away,
+is the result of fetish or the bunyip, or a diabolical spirit, he's the
+greatest coward under the sun.  Give them another brush over with the
+light, my lad."
+
+The man in charge of the great star sent the rays sweeping over the sea,
+once more making the dazzling beam play here and there at his will, upon
+first one and then another of the blacks in the canoes, with the result
+that they were all thrown into a state of confusion, each as the light
+dazzled his eyes ducking down right into the bottom of his vessel, or
+trying to bend behind his neighbour and to escape from the terrible
+blazing eye, which seemed to go through him.
+
+"That's right," said Sir John.
+
+"Now if we can only keep them off for an hour longer I don't care.  Give
+me that time and I'll chase them all out to sea before they know where
+they are, or send them to the bottom if they don't mind."
+
+The suppressed excitement on board the yacht was tremendous, but the men
+worked without a word.  The thick net was strongly fixed so as to act as
+a barrier to the enemy who might try to climb on board.  The yacht's
+guns were cast loose, well shotted with small grape, and cartridges were
+ready for use.  The men whose duty it was to repel attempts at boarding
+stood ready with their sword-bayonets at the ends of their rifles, and
+the engineer and firemen were below doing their best to get up steam,
+the humming noise going merrily on the while.
+
+The captain paced the deck very calmly and quietly, night-glass in hand,
+with which he watched the movements of the savages, and handed it more
+than once to Jack to take a look through at the enemy, making remarks
+the while about their bows and arrows, spears and war-clubs, while the
+doctor and Sir John stood aft, well-armed and ready for any emergency,
+Sir John's servant being close at hand.
+
+"Don't seem quite the thing, Jack," said the doctor, as the lad came
+along the dark deck to where they stood.
+
+"What doesn't seem quite the right thing?" said the boy, glad to have an
+opportunity to talk and have some cessation of the terrible strain which
+kept his excited nerves at the highest pitch of tension.
+
+"Why, the standing here with a double gun loaded with slugs, ready to
+pepper the niggers.  I'm a curer, not a killer."
+
+"We must defend ourselves," said Jack.
+
+"You must.  I ought to be below turning the cabin or the steward's place
+into an operating room, getting my instruments, tourniquets, silk, and
+bandages ready."
+
+"Oh, don't talk like that!" cried the lad with a shudder.
+
+"Why not?  Doctors must prepare for the worst."
+
+"Hope we shall have no worst, Doctor Instow," said the captain, coming
+up.  "If I could only get the signal that steam was ready!  We are just
+swinging by the head to the buoyed cable, so that I can slip at any
+moment.  Halloo!  What's going on now?"  He ran forward, gave a word to
+the man in charge, and the beam of light swept round the yacht and back;
+but there was no fresh danger coming up, and the shouting and yelling
+which had taken the captain forward evidently proceeded from the two
+central canoes.
+
+"Why, where's the sunken one?" said Jack, as he shaded his eyes and
+peered forward.
+
+"They've floated her right astern of them," replied the captain,
+"half-an-hour ago, and the crew are distributed amongst the four.  But I
+don't quite make out what they were shouting about.  Why--Steady there,
+my lads.  You at the guns, be ready.  The canoes are coming on.  Oh!" he
+added to himself, "if there were only a capful of wind!"
+
+But there was not a breath of air, as a loud yell from one voice was
+heard, and followed by a burst from the whole party.  Then the paddles
+were plunged into the water on both sides, making it foam and sparkle in
+the bright light of the star, the canoes began to move very slowly, and
+Captain Bradleigh turned to the yacht's owner--
+
+"They mean mischief, sir.  I'm afraid we must fire."
+
+"Only as a last resource," said Sir John.
+
+"If we wait for a last resource, sir," said the captain sternly, "it may
+be too late.  My lads could sink one of the canoes now, and that might
+check the advance.  The guns are useless if we let them come to close
+quarters."
+
+"But I am dreadfully averse to what may prove wholesale slaughter," said
+Sir John.
+
+"So am I, sir," said the captain dryly.  "It is for you to decide."
+
+Jack stood quivering with excitement, and wondered what Sir John would
+say.  But he said nothing, for all at once, as the canoes were coming on
+faster and faster in the bright light shed by the star, and the little
+crews of the two bright guns laid them ready for the shots they expected
+to hear ordered from moment to moment, the strange silence on board was
+broken by the clear loud _ting_ of a hammer upon a gong close to where
+the principals stood.
+
+"At last!" cried the captain; and before Jack could utter the question
+upon his lips as to what that stroke meant, order after order was
+delivered in quick succession.
+
+At the first the cable was slipped.  At the second, the star, which was
+vividly lighting up the approaching canoes, suddenly went out, leaving
+everything in darkness, for there was not another light visible on
+board.  And at the third, a peculiar vibration made the slight yacht
+quiver from stem to stern, for the engine was in motion under a good
+head of steam, and the propeller revolved slowly in reverse, so that the
+yacht moved astern as fast as the canoes approached.
+
+This went on for a few minutes, with captain and mate standing by the
+wheel, and the former suddenly turned to Sir John.
+
+"I can't keep this up in the dark, sir," he said.  "Perhaps we had
+better give them a shot or two."
+
+"Why not keep on retreating?"
+
+"Because at any moment we may retreat on to a sharp coral rock, and be
+at their mercy."
+
+"Try everything first."
+
+"I will, sir," said the captain; and suddenly changing his tactics, the
+order was given, the light flashed out again, and the canoes were made
+out four times the distance away, the men paddling with all their might,
+but stopping instantly in utter astonishment, for they were in perfect
+ignorance of the distance having been put between them, all being
+invisible in the darkness which followed the shutting off of the light.
+
+There was another yell now, and plunging their paddles in again, the
+water once more flashed and foamed in the brilliant light.
+
+Then there was a stroke on the engine-room gong down below, and the
+propeller began to revolve; two more strokes, directly after, another
+three, and the yacht gathered more and more way till she was rushing on
+full speed ahead, her light, like a brilliant star, hiding everything
+behind her, and apparently just above the surface of the water, bearing
+rapidly down for the centre of the little fleet of canoes.
+
+On she went, and as she neared the rate at which the paddles were used
+increased in speed too, but it was to get out of the way, for the
+steersmen turned off to starboard and port, and though the slightest
+turn of the wheel would have sent the _Silver Star_ crashing through
+either of the canoes the captain had chosen to select, she was steered
+straight through the little fleet till she was three or four hundred
+yards astern, and the canoes were invisible in the darkness.  Then by a
+clever manoeuvre she was swung round in very little more than her own
+length, the light which had been shut off as soon as they passed being
+opened upon the enemy again, and the occupants of the deck saw the two
+pairs of canoes now lying waiting as if undecided.
+
+Once more the order to go on full speed rang out, and the yacht was
+steered for the nearest canoe.
+
+No movement was made at first, but the moment the enemy made out that
+the light was rushing silently at them again, they uttered a wild shout
+of horror and dismay and began to paddle as hard as they could for the
+opening in the reef, to escape from the fiery star that had dropped from
+the heavens and was now chasing them to burn them up.
+
+Ignorance and fear went hand in hand, for there was the dazzling star
+but nothing more to be seen.  There might have been no yacht in
+existence for all they could tell.  It was enough that the fiery light
+like a great eye was fixed upon them in full pursuit, and away they
+went, faster probably than canoes ever travelled before, till the dark
+portion was reached where there were no breakers, and the leading canoe
+rushed out, followed by the others, and away to sea, horror-stricken at
+the great mystery they had seen, and in no wise lightened by the fact
+that the star suddenly disappeared as the last canoe dashed out from the
+lagoon.
+
+"I think that has startled them," said the captain, as he had the light
+shut off and gave the order for the yacht to go slowly astern, as he
+made, as well as the darkness would allow, for their old quarters, but
+did not reach them, it being more prudent to drop another anchor at
+once.
+
+No lights were shown and the strictest watch was kept, when the
+gentlemen went below to their late dinner, and discussed over it the
+probabilities of a return of the enemy.
+
+"No, you won't receive another visit from them in the dark, gentlemen,"
+said Captain Bradleigh merrily.  "The star they saw will be talked about
+among them for years.  That big light must have been a scare; but I
+expect we shall have them again by daylight, for this yacht would be a
+prize worth having.  But we shall see."
+
+"Well," said the doctor, "I should think that the maker of that light
+would be surprised if he knew to what purpose it was put."
+
+"Yes," said the captain, "I should say it is the first time an
+illuminated figure-head was used to scare a war-party of blacks."
+
+"What about to-night, Captain Bradleigh?" said Jack anxiously.
+
+"Well, if I were you, sir, I should go to bed and have a good long
+sleep."
+
+"Oh, impossible," cried the lad; "I could not close my eyes for feeling
+that the blacks were come back."
+
+"Try, sir," said the captain; and when the others went to lie down, on
+the captain's assurance that steam would be still on and the strictest
+watch would be kept, Jack lay down to try.
+
+But he did not try, he had no time.  Wearied out with the dangers of the
+day, he laid his head on his pillow, after placing a double gun and
+loaded revolver close to the bed's head, and just closed his eyes.
+
+They did not open again till Ned stood there and announced that it was
+"some bells," and that it was time to rise.
+
+"How many, Ned?" said Jack sleepily.
+
+"Oh, I dunno, sir, only that it answers to seven o'clock."
+
+"And the savages?" cried Jack excitedly.
+
+"Nowhere in sight, sir; but they've left the broken canoe as a present
+for you.  It's floating close in to the sands where we made our start
+the day before yesterday.  Lovely morning, sir, but I wish the
+neighbours hadn't been quite so friendly and wanted to come and see how
+we were getting on."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+THE USE OF THE LANCE.
+
+Edward was right.  There, a few hundred yards from the yacht, and close
+in shore, lay the great canoe; but not floating, for she was aground,
+with the water lapping over her, and only the prow and raised stern
+standing above the surface.
+
+Jack had a good look at the vessel through his glass, and then turned to
+watch the proceedings going on, just as Captain Bradleigh came up to
+him.
+
+"Well, squire!" he cried, "that was a bit of a scare for us."
+
+"Yes; it was horrible.  But are they quite gone?"
+
+"We can't make out any signs of them from the mast-head; but as they
+know we're here, they may set over their fright and come back."
+
+"Why, we're steaming," said Jack in surprise.
+
+"We are, my lad.  This is just the time when steam is useful; it helps
+me to run back gently to our old moorings; and as soon as Sir John comes
+up, I'm going to propose that we take a run right round the island from
+outside the reef, so as to make sure that the blacks have no village
+here."
+
+Directly after that the yacht hooked up the tub which buoyed the cable,
+and they swung in their old moorings.
+
+"Now then," said the captain, "I'm going to have a look at that canoe;
+will you come with me?"
+
+"Of course," cried Jack.
+
+"Get your gun and cartridges then.  It will not do to go unarmed
+anywhere now we have found that there is an enemy."
+
+Jack fetched his double gun, wondering whether he would ever have
+occasion to use it, and on returning to the deck he found the captain
+examining the stem of the cutter, now hanging from the davits.
+
+"Look here, Squire Meadows," he said, "this is a specimen of the value
+of good things.  Now if this had been a common, cheaply-made boat her
+planks would have been started, and a lot of carpenter's work wanted
+before she would have been any use.  As it is, she will want a bit of
+varnish there, and a few taps of the hammer where the copper covers the
+front of the keel.  You came a pretty good crash into that canoe, I
+suppose?"
+
+"I was not in the boat; but they seemed to."
+
+"I suppose so.  Well, come and jump in."
+
+He led the way to where Lenny was seated in the dinghy, and they stepped
+down, and were rowed by the man toward the submerged canoe.
+
+"Keep a sharp look-out along the edge of the trees," said the captain
+quietly.  "I don't think any one can have landed; but there is no harm
+in being safe."
+
+Jack began sweeping the green edge just beyond the golden sands, but his
+attention was taken off by the captain as they approached the canoe.
+
+"Look at the brutes," he said, pointing.  "Half-a-dozen of them under
+her."
+
+Jack looked at him in horror.
+
+"There, you can see their dusky bodies against the sand."
+
+"I thought they all escaped by swimming and hanging on to her," he said
+a little huskily.
+
+"Escaped by swimming?" replied the captain wonderingly.  "What are you
+talking about?"
+
+"The savages."
+
+"Oh!" cried the captain, bursting into a hearty laugh, to the boy's
+great disgust, "I see.  Well, I meant the savages too, but a different
+sort.  Look down there."
+
+"I don't care to!" cried Jack hoarsely.  "Perhaps it is cowardly; but I
+don't want to satisfy a morbid curiosity by gazing down at the dead
+bodies of my fellow-creatures."
+
+"Rather fine language, young gentleman," said the captain, patting him
+on the shoulder; "but I like the sentiment all the same, and I should
+not have drawn your attention to them if it had been what you thought.
+The bodies I mean are those of half-a-dozen sharks.  There they are."
+
+"Oh, I beg your pardon, Captain Bradleigh!" cried Jack.  "How stupid of
+me!"
+
+"Nothing to ask pardon for, sir," said the captain, smiling.  "See
+them?--Hold hard, Lenny."
+
+"Yes; quite plainly now.  Six.  How shadowy they look!  Not very big
+though, are they?"
+
+"Plenty big enough to tear a man to pieces.  Why, that one's a good nine
+feet long, and there isn't one under six, I should say.  But isn't it
+strange how they seem to smell out danger?  You know how they'll follow
+a ship?  Well, these brutes must have been following the canoes,
+expecting to get something, and this one being wrecked, they're waiting
+by it as if they were ready for a grab at some poor wretch."
+
+"How horrible!"
+
+"Ay, my lad, it is.  I'm as bad as any of the sailors.  Of course it's
+the brutes' nature; but I feel a thorough satisfaction when one is
+caught and killed; and if it was not that I don't want to have any
+firing just now, I'd go back and make some kind of a dummy with a ship's
+fender and some old clothes, and we'd pitch it overboard.  It would
+tempt them to come at it, and we'd put in ball-cartridge and try a bit
+of shooting, and finish off this lot."
+
+"I wish you would," cried Jack eagerly.
+
+"Well, we'll see after breakfast."
+
+Jack took up his gun and cocked it as he gazed down at the long, lithe
+creatures lying perfectly motionless beneath the injured canoe.
+
+"No, no; don't fire!"
+
+"Not unless I'm obliged," said Jack, who looked excited.  "This boat is
+so small and slight, I thought that perhaps they might attack us."
+
+"Oh no; they will not do that.  Scull round her bows, Lenny; I want to
+see where the cutter struck her."
+
+The man obeyed, and there about twenty feet from the prow, seen
+perfectly through the clear water, was a large gap where the cutter had
+acted up to her name, and gone right through the side, completely
+disabling the barbarian craft.
+
+"Ah, shows the strength of our boats," said the captain.  "Fine canoe,
+too.  Perhaps they'll come after her, and tow her away to mend her.
+Takes them too long to make such a canoe as that to give her up easily.
+Humph! a good sixty feet long.  That must have been a fine tree before
+it was cut down."
+
+"Was that made out of one tree?"
+
+"Yes; all the bottom part.  They cut one down, and hollow it out by
+burning and chopping, and then they raise the sides, and bows, and stern
+by pegging and lashing on planks.  There, you can see the rattan cane
+they lash the planks on with.  Look how the holes are plugged and filled
+up with gum.  It's rough, but good, strong work; and it's wonderful what
+voyages they make from island to island in a canoe like that."
+
+"Look!" said Jack excitedly, "there's one of the sharks rising."
+
+"Yes," said the captain coolly.  "Give me the little boat-hook, my lad."
+
+Lenny smiled grimly as he passed the little pole from where it lay.
+
+"Like to have a prod at him?" said the captain.
+
+Jack hesitated a moment, and then said, "Yes."
+
+The captain nodded approval, but did not hand the boat-hook.
+
+"Better let me," he said.  "You shall have a turn with a lance, first
+chance.  Look, here he comes.  Wonderful how these things can move
+through the water.  You can't see him moving a fin, but he is rising
+slowly, and when he likes he can dart through like an arrow.  One lash
+with the powerful tail sends the brutes a long way.  I believe he is
+rising now from some management of the air-bladder.  Swells himself out
+and makes himself lighter."
+
+Jack made no reply, for he was half fascinated, as he gazed down into
+the water, by the way in which, after passing under the canoe, the shark
+gradually and almost imperceptibly rose, with its head toward them, the
+sharply-rounded snout projecting over and completely hiding the
+savagely-armed jaws.
+
+"Sit fast and don't move," said the captain, poising the little
+boat-hook; "he is sure to lash out, but it will be behind, and can't
+touch the boat."
+
+Only a few moments passed, but expectation made them seem minutes,
+during which the shark's head came nearer and nearer, and its shadow
+cast by the sun was perfectly plain on the sands a few feet below.
+
+Then with all his force the captain drove the pole down; the aim was
+good, for the next instant there was a tremendous swirl in the water,
+the long, heterocercal tail, through which the creature's spine was
+continued to the end of the upper lobe, rose above the surface, and was
+brought down with a tremendous blow which raised a shower, and at the
+same time Captain Bradleigh's arms were dragged lower and lower, till he
+loosened his hold, and the pole of the boat-hook disappeared.
+
+"I didn't mean that, Mr Jack!" he cried, laughing, as the boat danced
+up and down, and the lad sat waiting to fire if the need arose.  "My
+word, what a tug!  Enough to jerk a man's arms out of the sockets."
+
+"Will it attack us?" said Jack.
+
+"Not he.  Gone to get rid of that thing sticking in his head.  No; got
+rid of it directly.  Lucky for him.  I dare say if it had stopped there
+his beloved brothers and sisters would have been at him for a cannibal
+feast."
+
+For about twenty yards away the handle of the boat-hook suddenly shot
+above the surface, and floated, bobbing gently up and down like a huge
+quill float, the metal on the end weighting it sufficiently to keep it
+nearly upright.
+
+A touch or two with the oars sent the dinghy within reach, and the
+boat-hook was recovered, but with its gun-metal head a good deal bent.
+
+"Got a good strong skull," said the captain, holding the end for Jack to
+see.  "Look under the canoe now."
+
+Jack glanced over the side, and there was not a shark to be seen as the
+agitated water grew calm again; but even as he looked, first one and
+then another shadowy object reappeared, until five had resumed their
+places, waiting for the dead that might float out of the canoe, but in
+this case waiting in vain.
+
+"The horrible wretches!" said Jack.
+
+"It's their nature, sir.  They are the scavengers of the sea in their
+way, just as the crocodiles are of the great rivers.--Row back, Lenny.--
+There is your father on the deck."
+
+"And Doctor Instow too," said Jack.
+
+"Here, I say," cried the doctor, "play fair.  Don't have all the
+adventures to yourselves.  Been harpooning fish?  Ugh!" he continued.
+"Sharks.  I should like a turn at them."
+
+Over the breakfast the position was discussed.
+
+"Well, you saw, Sir John, we would be obliged to camp out for one,
+perhaps two nights, if we tried to row inside the reef, and it would be
+dangerous with the enemy about."
+
+"And the steam is up, and we could run round outside the reef, and be
+back here in the evening."
+
+"Why not try inside?" said the doctor.
+
+"I was thinking of it," replied the captain.  "There is the risk of
+coming upon shallow water; but if Sir John likes we'll try.  I can have
+a couple of men sounding."
+
+"It would be much more interesting than going out to sea," put in Jack.
+"It's so much better than having to be always looking through a glass."
+
+"Try inside, Bradleigh," said Sir John.
+
+"It means coals, sir."
+
+"Never mind that," said Sir John, who had just drawn a deep breath full
+of satisfaction to see the intense interest his son was taking in
+everything now.
+
+"And what about our friends the blacks?" said the doctor.
+
+"Well, sir, we should find out whether they are neighbours or visitors
+from some other island.  I expect the latter," said the captain, "but I
+want to know."
+
+"Wouldn't there be time to try for the sharks first?" said Jack.
+
+"Oh yes, we could give an hour to that," said the captain; "for perhaps
+while we are rounding the island our friends of last night will come and
+fetch their boat.  They are welcome to it, I suppose, Sir John.  You
+don't want to take it back to England as a specimen?"
+
+"No," said Sir John, smiling, "let them have it; and I hope we shall see
+no more of them while we are here."
+
+There was a little excitement among the men as the cutter was lowered
+down, and a couple of small harpoons, two lances, and a little tub
+containing a hundred yards of fine strong line carefully coiled in rings
+were handed down, along with three rifles.
+
+Jack was looking on deeply interested after going with the doctor and
+Edward to fetch these and the necessary ammunition from the little
+museum-like place set apart for them and the magazine.  He was so much
+occupied with the preparations and his eagerness to get back that he did
+not notice a peculiar cough which was uttered behind him twice.
+
+But when it was delivered again with peculiar emphasis close by, and
+followed by a touch on the arm, he turned sharply round to find Edward
+looking at him with a most agonised expression of countenance--so bad
+did the man seem that Jack was startled.
+
+"Why, Ned," he cried, "what's the matter?  Here, doctor! doctor!"
+
+"Hush! don't, sir, pray," whispered the man.  "He couldn't do me no
+good.  Don't call him, pray."
+
+"But you look horrible," cried Jack.
+
+"So would you look horrible, sir, if you was like me."
+
+"Then why don't you speak out and tell me?  Are you in pain?"
+
+"Well, yes, sir, it is pain, and yet it ain't, if you can understand
+that."
+
+"Well, Ned, I can't.  Let me fetch Doctor Instow."
+
+"No, no, sir, please don't; he'd only laugh at me."
+
+"He would not be so unfeeling, I'm sure."
+
+"But he couldn't do me no good, sir.  Please don't.  Nobody but you
+could do me any good."
+
+"What nonsense, Ned!  Just because I gave you a seidlitz powder once."
+
+"I don't mean powders, sir."
+
+"Then what is the matter?"
+
+"Oh, sir, you'd be just the same if you was like me.  Can't you see?"
+
+"No; only that you look rather yellow."
+
+"Oh, don't laugh at a fellow, sir.  It does seem so hard.  Sharks! and
+me left behind."
+
+"That's it, is it?" cried Jack, laughing.
+
+"Yes, sir; ain't it bad enough?  But I say, sir, it does do a fellow
+good to see you laugh like that."
+
+"Absurd!  But I meant you to go, Ned."
+
+"Did you, sir?" cried the man joyfully.
+
+"Of course.  My father said the other night that I was to take you with
+me everywhere I liked, and have you as my regular attendant."
+
+"Did he, sir?" cried the man joyfully.  "Think of that now.  Well, I was
+going to ask him to raise my wages, and now I won't.  I say, Mr Jack,
+sir, ain't it a lovely morning?"
+
+"I thought it looked rather cloudy just now, Ned," said Jack dryly.
+
+"Now, my boy, are you ready?" said Sir John, coming up.
+
+"Yes, father, but you're not."
+
+"No, I'm not coming this morning.  There'll be plenty in the boat
+without me."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated the lad, "you go, and I'll stay behind."
+
+"Certainly not.  You'll have the doctor with you."
+
+"And Mr Bartlett," said the captain, strolling up.
+
+"But you're coming," cried Jack.  "No; Bartlett's a better hand at this
+sort of work than I am.  He and Lenny will show you plenty of sport, and
+help to rid the seas of some of these dangerous brutes.  Now then, over
+with you."
+
+Ned did not need the order, for he had already stepped over the side
+with the oarsmen.
+
+"Make anything out, Bartlett?" shouted the captain.
+
+"No," came from the mast-head.  "I've swept well round, and there's
+nothing in sight."
+
+"Come down then, and I'll send up one of the watch."
+
+The mate came down and joined the party in the boat, which pushed off in
+the direction of the sunken canoe.
+
+"Stop," cried Jack before they had gone fifty yards.
+
+"What is it?" cried the doctor.  "Captain Bradleigh said that he would
+have a kind of bait made to attract the sharks."
+
+"Here it is, Mr Jack, sir," cried Ned from the bows.  "I'm sitting on
+it."
+
+Curious to see what it was like, Jack went forward, the men laughingly
+making way for him to pass as they tugged against rather a swift
+current, for the tide was setting toward the opening in the reef; and
+the next minute he was examining a nondescript affair made of two ship's
+fenders--the great balls of hempen network used to prevent injury to a
+vessel's sides when lying in dock or going up to a wharf or pier.  These
+were placed, one inside an old pea-jacket, the other in a pair of
+oilskin trousers, and all well lashed together so as to have some
+semblance to the body of a man.
+
+"But a shark will never be stupid enough to bite at that," said Jack
+contemptuously.
+
+"Oh yes, he will, sir," said the black-bearded sailor, grinning.  "The
+cook's put a bit of salt pork, beef, and old grease inside.  They'll
+smell that soon enough."
+
+It was soon put to the proof, for the boat was steered by the mate well
+beyond the sunken canoe.  The men kept near there by clipping their
+oars, and then Jack and the doctor were each furnished with a lance, and
+the mate took the harpoon and attached it to the line in the tub.
+
+"Would either of you gentlemen like to have first try?"
+
+"No, no, I want to learn," said the doctor.  "What do you say, Jack?"
+
+"No, thank you," said the lad merrily; "I should be harpooning one of
+the men."
+
+"Not unlikely," said the mate, smiling.  "Don't lift your lances till
+they are wanted, and then handle them carefully.  I don't say though
+that I shall strike a fish," he continued, as he rose in his place and
+stood ready, with one foot on the side.  "Now then, Lenny, overboard
+with the dummy, and make a good splash.  Give it plenty of line, and let
+it sail by the canoe; then bring it back toward me; and you, my lads,
+try and give me a chance by backing water gently.  Ready?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+"Over she goes then."
+
+_Splash_! went the awkward-looking bundle the next moment, and began to
+float toward the stern of the canoe, beneath which the sharks had lain
+that morning, but were too far off now to be visible.
+
+"I say, this is exciting, Jack," cried the doctor, rubbing his hands.
+"I hope they'll bite.  Pike-fishing's nothing to it."
+
+But there was no sign of anything stirring, as the unwieldy bait was
+allowed to float on between the stern and bow of the canoe; and though
+Jack watched, holding his breath at times in his excitement, there was
+not a ripple, and the dummy was dragged back alongside.
+
+"Was it past there you saw them?" said the doctor.
+
+"Yes, past there.  Try again, Mr Bartlett."
+
+"Oh yes, we'll try till we get one or two," replied the mate.  "Mustn't
+go back without something to show."
+
+The men, who seemed as eager as so many boys, let the bait go again, and
+once more drew it back without result, then a third time, but were no
+more fortunate.
+
+"The tide's fallen since you were here," said the mate, after a few
+moments' thought.  "Pull a few yards farther away from the shore, and
+let it go down to the right of the canoe, where the water's deeper, and
+jerk it about like a man swimming--at least as near it as you can," he
+added in a low voice to Jack and the doctor.
+
+"Oh dear, I wish I was at that end of the boat," muttered Ned, as the
+bundle floated down again from the fresh place, and it had not more than
+reached the canoe when a thrill ran through Jack, for the calm water was
+suddenly disturbed as if by something shooting through it.
+
+"Look out!" said the mate sharply; "don't let him have it--make him
+follow it up.  See him, Mr Jack?"
+
+"No!  Yes, I can see that black thing sticking out of the water."
+
+"Back fin," said the mate.--"Well done, my lad.  Steady.--Make the poor
+victim swim for his life, Mr Jack, to escape the shark.  Capital.  Do
+you see he is following the dummy?"
+
+"Yes, I see," said Jack in a husky whisper.  "Shall I get the lance?"
+
+"No, no, not yet.  That's to kill him when he's harpooned.  This is a
+good big chap, judging by the size of his fin.  Look at it sailing along
+like a tiny lateen-rigged boat.  Oh, he's coming on splendidly.  Smells
+the meat.  That's it; coax him well up astern, Lenny."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+And there, as the man hauled upon the line, and the dummy answered to
+each jerk with a splash, the black triangular back fin of the shark came
+on behind, cutting the water steadily, till the fish was only about ten
+feet from where the mate stood in the stern, giving a sharp look to see
+that the rings of line he had drawn out of the tub would run clear.
+
+"Don't move, either of you," he said sternly, as he balanced the harpoon
+pole in his hand, well above his head.
+
+Jack could hardly keep in his place as he strained his eyes to watch for
+the shark, and the next minute he saw its white under-part as it turned
+on one side to make a snap at the dummy, now close astern; but at the
+same moment the mate darted the keen-bladed harpoon downward with so
+true an aim that he buried it deeply in the shark's sleek side.  There
+was a tremendous swirl in the water as the dummy was dragged aboard; the
+rings of rope curled over the side, and others began to run out of the
+tub at a rapid rate, while the mate took a big leather glove out of his
+pocket and put it on.
+
+"This is three times as big as the one that towed us before," he said
+quietly; "but we're better prepared this time."
+
+"What are you going to do when the line's all out?" cried Jack
+excitedly.  "Look! it will soon be gone."
+
+"I'll show you," said the mate, and taking hold of a piece of the rope
+secured to a couple of hooks in the outside of the tub, he cast it
+loose, hauled a few yards out, and secured the end of the line to a
+ring-bolt astern.  Then, raising his foot, he pressed it on the line
+where it ran over the boat's edge, slowly increasing the pressure so as
+to make his boot act as a brake, with the result that the boat began to
+follow the shark, at first slowly, then faster, and at last, when the
+line was all out, quite rapidly, farther and farther from the yacht.
+
+"Not a wise shark this," said the mate.  "He is going against the tide.
+Make it all the better, though, for us.  Does not disturb the water
+where the rest are."
+
+The shark took them for some distance, but at last began to show signs
+of being tired, and then made a curve round toward the sands, but,
+finding the water too shallow, made a tremendous leap right out, and
+came down with a heavy splash, to begin swimming back nearly over the
+same ground.  "Cannot be better, eh?" said the doctor.  "It's splendid!"
+cried Jack.
+
+"Haul upon him now, my lads," said the mate.  "Take the tub forward."
+
+This was done, the tub placed right in the bows, and as two men hauled,
+another laid the line back in rings, till, about a couple of hundred
+yards above the sunken canoe, the motion in the water, and the
+occasional appearance of the harpoon pole and shark's back fin, showed
+that the end was getting near.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, it's your turn," said the mate.  "I'll get out of your
+way.  Hold your lances ready; wait till you get a good chance, and then
+thrust hard just behind the head.  Into the white if you can."
+
+"Strikes me it only takes one to kill a shark," said the doctor quietly.
+"Your lance there, Jack."
+
+"No, no, doctor--you," cried Jack excitedly.
+
+"Don't lose the chance, Mr Jack.  Be ready, sir.  Haul, my lads.  Put
+your foot on the thwart, sir.  Now then!  Let him have it."
+
+Jack stood there flushing with excitement, and with his eyes dilated,
+following out his instructor's orders to the letter, till, startled at
+the aspect of the monster being brought close up astern, he was ready to
+shrink from his task.
+
+But he did not.  As the mate spoke he thrust the lance down with
+excellent aim, feeling the keen blade pierce into the great fish's side,
+and then seeming to dart out again.
+
+"Give it him once more.  Well done, sir.  Bravo!  Now another."
+
+Jack, in his excitement, thrust twice to the mate's orders, and each
+time the dangerous brute made a feeble rush, but the harpoon held firm,
+and the last thrusts were fatal.  The water was dyed with blood, and the
+shark turned up, showing all white in the ruddy surface; its tail
+quivered a little, and its career was over.
+
+A cheer, headed by Edward, rang out, and the beast was examined before
+being cast loose, a clever cut or two from Lenny's knife setting the
+harpoon at liberty.
+
+Then, as the dead fish floated away, a good ten feet in length, the tub
+was replaced astern, and the dummy brought into requisition for a
+repetition of the novel fishing.
+
+"My turn now," said the doctor.
+
+"To harpoon?" said the mate.
+
+"No, no, you do that; I'll lance.  And I flatter myself that if I have
+as good a chance as Jack here, I can perform that feat more
+artistically, and kill the monster at the first stroke."
+
+"Let's see," said Jack, laughing.
+
+The opportunity soon came, for the blood in the water seemed to have
+excited the other sharks, one of which, on the same tactics being
+carried out, soon became fast on to the line; the harpoon held, and
+after it had towed them about a bit it was brought alongside.
+
+"Now's your time, sir," cried the mate, and the doctor delivered a quick
+thrust, and, to Jack's great delight, missed entirely.
+
+"Well, that's curious," said the doctor; "I thought I had him."
+
+"Try again, sir."
+
+"Will you let me take my time, Bartlett," said the doctor tetchily.  "I
+want to strike in a particular place."
+
+The mate remained silent, watching; while, after letting two or three
+chances go by, the doctor struck again and wounded the shark, but with a
+stroke that seemed to infuse vitality instead of destroying it.
+
+"Lesson, Jack, my lad," he said, rubbing his ear.  "Doesn't do to be
+cock-sure about anything.  Never mind, third time never fails.  Here,
+you tell me when, Bartlett."
+
+"Very well," said the mate; and as the shark was drawn close up, lashing
+about a good deal, he cried, "Now!"
+
+The doctor thrust, and his stroke was this time so true that the
+creature gave a few sharp struggles and turned up dead.
+
+"There, Jack," cried the doctor, "what do you say to that?"
+
+Two more were killed in the course of the next hour, and then one of the
+men drew the mate's attention to different objects out toward the
+opening in the reef, and in turn the mate pointed them out to the doctor
+and Jack.
+
+"I can count at least ten," he said.
+
+"What! sharks?"
+
+"Well, their back fins, and they're all heading up this way.  Why, they
+must swarm on the outside of the reef.  We might go on killing them all
+day."
+
+"We didn't see any hardly before," said Jack.
+
+"Seems as if the more we kill, the more they come to the funeral," cried
+the doctor.
+
+"Oh, the reason is plain enough," said the mate; "they scent the blood,
+which is carried out by the tide, and the more we kill, the more will
+come."
+
+"Signal from the yacht, sir," said Lenny, pointing to a little flag
+being run up.
+
+"All right.  Give way, my lads."
+
+The boat's head was turned, and they were rowed rapidly back, this
+ending the sharking.
+
+"Strikes me the captain sights the blacks again," said the mate, and in
+a few minutes they were alongside.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+A CIRCUMNAVIGATION.
+
+But no canoes were in sight, for Sir John cried directly--
+
+"Come, I thought you had had long enough for one day.  Up with you, we
+are anxious to be off.  Captain Bradleigh says we're wasting steam."
+
+"Beg pardon, coals," said the captain, smiling; and giving his orders,
+the cutter was hoisted up, the screw began to revolve slowly, and with
+an easy motion the yacht glided on past the opening in the reef, and
+then to follow the course taken by the boats.
+
+Two men were placed forward with leads to keep on sounding, but in a
+short time it was found that the deep water could easily be traced by
+its darker colour, and the mate ascended to the foremast-head to con the
+ship, the navigation proving in such perfectly smooth water free from
+all danger, so that a fair rate of speed was kept up.
+
+The trip was glorious, and as the various points and indentations noted
+on the previous day were passed, they seemed to display fresh beauties,
+and Jack, full of animation, kept on calling his father's or the
+doctor's attention to the manifold points of interest.
+
+"Oh!" he cried at last, "if people only knew what they would see if they
+travelled they would never care to stay at home."
+
+"Yes," said Sir John dryly, "if they only knew."
+
+They reached the beautiful glen at last, where the two springs--hot and
+cold--sent their waters into the shadowed pool, Jack being now forward
+with Edward, who, as an excuse for being well to the front in anything
+fresh which might arise, made a point of keeping close behind his young
+master with the glass, which he handed to him from time to time.
+
+Now it was to sweep the sea beyond the glittering, misty edge of the
+reef, where a rainbow showed brilliantly from time to time; now to look
+up through a deep gash at the summit of the great volcano, which curved
+upward till its crater was lost in a cloud of vapour.  Every now and
+then too a flock of birds had to be watched in some huge tree a little
+way back from the sands.
+
+And still the yacht glided on in perfect safety hour after hour, with
+the reef nearer or more distant, but always affording an ample space of
+deep pellucid water full of the wonders of the tropics, and calling for
+a brief inspection.
+
+"Here, look, sir," cried Ned suddenly, as they were passing a lovely
+park-like stretch which ran high up amongst the dense forest growth.
+"Catch hold, sir.  It's just your focus."
+
+"Pigs," said Jack contemptuously, "half-a-dozen."
+
+"I never saw pigs like them, sir.  Why, hark at 'em.  They're barking."
+
+"Well, pigs make a short, sharp, barking noise sometimes," said the
+doctor, whose attention had been taken by the man's words.  "No, they're
+not pigs, Jack," he said, as he brought his glass to bear well upon the
+little cluster of animals running here and there among the trees, and
+ending by darting down upon the sands to stare at the yacht.  "Dogs, by
+all that's wonderful.  Here, Meadows, Bradleigh, what do you make of
+these?"
+
+"Mongrel wild dogs," said the captain, after a glance; "descendants of
+some that have been left by a passing ship."
+
+"Why, we may find cows, sheep, and goats yet," said the doctor.
+
+"Very likely goats," replied the captain, "but I doubt whether we shall
+find the others."
+
+Every mile they passed spread fresh beauties before them, the rugged
+nature of the mountain scenery precluding all sameness; and early in the
+afternoon, when, by the captain's calculation, they had arrived nearly
+at the opposite point to where they had lain at anchor, Jack had come to
+the conclusion that they need go no farther on their voyage, for they
+had hit upon the loveliest place in the world, where they ought to stay
+for good.
+
+He said something of the kind to Sir John.
+
+"And what about studies, books, and the realities of civilised life?"
+said his father.
+
+"I feel now as if I don't care for them a bit," replied the lad
+dreamily.  "I should like to stop here and do nothing."
+
+"Do you mean that?"
+
+"Well, not exactly nothing," replied the lad, "for I should want to
+shoot and fish and collect all the birds, insects, flowers, and shells."
+
+"In other words, lead a very active life, my boy.  But you would weary
+of it in time and want a change.  Better do as we are doing now, visit
+an island like this and return home."
+
+"Yes, that is perhaps the best, father; and of course there are the
+troubles here--the dangerous reptiles and poisonous insects."
+
+"And the blacks," said the doctor, who had been leaning over the rail
+with his glass to his eyes, but had heard every word.
+
+"Yes," said Jack with a shudder, "there are the blacks."
+
+"I should like to know whether they are cannibals," continued the
+doctor.  "The worst of it is, if we killed one we should be no wiser.
+You see, you couldn't tell whether he was carnivorous or herbivorous by
+his teeth.--Well, captain, no signs of any inhabitants."
+
+"Not a bit; and we're quite half-way round.  No signs either of another
+opening in the reef.  Fine island to annex, Sir John.  It's a regular
+fortification, a natural stronghold with an impregnable wall round it,
+and a full mile-wide moat inside.  A fort at the point commanding the
+entrance would be sufficient."
+
+"But we do not want it," said Sir John.
+
+"No, sir, it's on the road to nowhere."
+
+The captain went aloft, glass in hand, to have a good look ahead, and
+descended pretty well convinced that there would be nothing to hinder
+their progress round the island, the water of the lagoon being very
+calm, and deeper than on the other side of the island.
+
+The gentlemen lunched and the men dined, and the afternoon was spent in
+gazing at the wonders of sea and shore.  Shoals of silvery and golden
+fish, startled by the vessel, leaped out of the water and darted in all
+directions; a shark showed its back fin now and then, and twice over
+droves of pigs started up out of the hot sand to make for cover.  But
+still there was no sign of inhabitant or opening in the reef, while
+scores of tempting places were passed, all inviting to a naturalist, and
+above all to Jack; vistas among the trees took his attention, and
+valleys rising upward toward the higher parts of the mountain.
+
+Upon one of these occasions, when he was sitting back in a deck-chair,
+sweeping the side of the mountain with his glass, the doctor came up
+behind him.
+
+"Looking at the mountain?" he said.
+
+"Yes; couldn't we get up there?"
+
+"I vote we try," said the doctor.  "Will you come?"
+
+"Yes," cried Jack eagerly; "but we couldn't land and start now."
+
+"Hardly," said the doctor, laughing.  "We should have to start at
+daybreak."
+
+"What, to get up a little way like that?"
+
+"Yes, to get up that little way," said the doctor, with a queer twinkle
+of the eye.  "Well, we don't seem to see anything likely to hinder our
+landing to-morrow and having a good time at collecting.  We must soon
+get round to our starting-place.  Let's ask the captain how far we have
+come."
+
+"Roughly speaking, nearly fifty knots," said the captain.  "It's getting
+well on toward six bells now, and we've been coming at a fair speed, and
+are going a bit faster.  I want to reach the anchorage before dark."
+
+At one time this seemed to be doubtful, but just as the captain
+announced his intention of dropping anchor for the night, Mr Bartlett
+hailed him from above.
+
+"I can just see the opening in the reef over that low strip of sand."
+
+"How far off?"
+
+"About a mile," was the reply; and the speed being increased, they
+picked up the buoy they had left in the morning just as it was beginning
+to grow dark, having completely circumnavigated the island.
+
+"I say, Mr Bartlett," cried Jack suddenly, as the mate approached him,
+and he pointed toward the shore.  "Wasn't it just there that we killed
+the sharks?"
+
+"Yes; just there.  Can you see any back fins?"
+
+"No; but where's the wrecked canoe?"
+
+The mate clapped his glass to his eye, and swept the shore for some
+minutes.
+
+"Could it have been carried out to sea?" said Jack excitedly.
+
+"No; hardly possible."
+
+"Then has it sunk?"
+
+"No; it could not sink."
+
+"Then what does it mean?  We left it there."
+
+"It means that the blacks have been and fetched it while we were away,"
+said the mate, drawing a deep breath.  "Just as Captain Bradleigh
+prophesied."
+
+"What's that?" said the captain sharply.
+
+"I don't think there is any question about it.  She might have drifted a
+little way, but that is doubtful, for one end was well aground.  We must
+have had visitors while we were away.  I thought they would not give up
+that canoe without a struggle."
+
+"Yes," said the captain, "they must have been.  That canoe was too
+valuable to be lost.  I said so."
+
+"Then they may come again at any moment?" said Sir John.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the captain; "and they must find us well prepared."
+
+"Mr Jack, sir," whispered Ned at the first chance, "we're going to have
+some fighting after all."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+"A WAS AN ARCHER, WHO SHOT--"
+
+No more was seen of the blacks, while a fortnight passed; and encouraged
+by the utter solitude of the place, the well-armed parties which left
+the yacht made longer and longer excursions, coming home with an
+abundance of specimens to preserve.  The sailors took to the task with
+the greatest of gusto, and evidently thoroughly enjoyed the hunt for
+rare birds and butterflies, of which there proved to be an abundance.
+One day Jack would be helping his father collect the wonderfully painted
+insects which hovered or darted about in the sunny glades or in the
+moist shady openings over the streams, where they hung over the lovely
+blossoms of the orchids.  At another time the doctor would claim his
+attention, and shouldering one gun, while Edward carried another and the
+cartridges, long tramps were taken over the mountain slopes and at the
+edge of the forest, to penetrate which, save in rare places, was
+impossible.  Their sport was plentiful enough, for the birds were fresh
+to the gun, and when startled their flight was short, and they alighted
+again within reach.  They were all new to the boy, who seemed never
+weary of examining the lovely plumage of the prizes, which one or other
+of the sailors carried afterwards, slung by their beaks from a stick, so
+that the feathers should not be damaged.  Now it was a green paroquet,
+with long slender tail and head of the most delicate peach-colour or of
+a brilliant orange yellow.  At another time, after a careful stalk, one
+or other of the pittas, the exquisitely-coloured ground thrushes, in
+their uniforms of pale fawn and blue, turquoise, sapphire, and amethyst.
+And perhaps the next shot would be at one of the soft feathery trogons,
+cuckoo-like birds in their habits, but instead of being pale
+slate-coloured, barred and flecked like a sparrowhawk, Jack's specimens
+would display a breast of the purest carmine, and a back glistening with
+metallic green.  Something like cuckoos, Ned declared them to be, but
+not in aspect.
+
+One morning, after several times hearing their calls in a clump of
+gigantic trees up one of the volcanic ravines, the doctor called the lad
+to be his companion to try and stalk what he believed to be birds of
+paradise; but they had evidently chosen the wrong time, for to their
+disappointment not a sound was heard, and they would have gone back to
+the yacht empty-handed if it had not been for Ned's sharp eyes.
+
+"There they are!" he whispered, pointing across the ravine to where
+another little forest of tall trees feathered the steep sides of the
+slope.
+
+"What are?" said Jack excitedly.
+
+"The birds you are looking for, sir.  Saw about a dozen, big as
+pheasants, fly across and settle there."
+
+He pointed with the gun he carried to one tree which towered above the
+rest.
+
+"They went down under there, sir.  I could lead you straight to the
+place."
+
+Jack took out his small glass, and after gazing through it attentively
+he suddenly said--
+
+"I saw a big bird fly down.  Yes, and another."
+
+"They can't be those we want," said the doctor, "but they may be good
+specimens of something.  What do you say, Jack, will you go down and
+across?"
+
+"Oh yes," he replied.
+
+"It's very steep, and will mean lowering ourselves cautiously."
+
+"I don't mind," said the lad.  "If it's very bad they will help me."
+
+"Oh yes, sir, we'll help," said Lenny, turning to his companions; "won't
+us, lads?"
+
+There was a chorus of "Ay, ays," and the steep descent from the great
+grove commenced, it being necessary to get to the bottom of what became
+low down a precipitous gully, along which one of the springs which had
+its source high up in the mountain dashed along.  This had to be
+crossed, and then there was a similar climb on the other side.
+
+The start was made, and proved difficult enough, for where the trees
+were not close and their roots interlaced, there were openings where
+masses of volcanic rock were tumbled-together in inextricable confusion,
+and the way over them was made more difficult by the bushy, shrubby
+growth and creepers which bound them together.
+
+But the sailors were activity itself, and they slashed and trampled down
+and hauled and lowered till the whole party found themselves upon a
+broad stony shelf at the very edge of a sharply-cut rift, whose sides
+showed that it must have been split from the opposite side by some
+convulsion of Nature, so exactly was the shape repeated.
+
+At the bottom of this crack--for it could be called little else--the
+water of the stream rushed foaming along some thirty feet beneath, the
+whole place looking black and forbidding enough to make any one hesitate
+before attempting to cross, though the distance to the other ledge was
+not above five feet, a trifling jump under ordinary circumstances.  But
+here, with the deep black rift and the foaming water beneath, it looked
+startling to a lad accustomed to a quiet home life.  He, however, put a
+bold face on the matter and stood looking on.
+
+Jack was, however, conscious of the fact that the doctor was watching
+him in a side-long way, as if expecting to hear him make some
+objections.  As, however, the boy was silent, the doctor spoke.
+
+"Rather an ugly jump, Jack," he said.  "Think you can manage it?"
+
+"Oh, I think so.  I shall try."
+
+"Try?  It must not be a try.  It has to be done."
+
+"Yes, I can do it," said the lad confidently.
+
+"Oh yes, you can do that, Mr Jack," said Ned in a whisper, as the
+doctor turned off to speak to Lenny; "think it's only a ditch a foot
+deep."
+
+The boy could not think that with the water roaring beneath him far
+below, and he could not help glancing back up the steep slope they had
+descended.  This looked so forbidding and meant so much toilsome work,
+that he felt as if he would rather do the leap, though all the same
+there was the climb on the other side.  Still there was an attraction
+there in the shape of the strange birds, which he was as eager to secure
+as the doctor.
+
+"Who'll go first?" said the doctor.  "Here, I will."
+
+He handed his gun and satchel to Ned, walked a little way to select the
+broadest and clearest path, which happened to be a couple of feet higher
+than the opposite side, stepped back as far as he could, took a short
+run, and landed easily a couple of feet clear.
+
+"There: nothing," he cried, "but I shouldn't like to try it back.  Throw
+my satchel over, Ned."
+
+This was done and deftly caught.  Then the gun was carefully pitched
+across, the others followed, and the specimens shot that morning.
+
+Then one by one the sailors leaped over, and Jack and Ned remained.
+
+"Will you go next, Ned?"
+
+"Me, sir, and leave you behind?  'Tisn't likely.  Don't think about it,
+sir.  It's easy enough.  Off you go.  The thinking's worse than the
+doing."
+
+To an ordinary school-boy it would have been nothing.  His legs,
+hardened by exercise, would have sent him across like a deer, but Jack's
+muscles only a short time before were flaccid and weak in the extreme.
+Still the voyage had done something; the strong will growing up within
+him did more, and without a moment's hesitation, feeling as if his
+reputation was at stake, he went sharply to the starting-point, took the
+short run, and leaped, but too hurriedly.  If he had gone quietly to
+work it would have been different; as it was, he cleared the gulf and
+landed on the other side, but without throwing himself forward
+sufficiently to recover himself, and Ned uttered a cry of horror as he
+saw the lad apparently about to totter backward into the depths below.
+
+Lenny saved him by a curiously awkward-looking act.  He had been on the
+look-out on one side, the doctor on the other, to give the lad a hand as
+he landed, but instead of a hand he gave him an arm, delivering a sharp
+blow on the back, and driving him into safety just as he was hopelessly
+losing his balance, and the men gave a cheer.
+
+"Thank you, Lenny," gasped the boy breathlessly, as he saved himself
+from falling forward by catching at the nearest sailor; "but don't hit
+quite so hard next time; it hurts."
+
+A roar of laughter followed this, and the doctor took off his pith
+helmet to wipe his forehead.
+
+"That's a nice sort of an example to set a fellow," muttered Ned as he
+stood on the other side, rather unnerved by what he had seen.  "Makes a
+poor man feel as if he would rather be at home cleaning the plate."
+
+Then in a fit of determination he flung up his arms, and in regular
+boyish fashion shouted--
+
+"Clear the way, there.  Here comes my ship full sail."
+
+He cleared the gulf with a good foot to spare, and felt triumphant.
+
+Each took his gun or rifle directly without a word of allusion to Jack's
+narrow escape, and with the doctor leading the way they began to climb
+the steep ascent in silence.
+
+"I hope that fellow's shouting has not scared our birds," said the
+doctor after a time.  "Quiet as you can, below there."
+
+"They were so far off I don't think the birds could have heard him,"
+replied Jack.  "Perhaps the noise would not have gone out of the gully."
+
+"Perhaps not," said the doctor.  Then laconically: "Hurt?"
+
+"Oh, not much," said Jack, smiling.  "He did hit me a good bang though."
+
+"Never mind, my lad; I like to see you bear it stoically.  Shows me
+you're recovering tone.  Phew! this is warm work.  How much more of it
+is there?"
+
+"Not half-way up yet," panted Jack.
+
+"Take it coolly, men, or our hands will be all of a tremble, so that we
+can't shoot straight."
+
+There was no need to advise an impossibility, for no one could have
+taken it coolly.  The blocks of stone, the tangled creepers, and higher
+up the dense undergrowth, made it a slow, laborious task; but at last
+the huge trees of the upper slope were reached, and the work promised to
+be lighter.
+
+The doctor made a sign, and they both sat down to rest for a few
+minutes, the men who came on smilingly following suit; but all at once a
+peculiarly hoarse cooing sound arose from not far away among the trees,
+and all the fatigue passed away as if by magic.
+
+"Pigeons!" whispered the doctor excitedly.  "Hark! more of them!  They
+must be the big fruit birds, Jack, and we must have a pair or two of
+these.  When you're ready we'll go on."
+
+"I'm ready," whispered Jack.
+
+"Then we'll go abreast.  Don't you study me.  Keep your eyes open, and
+the first moment you have a good chance you fire.  Get one with each
+barrel if you can."
+
+Jack nodded, and directly after they advanced among the trees, with Ned
+about a couple of yards behind, carrying a second gun for whichever
+needed it.
+
+These were exciting moments, more exciting than they knew of, as they
+crept forward among the huge trunks, and gazing upward among the
+branches, expecting moment by moment to catch sight of the flock of
+great fruit-pigeons, whose cooing kept stopping and commencing again.
+
+It had sounded to be so close that they felt puzzled, and wondered
+whether they had passed them, for the doctor argued that if they had
+taken fright the rustle of their wings would have been heard among the
+branches.
+
+All at once Jack, who walked on the doctor's left, held his gun in his
+left hand only, and made a sign with his right.
+
+His companion crept close to him, and the next moment a flock of
+enormous pigeons, which had been feeding on the fallen nuts of one of
+the biggest trees, rose with a tremendous rushing of wings, and four
+barrels were fired into them, with the result that three birds fell.
+
+"Our dinner, Jack, and the men's too," cried the doctor; and the boy
+felt a chill of horror run through him, as from close behind there was a
+wild cry from Ned, followed by a shouting amongst the men a dozen yards
+below.  Then _shot_--_shot_--_shot_ followed one another quickly, and
+Lenny cried--
+
+"Down, gentlemen, down!"
+
+The doctor dropped instinctively, and began to creep to Ned, who had
+fallen heavily, when he heard Lenny cry--
+
+"Down, Mr Jack--down!" and he saw the lad standing motionless, staring
+with horror at the ground.
+
+The next instant something whizzed by his ear and struck quivering in
+the tree-trunk behind.  Then he dropped into shelter, and began rapidly
+to reload.
+
+"Fall back on us, my lads," said the doctor sharply, "and don't fire
+unless you have a good chance.  Keep well under cover."
+
+"The blacks?" panted Jack.
+
+The doctor nodded.  "Is Ned--hurt much?"
+
+"Can't tell yet, my lad.  How are you, Ned--much hurt?"
+
+"Oh, it hurts, sir, horrid," said the man faintly; "but I shouldn't mind
+that.  It's feeling so sea-sick and swimming I mind.  Let's go back to
+the yacht."
+
+"Yes, of course; but you can't walk."
+
+"But I will walk, sir; must walk.  'Tain't my leg, it's my arm," cried
+the man, who was sick with agony, but full of spirit.  "Who's going to
+carry a fellow in a place like this?"
+
+"Much hurt, mate?" said Lenny, who now crept to them on all fours.
+
+"What's the good o' asking stupid questions, old 'un?" cried Ned
+petulantly.  "Course I'm much hurt.  Can't you see it's gone right into
+my arm?  Why look at this--gone right through.  Going to cut the
+arrow-head out, sir?"
+
+"No," replied the doctor sharply.  "Kneel, and be a man.  I won't hurt
+you more than I can help."
+
+"All right, sir.  No use hollering," cried Ned cheerily.
+
+"Look out there!" cried one of the sailors from below.  "They're going
+to rush us!"
+
+"Never mind me, sir," said Ned, letting himself sink back.  "You three
+has to fight.  Nasty cowardly beggars--shooting a man behind his back!
+Let 'em have it, I say."
+
+He had hardly spoken when the men below fired a little volley across the
+gully, and then there was a cheer.
+
+"That's scut 'em to the right-about, sir.  We've dropped two," cried one
+of the men, and they crept back under the dense cover to where Ned lay.
+
+The doctor had seized his gun, but he laid it down again, and took out a
+keen-bladed knife.
+
+"Thought you wasn't going to cut out the head, sir?" said Ned faintly.
+
+"I am not," replied the doctor.
+
+"Oh, don't you mind me, sir.  I tell you I won't shout.  You do what's
+right.  I know it must come out; but I'd take it kindly, Mr Jack, sir,
+if you'd lay hold of my hand.  Cheer a fellow up a bit.  Go on, doctor;
+I'm game."
+
+"That you are, my lad," said the doctor, and kneeling behind the
+sufferer he took hold of the long arrow, which had completely transfixed
+the fleshy part of the arm, and snapped it sharply in two on the side
+where it had entered, then in an instant he had drawn the head portion
+right out of the wound in the same way in which it was driven.
+
+"That's the way, sir.  Don't you be afraid to cut," said Ned sturdily,
+but with his eyes shut.  "I'll bear it; but I didn't know you'd got a
+red-hot poker up here to dress the wound with.--What! have you got it
+out?"
+
+"Yes.  Take hold of these pieces, Lenny."
+
+"Well, you have been quick, sir.  My word, it was a stinger--just like
+as if twenty thousand wasps was at you.  Eh! going to bind it up?"
+
+"Yes, only lightly.  It will be all the better for bleeding a bit.  Now
+then!  We must retreat as fast as we can.  Can you get up, Ned?"
+
+"Can I get up, sir!  I should just think I can!  I'm not going to make a
+regular how-de-do because I've got a prick from a bit of wood."
+
+"Are the enemy coming on, men?" said the doctor sharply.
+
+"Can't see any more of 'em, sir," sail one of the sailors.  "I think
+that volley scared 'em a bit."
+
+"Here, take my arm, Ned.  Jack, you come next.  Come on, my lads."
+
+"All right, sir, we will," cried Lenny.
+
+"Who has Ned's gun?" said Jack.  "That must not be left behind."
+
+"I've got it, sir; he's loaded too," said one of the sailors.
+
+"Forward then," cried the doctor.
+
+"I can get on without your arm, sir," grumbled Ned now sturdily.  "No, I
+can't.  Things turn round a bit somehow.  Thank you, sir.  I shall be
+better directly."
+
+At that moment there was a heavy concussion, and a rolling echo which
+went reverberating up the gully toward the mountain top.
+
+"One of the big guns," said Lenny.  "That means a signal to come back."
+
+"Then the black fellows are in sight there," cried Jack excitedly.
+"Come on."
+
+The start was made, with Ned making a brave effort to keep his legs, and
+succeeding fairly well as they struggled on through the tangled growth,
+Jack springing to the front, hunting-knife in hand, to slash away at
+creepers and pendent vines which came in their way.  But every now and
+then the poor fellow stopped short.
+
+"Bit touched in the wind, gentlemen," he said cheerily.  "Go on again
+directly.  If there is a chance to get a mouthful of water I should like
+it.  If there ain't, never mind.--Off we goes."
+
+The doctor said nothing, but supported him all he could, and they
+started again, with Jack leading and the sailors forming their
+rear-guard, retiring in regular military fashion, dividing themselves in
+twos, one couple halting face to the enemy till the rest had gone on a
+hundred yards and halted, and then trotting or rather forcing their way
+along the track, to pass their companions and halt again.
+
+Moment by moment an attack was expected, but it was not made, though
+from time to time those in the rear caught sight of a black face peering
+round the trunk of a tree, showing that they were followed.
+
+At last as they descended they came to a spot where the stream in the
+ravine could be reached, and the wounded man drank of the cool clear
+water with feverish avidity, while the doctor frowned as Jack looked at
+him with questioning eyes.
+
+"Does take the conceit out of you, Mr Jack," said Ned, as they
+continued their retreat.  "I did think I was a better-plucked one than
+this.  Talk about a weak 'un; I'm downright ashamed of myself."
+
+"Don't talk so much, my man," said the doctor.  "Keep your breath for
+the exertion."
+
+"Cert'nly, sir.  That's right," said the man in quick, excited tones.
+"Won't say another word, only this.  I should like to have just one pop
+at the chap who shot me, and hit him in the same place.  I'm ashamed to
+see you working so hard, Mr Jack, sir.  How far is it down to the
+boat?"
+
+"About a mile, Ned; but pray do as Doctor Instow says--keep quiet."
+
+"Right, sir, I will," replied the man, setting his teeth hard, his drawn
+face showing the agony he was in; and they went on descending, to be
+startled by another heavy detonation.
+
+"Another signal," said the doctor; but the words were hardly out of his
+lips when there was a fresh report running up the gully, and being
+multiplied in echoes which gradually died away.
+
+"Those are not signals, Jack," said the doctor quietly.  "It means an
+attack upon the yacht by the canoes."
+
+"Oh! and we not there," cried the lad excitedly.
+
+"_Well_, the more lucky for us, eh?"
+
+"Doctor Instow!" cried Jack indignantly; "when these men are wanted to
+help defend the vessel.  Pray, pray try and walk faster, Ned."
+
+"Trying my best, sir, but I'm very shaky.  Legs must be a regular pair
+of cowards, sir, for they won't hurry a bit.  Ah!"
+
+The poor fellow reeled and would have fallen but for the doctor's strong
+arm supporting him and letting him gently down.
+
+Just then the regular short, sharp report of rifles reached their ears
+from below, announcing that there was no mistake about an attack being
+made upon their friends, and the anxiety of Jack and the doctor was
+increased as they trembled for the fate of the two men left as keepers
+of the boat in which they had come ashore.
+
+"I hope they have escaped back to the yacht," said the doctor.
+
+"They wouldn't do that," cried Jack indignantly.  "But what is to be
+done?  Can't we make a sort of stretcher with two of the guns?"
+
+"No," said the doctor, "it would take time; and the wood is too thick.
+I'll carry him for a few hundred yards."
+
+"Let me have first go, sir," cried Lenny.  "You're tired.  I'll take
+him.  Help me get him on my back, so as not to hurt his arm."
+
+This was done, poor Ned remaining quite insensible; and once more they
+began to descend through the solemn aisles of the forest, with the
+sunshine coming through the leaves in showers of rays, while the firing
+away below them kept rolling up to where they were.
+
+After a time Lenny was relieved, and dropped into the rear-guard, and
+this evolution was performed again and again, Jack still leading the
+way, and hacking through some growing rope from time to time.
+
+"Soon do it now, sir," said the man who was carrying.  "Keep a good
+heart, sir.  That's the best o' being mates.  Chap goes down, and
+t'others 'll always carry him.  Hullo! what, a'ready?" he continued, as
+one of his companions came to relieve him.  "I've only just begun."
+
+"Don't be greedy, matey," said the new-comer with a grin.  "You allus
+was such a chap for wanting to have more 'n your share.  Gently, let me
+get under the poor chap here without hauling him about so.  That's your
+sort.  Warm work, mate?"
+
+"Tidy," said the man relieved with a grin.  "Warmer where there's none."
+
+On they went again with the relieved man taking his place ready for the
+defence if called upon, and the fresh bearer toiling on as if there was
+nothing to mind.
+
+"Mustn't whistle, I suppose, Mr Jack?"
+
+There was a shake of the head.
+
+"S'pose not.  Like letting the beggars know where we are.  My word, how
+things seem to grow here.  Take some muscle to cut a good road.  Say,
+sir; think poor Ned here's much hurt?"
+
+"Hurt a good deal, of course, but it can't be a dangerous wound."
+
+"I dunno," said the man thoughtfully, after a few minutes' silence.  "Is
+he onsensible like, sir?"
+
+"Yes, quite," said Jack, after a look at Ned's face.
+
+"Can't hear what I say then, sir?  I'm a bit afeard for him."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Chap wouldn't go like this after a hole being made in his arm.  I had a
+bayonet through mine once, but it didn't turn me this way.  Felt a bit
+sick at first, but it made me feel hot and savage after."
+
+"What do you mean?" said Jack, baring his head for a moment.
+
+"Arrows, sir; poison."
+
+"Ah!" ejaculated Jack in horror.  "Then that's what made Doctor Instow
+look so serious."
+
+"That's it, sir.  But don't you say anything.  I dare say as soon as we
+get aboard the doctor 'll put some of his acquy miracolus on it, and set
+it right again.  My word, they're having a good round with the niggers.
+I do wish we were aboard in the fun.  I don't like this running away."
+
+The bottom of the forest slope at last, and now an open park-like
+stretch lay between them and the patch of jungle which ran down to where
+they had left the boat.  But upon this being neared they could see no
+sign of her.
+
+Jack put a whistle to his lips and blew shrilly, but there was no sign
+still, and his heart sank as they hurried on across the open part toward
+the cover; and none too soon, for the party of blacks which had been
+following them from where the first attack was made suddenly appeared at
+the edge of the forest they had just left, and arrow after arrow came
+whizzing by to stick in the shrubs and dense grass around.
+
+"Don't stop to fire till we are in cover," cried the doctor, and they
+kept on till they were once more hidden by the low jungle scrub, when at
+the doctor's order four shots were fired amongst the trees from whence
+the arrows kept coming.
+
+These had their effect, and the missiles ceased falling, but a dark
+figure appeared from time to time, and it was evident that the enemy
+were running from cover to cover, so as to try and cut them off from the
+shore.
+
+Just, however, as this danger was growing imminent, there was a loud
+hail from the part of the lagoon hidden from them by the low scrub.
+"Here they are, sir," cried Lenny.  "Then now for it, my lads; a sharp
+run to the boat.  Here, take my gun, some one.  I'll carry him now."
+
+"He's all right, sir," cried the man upon whose back Ned still hung, and
+the bearer rose from his knees.  "Some one take care as they don't spear
+me, and I'll soon have him in the boat."
+
+"Lead on, Jack," cried the doctor.
+
+"All here?" said Jack.
+
+"Yes.  Forward."
+
+The distance was short now, and in a few minutes they had put the low
+growth between them and their enemies, and were running toward where the
+boat, with its two keepers, was being backed on to the sand.
+
+"Hooray!" panted Ned's bearer, as he waded in and let the poor fellow
+glide over the gunwale of the boat, following directly after.
+
+The others, as soon as Jack and the doctor were aboard, dropped their
+rifles in, ran the boat out till they were waist deep, and then gave a
+final thrust and slipped over, to seize their rifles again and squat
+down ready to fire.
+
+They were none too soon, for a party of about a dozen blacks, armed with
+spears and bows and arrows, came into sight, and began to shoot.
+
+"Give them a volley," said the doctor sternly.  "Six of us.  We can't be
+merciful now."
+
+The pieces were rested upon the sides of the boat, and the sharp rattle
+of gun and rifle followed, Jack and the doctor firing both barrels of
+their fowling-pieces, loaded with largish shot.
+
+The effect was instantaneous.  As the cloud of smoke rose, they could
+see that two of the blacks were down, and several running wildly about
+as if in terrible pain.  Then the two fallen men were seized by the
+wrists and dragged under cover, from which arrow after arrow was
+discharged--fortunately without effect--till the vigorous strokes of the
+oars took them beyond their reach, and toward where a dense cloud of
+smoke hung over the lagoon, drifting slowly toward them in the soft
+sea-breeze, and completely hiding the yacht.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+A POISONED ARROW.
+
+"Better run out toward the reef and approach from that side," said the
+doctor, after considering for a few moments the difficulties of their
+position.
+
+For they were literally in the dark, and did not know but what they
+might be running into danger--that from the canoes which must be
+attacking the crew, or that of getting into their friends' line of fire.
+
+As the doctor kept a sharp look-out, he helped to lay the wounded man in
+a more easy position, and bathed his head and face with the
+comparatively cool water; but the poor fellow showed no sign of revival,
+and Jack's face grew more anxious, the doctor's graver and more stern.
+
+At the end of a few minutes they had passed out of the smoke cloud,
+which was still increasing from the firing going on and the fumes
+rolling out of the funnel, and they could now grasp the position of
+affairs.
+
+The steamer still lay at anchor, and she was engaging half-a-dozen long
+canoes, whose occupants were raining arrows upon the deck, and every now
+and then, with terrible temerity, they were paddled rapidly near enough
+to hurl their spears at any one they could see.
+
+"Well, we must risk it, and get on board somehow," said the doctor.
+"Give way, my lads, and pull for your lives.  I'll steer as well under
+cover as I can.  Jack, lad, keep on bathing the poor fellow's face."
+
+The men began pulling with all their might, and the nearer they drew to
+the yacht, naturally the better cover they secured, though, as Jack sat
+dipping his handkerchief in the sea from time to time, and laying it
+upon Ned's burning head, he wondered that one or other of the canoes did
+not come round to meet them and cut them off.
+
+Probably they were too much occupied by their own troubles, for, stung
+at last by the vicious attack into fierce reprisals, the yacht was
+giving the savages ample proof of her power.
+
+"Don't fire at them with rifles," Sir John had said, "it is only
+slaughtering the poor ignorant wretches.  Give them some good sharp
+lesson that shall teach them to respect an English vessel come upon a
+peaceful mission."
+
+"There is only one, sir," said the captain quietly.  "Sink two or three
+of the canoes with round-shot."
+
+"You feel that it is absolutely necessary?" asked Sir John.
+
+"So necessary, that if we do not do that they will for certain board us,
+and as they are about fifty to one, we shall not be here to-morrow to
+tell the tale."
+
+Sir John hesitated no longer, and just as the boat was racing for the
+yacht, the firing had begun, the former shots having been with blank
+cartridge, in the vain hope of scaring the enemy away.
+
+The boat was now sighted from the yacht's deck, and a faint cheer
+reached Jack's ears as they sped over the water.  But while they were
+still some three hundred yards from the gangway, one of the great canoes
+suddenly started away from the others, and with the paddles making the
+water flash and foam, came round the yacht's bows and made a dash for
+the solitary little boat to cut her off.
+
+"Cease rowing," cried the doctor; but every piece was already charged,
+and giving the order now for the rifles to be laid ready to seize at a
+moment's notice, they began pulling now for the yacht's bows.
+
+"If they don't give us some help soon from the yacht, Jack," said the
+doctor rather despondently, "it will go rather badly with us."
+
+"Oh, don't say that," cried the boy, whose face was flushed with
+excitement.
+
+"I am compelled to, my lad.  If anything happens to me, keep the men
+rowing for the yacht.  They must send help soon."
+
+"I don't see them lowering down a boat," replied Jack.  "Oughtn't we to
+fire?"
+
+"I'm afraid that it would be no good.  But we must not let them master
+us without striking a blow to save our lives."
+
+"Striking a blow to save our lives," thought Jack, as he glanced round
+him and saw their helpless position, for to have tried to escape by
+rowing, if they were cut off from the yacht, seemed to be folly.
+
+But, as is often the case when things look blackest, a ray of light
+suddenly gleamed out.  There had been no signs of help from the yacht,
+but all the same those on board had not been neglectful, and as soon as
+the danger the returning boat ran was seen, Sir John and the captain
+prepared the needed help.
+
+All at once there was a white puff of smoke seen to dart from the
+yacht's bows.  The water close to the middle of the great canoe was sent
+flying, and as the roar of a gun echoed from the mountain side, the
+canoe was seen to be cut right in two, and slowly settling down, with
+half her men in the water.
+
+"That was a charge of grape-shot, I know," growled Lenny.  "Round-shot
+wouldn't ha' done it."
+
+"Hah!" ejaculated the doctor.  "Pull, my lads, as you've never pulled
+before."
+
+The crew gave a cheer, and the cutter almost leaped to their vigorous
+strokes, every man being now at the oars.
+
+A minute or two later they were alongside, having nothing to fear from
+the half-sunken canoe, whose occupants were struggling to keep
+themselves afloat till they could urge the portions of the damaged
+vessel on to the sands.
+
+"Quick, all of you," cried the captain, "and look out for the arrows.
+What! wounded man!  Here, two of you."
+
+A couple of the crew ran to him, and poor Ned was lifted over the side
+and borne down into the cabin.
+
+"Keep in shelter, Jack, my boy," cried Sir John, as he caught his son's
+hand.  "The arrows are coming in like hail.  You are sure you are not
+wounded?"
+
+"Quite, father; I'm all right," said Jack, as he stepped on deck.
+
+"Is Edward much hurt?"
+
+"Here's Doctor Instow, ask him," said the boy, as the doctor came up out
+of the boat, the last man but those who were hooking on the falls, to be
+run up.
+
+"Ned?  I can't say yet.  Don't stop me.  I'm not sneaking out of the
+fight, Meadows.  I must go down to the poor lad."
+
+"Speared?"
+
+"An arrow.  For goodness' sake keep in shelter, for I'm afraid they're
+poisoned."
+
+"Glad to see you back safe," cried the captain, hurrying up to him.  "I
+can talk to the miserable wretches now.  Hi! there, forward.  Come away
+from those guns.  Capstan-bars, all of you.  Keep in shelter, and down
+with every one who tries to get on board; but mind the spears."
+
+A few more orders were given, a tub to buoy the cable thrown over the
+side, and the yacht began to glide steadily with the tide, as the engine
+clanked, and the motion of the shaft produced its regular vibration
+through the graceful vessel, with only two men visible to those in the
+canoes--the captain and the man at the wheel, and they both sheltering
+themselves from the black marksmen as well as they could, the sailor
+kneeling on the grating.
+
+The savages in three canoes uttered a furious yelling, and plunged their
+paddles over the sides to attack in front and on both quarters, but one
+was a little late in crossing the yacht's bows, and the next minute,
+with full steam ahead, and in obedience to movements of the captain's
+hands, the sharp prow of the swift vessel struck the sluggish canoe full
+in the side about 'midships.  Then a dull crashing sound, but no
+perceptible shock.  The _Silver Star_ cut the canoe cleanly in two, and
+the portions of the destroyed vessel floated by on either side, coming
+in collision with the others, which after closing in with a vain attempt
+to board, grated against the yacht and were then left far astern.
+
+It was all the matter of a minute.  A few black heads appeared above the
+bulwarks, as their owners leaped up and tried to climb on deck, but a
+sharp blow, rarely repeated, sent them back into the lagoon with a
+splash, to swim to the floating canoes, and the fight was over, save
+that an arrow or two came whizzing to stick in the white planks; but the
+enemy was too much engaged in picking up the swimming warriors to
+continue their assault.
+
+"There," cried the captain, rubbing his hands.  "Your men-of-war may
+carry the biggest guns they like, and their crews may be drilled to the
+greatest perfection, but to my mind nothing comes up to the management
+of the craft under a good head of steam.  Now, Sir John, shall we give
+them a few rounds of grape-shot, or let the poor wretches study the
+lesson they have had?"
+
+"No, no," cried Jack eagerly, "they're beaten; let them go."
+
+Sir John nodded his approval, saying nothing, for he seemed eager to let
+his son come well to the front.
+
+"Very good," said the captain.  "Then I think we'll run outside and
+lie-to a mile or so beyond the reef, and see what they mean to do, for I
+suppose you don't want to give up the island to the enemy!"
+
+"No, it would be a pity," said Sir John, "just when we are getting on so
+well.  But what do you say, Bradleigh, will not this be a sufficient
+lesson for them?"
+
+"It ought to be, sir; but we are dealing with savages, and I will not
+venture to say."
+
+The steward came hurrying up at that moment, to give a sharp look-out
+for danger, but seeing the enemy far astern, and the yacht gliding
+swiftly along toward the open sea, he walked confidently to where the
+group stood by the wheel.
+
+"Doctor Instow would be glad if you would come into the cabin, Sir
+John."
+
+"It's about, Ned," cried Jack.  "I'd forgotten him."
+
+He ran to the cabin hatch, and Sir John followed quickly.
+
+"Hah!" cried the doctor.  "I'm glad you've come.  He's very bad, Jack.
+Yes, very bad, Meadows, poor lad."
+
+"But from a wound like that?" said Sir John, and he and his son bent
+over the poor fellow where he lay on one of the cabin settees, with his
+eyes wide open, and looking very fixed and strange.
+
+"Yes, from a wound like that," replied the doctor.  "It would be nothing
+in an ordinary way, but I saved the head of the arrow which passed
+through his arm, and it and the top of the shaft had been well smeared
+with some abominable preparation.  The poison is affecting his system in
+a very peculiar manner."
+
+"Can he hear what you say?" whispered Jack anxiously.
+
+"No; he is quite insensible.  He was talking wildly a few minutes ago,
+but he could not understand a word."
+
+"Surely you don't think it will prove fatal?" said Sir John.
+
+The doctor was silent.
+
+"Oh, Doctor Instow," cried Jack in agony, "this is too terrible.  The
+poor fellow came out for what he looked upon as a pleasure-trip, and now
+he is like this.  Oh, pray do something."
+
+"My boy," said the doctor gravely, "I have done everything possible."
+
+"But try something else," cried Jack angrily.  "I thought doctors could
+do anything with medicine."
+
+"I wish they could," said his father's friend sadly; "but it is at times
+like this, Jack, we doctors and surgeons find out how small our powers
+are."
+
+"But only this morning he was so happy and full of life and fun," cried
+Jack, as he sank on his knees by the couch to take the poor fellow's
+cold hand in his.  "It seems too hard to believe.  Ned!  Ned! you can
+hear what I say?"
+
+There was no reply, and the boy looked wildly from one to the other.
+
+"Oh, father," he cried, as he saw their grave looks, "is he dying?"
+
+Sir John was silent, and Jack caught at the doctor's hand.
+
+"Tell me," he cried.  "But it can't be so bad as that.  It would be too
+dreadful for him to die."
+
+"He is very bad," said the doctor slowly, "but I have not given up all
+hope.  It is like this, Meadows.  The poison is passing through his
+system, and in my ignorance of what that poison really is, I am so
+helpless in my attempts to neutralise it.  Even if I knew it would be
+desperate work."
+
+"Then you can do nothing?" cried Jack in agony.
+
+"I can do little more, my lad, but help him in his struggle against it.
+The battle is going on between a strong healthy man and the insidious
+enemy sapping his life.  Nature is the great physician here."
+
+Jack uttered a piteous groan, and still knelt by the couch, holding the
+poor fellow's hand, watching every painful breath he drew, and noting
+the strange change in his countenance, and the peculiar spasms which
+convulsed him from time to time, but without his being conscious of the
+pain.
+
+As Jack knelt there it seemed to him that it was in a kind of confused
+dream that he heard his father's questions and the doctor's replies, as,
+after some ministration or another, they walked to the end of the cabin.
+
+Then the captain came down softly.
+
+"The enemy's coming out to sea," he said, "and making north; they'll be
+in a fix if the wind rises, for they are clustering in their canoes like
+bees.  How's the patient?"
+
+"Bad," said Sir John.
+
+"Tut--tut--tut!" ejaculated the captain.  "I am sorry.  But you'll pull
+him through, doctor?"
+
+"If I can," said Doctor Instow coldly.
+
+"That's right.  I have been so full up with my work that I seem to have
+taken hardly any notice of him.  Wound through his arm.  You have well
+cleansed it, of course?"
+
+"Of course, and injected things to neutralise the poison."
+
+"Ah!" cried the captain, angrily, "it takes all one's sympathy with the
+miserable savages away when one finds that they fight in so cowardly, so
+fiendish a fashion.  I was ready to be sorry for them when I was
+crushing their boat.  But this makes me feel as if one ought to lose no
+opportunity for sweeping the venomous wretches off the face of the
+earth.  They have no excuse, you see.  It is our lives or theirs.  We
+are inoffensive enough surely; and they would have gained by our
+presence if they had been friendly.  But they're nearly all alike."
+
+"Have you seen cases like this before?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Oh yes, several."
+
+"And after a few hours' struggle the strength of the poison dies out,
+and the sufferer recovers?"
+
+The captain glanced in the direction of Jack, and seeing that his
+attention was apparently entirely taken up by the sufferer, he said in a
+low tone--"Yes, sir, the strength of the poison died out, but the
+wounded man died too;" and every word went through Jack like some keen
+blade, and for the moment he drew his breath with as much difficulty as
+the man before him.
+
+"In the cases I saw there was no doctor near at hand, and we who
+attended the poor fellows could do no more than try to draw the poison
+from the wounds and burn them out.  But it seemed to me that the poison
+acted like the bite, of a snake, and altered the blood, while at last
+the symptoms were like those I have heard of when the patient has
+lock-jaw."
+
+"Tetanus," said the doctor gravely.
+
+"But it can't be so hopeless here.  You were with him and attended him
+from the first."
+
+"Yes; I have done all I can for him, poor fellow, and with his fine
+physique he may fight through it."
+
+"Would amputation have saved him?" asked Sir John.
+
+"I do not believe it would have had any effect upon a wound like that,
+even if it had been performed ten minutes after the injury," said the
+doctor.  "The circulation is so rapid that the poison is running through
+the system at once, and to proceed to such an extremity seems to be
+giving the patient another terrible shock to fight against when his
+state is bad enough without."
+
+"Then you have done everything you can?"
+
+"Everything.  He is beyond human aid."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+THE CREW HAVE THEIR OWN OPINIONS.
+
+The utter exhaustion produced by the struggle on the mountain slope and
+through the forest died away with Jack in the light of the terrible
+trouble which had come upon him; and as the afternoon wore on he just
+partook of such food as his father brought to him, for he would not
+leave the wounded man's side; and at last sunset came as they lay about
+a couple of miles out softly rocking upon the calm sea.  He had heard
+how the canoes had been watched till they disappeared below the horizon
+line, and that all danger from another attack had passed away, but that
+seemed nothing in the face of this great trouble.
+
+The night was approaching fast, and Jack shuddered at the thought of the
+darkness, and what it would bring; and once more it seemed impossible
+that the strong, active fellow who had been his companion that morning
+should be passing away.
+
+If he could only have done something besides kneel there, keeping the
+poor fellow's head cool--something that would have helped him in his
+terrible fight with death--he would not have suffered so much; but to be
+so completely impotent seemed more than he could bear.
+
+"You will go to bed early, Jack," said his father that evening, when the
+cabin was almost dark from the lamp being turned low.
+
+"No, father; I am going to stop here, please," he replied.
+
+"I will take your place, my boy.  I feel too that we owe a great duty to
+the faithful fellow who has served us so long.  You are tired out."
+
+"No, father, I don't feel a bit tired now.  Don't ask me to leave him.
+It is so hard with no one who knows him here; and I feel as if he will
+come to his senses some time, and would like to speak to me.  I never
+did anything for him, but he always seemed to like me."
+
+"Very well, Jack," said Sir John quietly, "I will not press you to go.
+But you will take necessary refreshment from time to time?"
+
+"I could not touch anything," said the boy with a shudder.
+
+"If you do not you will break down."
+
+"Tell the steward to bring me some tea, then, by and by.  You will go to
+bed?"
+
+"I?  No, my boy.  I could not sleep."
+
+Jack was left alone with the patient save when every half-hour or so the
+doctor and Sir John came down from the deck to minister in some way, and
+the long-drawn-out night slowly passed, with poor Ned breathing
+painfully, and lying nearly motionless, till a faint light began to come
+through the cabin windows, and the distant cries of birds floated to him
+over the sea.
+
+Another day was at hand, and the solemnity of the hour seemed appalling
+to the watcher as he rose and went to the open window.  A sense of the
+terrible loneliness of the sea oppressed him, and, exhausted now, he
+felt how helpless he was, how awful and strange was the change from
+night to the coming of another day.
+
+There was not a sound to be heard on deck, though he knew that there
+were watchers there too, but not a footfall nor a whisper could be
+heard.
+
+He stood there looking at the paling stars and the faint streaks of soft
+light low down in the east, till the black water stretching out to the
+horizon grew to be of a dull leaden grey, which gradually became silvery
+with a peculiar sheen, and then all at once there was the tiny fiery
+spot high up to the right above where the reef encircled the island,
+which was too distant now, after the night's steady glide away upon the
+current, for the breakers to be heard.
+
+"Will he live to see the sun rise once more?" thought the boy, as the
+silvery sheen grew brighter on the surface of the sea, and then he
+started, and a great dread came upon him, for he felt that the time had
+come, for a faint voice said--
+
+"Is that you, Mr Jack?"
+
+Jack's first thought was to call the doctor from the deck, but he did
+not, he stepped quickly to the couch.
+
+"I thought it was your back, sir.  I've been watching you ever so long.
+I say, hadn't you better have the lamp lit, and let some of 'em carry me
+to my berth?"
+
+"The lamp lit, Ned?" faltered Jack, with his heart fluttering the while.
+
+"Yes, sir; it'll be quite dark directly."
+
+"Yes," thought the lad, with a pang of misery shooting through him as he
+realised that after all this man was a friend that he could not afford
+to lose, "it will be quite dark directly."
+
+"I'd go and fetch one, sir, but I don't feel up to it.  I should go down
+on my nose if I tried to stand; and," he continued, laughing weakly,
+"smash the glass shade."
+
+"Ned!" cried Jack, catching his hand, which closed upon it tightly.
+
+"Have I been lying here all the afternoon, sir?"
+
+"Yes--yes," sighed Jack, and he tried to withdraw his hand so as to call
+for help; but Ned clung to it tightly.
+
+"What a shame!  Upsetting everybody, and turning the gentlemen out of
+their place.  I say, you can't have had dinner here, sir."
+
+"No, Ned."
+
+"'Shamed of myself.  I don't know how time's gone.  Been asleep.
+Dreaming like mad, and--Heigho! ha--hum!  Hark at that, sir, for a yawn.
+Never put my hand before my mouth.  I say, what about the niggers?"
+
+"We are far out at sea, Ned," whispered Jack.
+
+"Good job.  I don't know though.  I hope we shall go and give 'em an
+awful thrashing.  We didn't interfere with them.  Coming and shotting
+their arrows at us behind our backs.  I say, Mr Jack, don't you get one
+in you.  My word, how it does make you dream--all the awfullest nonsense
+you could imagine.  I should like to tell you, but it's all mixed up so.
+I say, I fainted, didn't I?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I remember; up there in the wood.  I felt myself going like a great
+gal.  Just as I did once when I was a boy.  How rum!  That was through
+an arrow.  I used to make myself bows and arrows, and I was making a
+deal arrow, and smoothing it with a bit of glass, when the bit broke and
+I cut my finger awful, and turned sick, and down I went.--I say, Mr
+Jack."
+
+"Yes, Ned," said the lad in a voice full of pity.
+
+"I can't recollect a bit after that.  How did you yet me down to the
+boat?"
+
+"The men carried you."
+
+"One to them.  My turn next.  Good lads.  Then you rowed out to the
+yacht."
+
+"Yes, Ned."
+
+"Yacht!  I wish I could spell yacht when I write a letter home ready for
+posting first chance.  I always get the letters mixed up.  But I say,
+Mr Jack, this won't do!  I say, would you mind giving me a bit of a
+pull?  I could walk to my berth.  This is luxurious, this is.  Me on the
+cabin couch, and you waiting on me.  Here, I feel like a rich lord.  Now
+pull."
+
+"No, no, Ned; lie still."
+
+"I say, don't you get taking on like that, Mr Jack, sir," said the man
+earnestly.  "That is being chicken-'arted.  I'm all right.  These two
+holes in my arm don't burn so; don't burn at all.  Feel as if I hadn't
+got no arm that side.  But I say, what's the matter?"
+
+"Oh, Ned, my poor fellow!"
+
+"Here, I say, Mr Jack, sir!  Don't--don't, please.  I say, I have upset
+you; but--Here, what does that mean? am I a bit off my head?"
+
+"No, Ned, you are quite sensible now."
+
+"No, I ain't, sir; I can't be, because things seem to be going backward.
+'Tain't the moon, is it? because it's getting light instead of dark."
+
+"Yes, Ned, the sun will soon rise."
+
+"What!  Don't play--No, you wouldn't do that.  Sun rise?  Why, I ain't
+been lying here all night, sir?"
+
+"Yes, Ned."
+
+"Well, my lad, how are you?" said Doctor Instow.  "I thought I heard you
+speaking."
+
+"Morning, sir.  You're up early, sir.  Won't want calling."
+
+"No, I shall not want calling this morning, Ned.  How are you?"
+
+"About all right, sir, only I don't seem to have no arm.  Oh, Mr Jack--
+Sir John!" cried the man wildly as his master entered the cabin, and he
+turned his head with a shiver from his injured limb, "you ain't let him
+do that, have you, while I've been asleep?"
+
+"Do what, Ned?" said Jack in a soothing voice.
+
+"Take a fellow's arm off, sir."
+
+"No, no, Ned, my lad," said the doctor, laying his hand upon his
+patient's forehead.  "It feels numb and dead from the wound."
+
+"Then--then it isn't off?" cried the poor fellow with a gasp.  "Oh,
+thank goodness!  It give me quite a turn, sir, and I was afraid to
+look."
+
+"You're better, Ned, and coming round fast," said the doctor, as a warm
+glow of light began to illumine the cabin, driving away the shadows of
+that terrible night.
+
+"Oh yes, sir, I'm all right," said the wounded man, speaking more
+strongly now.  Then in quite an apologetic tone, "Not quite all right,
+Sir John; you see, there's my arm.  Sorry to have give so much trouble,
+Sir John; but you see, it wasn't quite my fault."
+
+"Ah, lie still, you rascal!" said the doctor, as the man made an attempt
+to rise.
+
+"Yes, don't move, Edward," said Sir John warmly.  "I am very very
+thankful to see you so much better."
+
+"Thankye, Sir John.  It's very good of you to say so.  But I can't stop
+here in your way.  Seems as if I was shamming ill like so as to get
+waited on: and if there's anything I hate it's that.  Don't seem
+nat'ral, Mr Jack, sir."
+
+"Now lie still and be silent," said the doctor sharply.  "Your tongue's
+running nineteen to the dozen, and it will not do your arm any good."
+
+"But really, sir," protested Ned, "if you'd put on a couple of good
+round pieces of sticking-plaster, and let me wear it in a sling for a
+day or two, it would be all right."
+
+"Will you hold your tongue, sir, hang you!" cried the doctor sharply.
+"I'd better put a bit of sticking-plaster on that.  Do you think I want
+you to teach me my profession as a surgeon?"
+
+"No, sir; beg pardon, sir."
+
+"Silence, sir!"
+
+Ned screwed up his mouth and his eyes as well.  "Now, Jack, my lad,"
+said the doctor, "I can't afford to have you ill too.  Go to your room,
+undress and get into bed."
+
+"Doctor!  Now?"
+
+"Yes, my lad, now.  You went through a terrible day of excitement
+yesterday, and you have not stirred from this poor fellow's side all
+night."
+
+"Mr Jack, sir!  Oh!" cried Ned in a voice full of reproach.
+
+"Look here, Ned," said the doctor, "if you say another word I'll give
+you a draught that will send you to sleep for twelve hours.--Now, Jack,
+my lad, do as I advise.  Believe it is for your good.  Go and sleep as
+long as you can.  Never mind about it's being daylight.  Ned is quite
+out of danger, and in a few days, when the poison is quite eliminated,
+he will be himself again."
+
+At the words "danger" and "poison" the man's eyes opened wonderingly,
+and he looked at Sir John and his young master in turn.
+
+"Yes, Jack, my lad, go."
+
+"But if--"
+
+"There is no _if_ in the case, my boy," said the doctor.  "It was a
+battle between the poor fellow's strength and the poison on that
+wretched arrow, and Ned has won."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated the man softly.
+
+At that moment the captain and Mr Bartlett entered the cabin.
+
+"We have heard all you said," exclaimed the former, as he came to the
+side of the couch and took the patient's hand, to give it a firm grip.
+"Good lad: well done."
+
+"And I am very glad, Ned," said the mate warmly.
+
+"There, that will do," said the doctor sharply.  "He is forbidden to
+speak, but he says through me, that he is very grateful to you all, and
+glad to find that his manly, straightforward, willing ways have won him
+so many friends.  Nod your head to that, Ned."
+
+The man gave him a comically pitiful look, which seemed to Jack to mean,
+"Oh, I say, doctor, you're pitching that last too strong," but he
+remained quiet after giving every one an attempt at a nod.
+
+"Now then," said, the doctor, "I want this cabin cleared, for he is
+going to sleep for a few hours, to get cool and calm.  Yes, you are,"
+said the doctor, in answer to a look full of protest.  "And as soon as
+you wake I'll have you carried to your own berth.  There, behave
+yourself, and you'll be all right in a few days."
+
+Half-an-hour later both patient and Jack were sleeping soundly, and that
+evening, thoroughly out of danger, Ned was resting again in his own
+berth, and Jack was dining with the rest in the cabin as if nothing
+whatever had occurred; the yacht many miles now from the island, which
+stood in the evening light like a blunted cone of perfect regularity
+resting upon the placid sea.
+
+That night the regular watch was kept, and the sea was steadily swept in
+search of danger in the shape of canoes stealthily approaching to try
+and take the yacht by surprise.  But no danger came near, and at last,
+after lying awake for some time, thinking of the account his father had
+given him of the attack made by the enemy, and the terrible anxiety
+about the little shooting party, Jack fell into a deep and dreamless
+sleep, to rise refreshed and find the doctor's prognostic was correct,
+the patient having also had a quiet night, with the steward and Lenny to
+keep watch by his pillow, and there was no sign of fever to check a
+rapid recovery.
+
+That day, with his mind at ease, Jack sat listening to a discussion held
+under the awning, as the yacht softly rose and fell upon the long
+pulsations of the calm sunlit sea, with the island lying ten or a dozen
+miles away.
+
+"Of course, gentlemen," said the captain, "it is for you to decide.  We
+are your servants, and your wish is our law."
+
+"Well," said Sir John, "I am ready to speak apologetically to you,
+Bradleigh, for you cannot feel the interest in the place that we as
+naturalists do."
+
+"Don't apologise, Sir John.  Speak out and say what you feel."
+
+"It is Doctor Instow's feeling too.  We think that now we have reached
+here--thanks to you--"
+
+"Only done what you wished, sir," said the captain bluntly.
+
+"Well then, now that we have reached a place which teems with objects of
+interest, and which we have not half explored, it is a pity to leave it.
+What do you say, Jack?  Shall we give it up?"
+
+"Because a pack of senseless savages come and attack us?  No, it would
+be cowardly," cried the lad.
+
+"Poisoned arrows, spears, war canoes," said the doctor, with a queer
+look at Jack.
+
+"Of course they are horrible," said the lad, flushing; "but perhaps we
+shall see no more of the blacks.  Don't give it up, father."
+
+"I should regret to have to do so, my boy, but mine is a very
+responsible position.  I feel that I have to study others.  I have no
+right to keep the officers and crew of this vessel where they are likely
+to encounter great risks."
+
+"For the matter of that, sir," said the captain dryly, "those who go to
+sea look upon risks as a matter of course, and are rather disposed to
+think you landsmen run the most; eh, Bartlett?  What do you say?"
+
+"What, about the risk of staying here?  Oh, I don't see any particular
+risk if we keep our eyes open, and are not sparing of the coal."
+
+"Thank you, Mr Bartlett; but there are the men to study."
+
+"Oh, you need not study about the men, Sir John," said the captain
+bluffly.  "What do you say to that, Bartlett?"
+
+"Study them, sir, no.  They like it.  They thoroughly enjoy the bit of
+excitement.  If you put it to them you'll soon find which way they go."
+
+"I should like to put it to them," said Sir John quietly.
+
+"Have the lads all on deck," said the captain.
+
+The hands were piped aft, and the captain waited for Sir John to speak,
+but he remained silent and looked at his son.
+
+"Ask the men which they would prefer to do--stay here, or sail farther
+on account of the risks from the blacks."
+
+Jack flushed a little, but he acquitted himself pretty well, and a
+hurried conversation went on for a few moments, ending in Lenny being
+put forward to answer, amidst a burst of cheering, which kept on
+breaking out again and again whenever the man essayed to speak, and at
+last he turned round angrily.
+
+"Lookye here, mates," he cried, "hadn't you better come and say it
+yourselves?  You've about cheered it out o' me, and made me forget what
+I meant to say."
+
+"All right, matey," cried one of the men merrily, "let 'em have it;
+we've done now."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said Lenny, taking off his straw hat and looking in
+it as if the lost words had come through his skull to get hidden in the
+lining.  "We all on us feels like this--as it wouldn't be English to let
+a lot o' lubbers o' niggers, who arn't got half a trouser to a whole
+hunderd on 'em, lick us out of the place.  'Sides, we arn't half seen
+the island yet, and 'bout ten on us has got a sort o' wager on as to who
+shall get up atop o' the mountain first and look down into the fire."
+
+"Hear, hear, hear!" cried the men, and encouraged by this, Lenny began
+to wave his arm about and behave like a semaphore signalling to distant
+crews in his excitement.
+
+"You see, gentlemen, we say it seems foolishness to come all this way to
+find what you wants, and then let these black warmint scare us off; when
+we arn't scared a bit, are we, mates?"
+
+"No," came in a roar.
+
+"So that's about all, gentlemen.  We like the place and we're very
+comfor'ble, and if it's all the same to you, we'd like to stop and go
+fishing and shooting and storing; and--and--and--that's all, arn't it,
+mates?"
+
+"Hooray!  Well done, Billy," shouted the man who had tried to be funny
+before.
+
+"Thank you, my lads," said Sir John, "and I hope you will have to run no
+more risks."
+
+"Don't you say that, sir," cried Lenny; "we likes a bit o' fun
+sometimes; it's like pickles and hot sauce to our reg'lar meat."
+
+"Ay, ay, mate, that's so," cried another, and there was another cheer,
+followed by the joking man stepping out before his companions to say
+quite seriously--
+
+"And some on us, sir, think as you might hoist the British colours atop
+o' the mountain, and when we go back for you to go and give the island
+to the Queen."
+
+"We'll think about all that," said Sir John.  "Then my son and I
+understand that you are quite willing to stay in spite of the risk?"
+
+"O' course, sir," said Lenny.  "We'll go with you anywheres; won't we,
+mates?"
+
+A burst of cheers greeted this speech, and Sir John said that they would
+stay in spite of all the canoes which might come.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+TAKEN BY SURPRISE.
+
+It was the next day, when the yacht was just beginning to glide over the
+water again to pass through the opening in the reef, that Jack was
+sitting by Ned's berth.
+
+"Here, I call it foolishness, Mr Jack, sir, I do really.  What is the
+good of my lying here?"
+
+"To get strong and well.  Doctor Instow knows best."
+
+"Well, he thinks he knows best, sir; but he can't know so well as I do
+how I feel."
+
+"You lie still and be patient."
+
+"But I can't, sir.  Here's Mr Bob Murray, who's a good enough steward,
+valeting you and Sir John, and of course he can't do it properly."
+
+"Nonsense.  He is very good and attentive."
+
+"Pooh, sir!  So could any chap in the ship be good and attentive, but
+what's the use of that if he don't understand his work?"
+
+"Why, there's nothing to understand."
+
+"Oho!  Isn't there, sir!  Don't you run away with that idea.  There's a
+lot.  It seems nothing to you because things go so easy with you and the
+guv'nor.  You find your clean shirts and fresh socks all ready laid out
+at the proper time, and you put 'em on just as you do your clothes, and
+think it's nothing; but all the time there's some one been there
+thinking it out first.  Cold and dull morning; these trousers and that
+silk shirt won't do, and warmer ones are there.  Going to be a scorching
+hot day, and it's the thinnest things in the bunks.  Then don't I manage
+the buttons the same? and when did you ever find a button off anywhere?"
+
+"No, I never did, Ned."
+
+"There!  I suppose you think, sir, that when a button's knocked off
+another one comes up like a mushroom in the night; but you take my word
+for it, sir, buttons don't come up so how, and it's never having no
+troubles like that to a gentleman that means having a good valet.  I
+don't say nothing about holes in socks or stockings, because when it
+gets to that a gentleman ought to give 'em away.  No, sir, it won't do.
+Every man to his trade, and I'm fretting to get back to my work, for it
+wherrits me to have other people meddling with my jobs.  I don't believe
+I shall find a thing in its place."
+
+"Never mind all that, Ned.  I've got something to tell you."
+
+"Have you, sir?  Let's have it."
+
+"I don't know what you'll say to it."
+
+"More do I, sir.  Let's hear what it is."
+
+Ned told him of what had passed on deck concerning the stay at the
+island.
+
+"Glad of it, Mr Jack," said Ned excitedly.  "I should have been wild if
+you'd give it up because of me getting that arrow in my arm.  But look
+here, I ain't a grudger, but if I do get a chance at the chap as shot at
+me--well, I'm sorry for him, that's all."
+
+"What would you do to him, Ned?" said Jack, smiling.
+
+"What would I do to him, sir?  What wouldn't I do to him, sir!"
+
+"You don't mean to say you'd kill him?"
+
+"Kill him, sir?" cried Ned, in a tone full of disgust; "now do I look
+the sort of chap to go killing any one?"
+
+"Well, no, Ned, you do not."
+
+"Of course not, sir.  Murder ain't in my way.  I ain't a madman.  Of
+course if one's in a sort o' battle, and there's shooting and some of
+the enemy's killed, that's another thing.  I don't call that murder;
+that's killing, no murder.  But in a case like this: oh no, I wouldn't
+kill him, I'd civilise him."
+
+"What, and forgive him?" said Jack, who felt amused.
+
+"Not till I'd done with him."
+
+"And what would you do?"
+
+"Do, sir!  Why, what I say, sir; I'd civilise him, and show him
+something different to hitting a man behind his back.  There'd be no
+call for him to strip, he'd be all ready; but I'd just have off my
+jacket and weskit, and some of the lads to see fair, and I'd show him
+the way Englishmen fight.  I'd give him such a civilising as should make
+him respect the British nation to the end of his days.  That's what I'd
+do with him.  Fists!"
+
+"Very well, Ned, look sharp and get strong so as to do it."
+
+"Strong, sir?  Why, I could do it now if you'd let me get up instead of
+making me bask about like a pig in a sty.  I just feel, sir, as we used
+to say at school, as if I could let him have it, though it would hardly
+be fair.  He'd have the greatest advantage."
+
+"Yes, I should say he would," said Jack, laughing.
+
+"Ah, you mean about muscle, sir.  I don't.  I mean that if he managed to
+get home with his fists in my face--not as I think he would--he'd make
+me look disgraceful, and not fit to appear before the guvnor for a
+fortnight.  And all the time I might pound away for an hour and make no
+difference in him.  Whoever heard of a nigger with a black eye?"
+
+"Well, no, Ned, I never did," said Jack, laughing.  "Nature ain't been
+fair over that, sir.  Black chaps' eyes ought to go white after a fight;
+but I suppose it's because they don't fight fair.  Hitting a man in the
+back, and with a poisoned arrow too!  It makes me feel wild; it's so
+cowardly.  But there, they don't know any better.  I say though, Mr
+Jack, I am glad we're going to stay, and it makes me feel proud of our
+crew.  I'll shake hands with the lot as soon as I may go on deck."
+
+"That's right enough, Ned, and as soon as you're fit Doctor Instow will
+let you go."
+
+"Tell you I'm fit as a fiddle now, sir," said the mate testily.  "Why,
+nothing would do me more good than to stretch myself by having a set-to
+with that nigger as shot me."
+
+"With one hand," said Jack dryly.
+
+"Eh?  With one hand, sir?" said the man, beginning to feel his
+closely-bandaged arm.
+
+"Yes; how could you fight with one hand?"
+
+"I forgot all about that," said Ned thoughtfully.  "Would be rather
+awkward, wouldn't it?"
+
+"Yes, I should think it would."
+
+"Like fighting with one hand tied behind you, same as you did at
+school."
+
+"I never did have a fight at school," said Jack, quietly.
+
+"No, of course not, sir; I remember you said so once before.  Seems rum,
+though.  I used to have lots.  But you were different, sir.  My word
+though, Mr Jack, how you have altered since we left home!"
+
+"Think so, Ned?  Have I?"
+
+"Wonderful, sir.  Don't you be offended, sir, at what I say."
+
+"Not I, Ned."
+
+"You would have been then, Mr Jack.  Seems to me that you were quite an
+old gentleman then, and now you've got to be quite a boy."
+
+"Then I'm going backwards, Ned?"
+
+"Not you, sir.  You make me feel quite proud of you.  Why, Bob Murray
+told me yesterday that you'd been right up all three masts as high as
+the sailors can get."
+
+"Yes, I went up with my glass to look out for canoes.  What of that?"
+
+"What of that, sir?  Well, fancy you trying to do such a thing a few
+months ago!"
+
+"Perhaps I am a little stronger now," said Jack thoughtfully.
+
+"Stronger, sir!  I should just think you are.  But I say, Mr Jack."
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"About my arm.  I should get licked now.  Think it will ever come right
+again?"
+
+"Doctor Instow says it will, only it must have time.  Do you feel any
+sensation in it now?"
+
+"Not a bit, sir.  Doctor asked me if he hurt me when he altered the
+bandages this morning, but I had to tell him he might do anything and I
+should not feel it.  Just as if it was quite dead.  Rum, ain't it, sir?"
+
+"It's very sad, Ned."
+
+"Oh, I don't know, sir.  It's a nuisance; but the doctor says it will
+come right in time, so one's got to wait.  He says he'll get the wound
+healed up, and then we can talk to the nerves and muscles with some good
+friction.  Treat it like a lucifer, sir; give it a sharp rub and make it
+go off.  But I shall be glad when he'll let me come on deck.  Might do a
+bit o' fishing, sir."
+
+"You shall, Ned, as soon as you can."
+
+There were no signs of the savages' visit when they passed inside the
+lagoon again, and, in the hope that they might remain now unmolested,
+the yacht steamed right away from the entrance and cast anchor nearly on
+the opposite side of the island, where the lagoon was at its widest, so
+as to give ample room for manoeuvring in case of attack, where the shore
+was more beautiful than in any part they had yet seen.
+
+One of the tiny rivers ran down a precipitous gully in a series of
+fern-hung falls, to lose itself in the golden sands, and close at hand
+the sheltering trees were of the grandest in size and loveliness,
+overhung as they were with festoons of flowers, each tree affording
+ample study for Sir John and his friend; and the collecting went on
+apace from morn to eve, so that the boxes they had brought began to fill
+up and smell strongly of the aromatic gums and spices used to keep ants
+at a distance.
+
+The sailors took the keenest delight in the birds, and were eager to
+learn to skin, and carefully laid them in the hot sunshine till they
+dried.  They gloried too in the pickle-tub, as they called the
+spirit-cask, to which the abundant snakes and lizards were consigned.
+Then of an evening they were always waiting for Jack to give the word
+for fishing, partly as an interesting sport, but after the first few
+times, for the sake of what Lenny called the pot, though in almost every
+case the capture was fried.
+
+It needed a good deal of care and discrimination though, and the
+doctor's natural history knowledge was often called upon to decide
+whether some gorgeously-armoured creature would be wholesome or no, some
+of the tropic fish being poisonous in the extreme.
+
+Then in addition there were the handsome birds which were collected;
+these, especially the fruit-pigeons, being very toothsome, though the
+larger parrots and cockatoos were, as Wrensler the cook said, not to be
+sneezed at, though he declared that they would have been far better if
+plucked instead of skinned.
+
+So beautiful was the shore by the stream that the temptation was very
+great to erect a tent and live on the land, but it was considered too
+risky.
+
+"Only fancy, Jack," said the doctor with a queer look, "our meeting with
+the same trouble out in this solitary island as we should in London."
+
+"What trouble?" said Jack, laughing.  "You don't mean the noise?"
+
+"No, but I mean the blacks," said the doctor.
+
+"Oh, I see," cried Jack; "but it does seem such a pity.  I should like
+to have a tent ashore."
+
+"It would be delightful under one of those big trees, but canvas is a
+poor safeguard against the point of a spear.  It wouldn't do."
+
+"No," said Jack with a sigh, "it would not do."
+
+Many excursions into the interior were made--the interior meaning a
+climb up the slope of the great mountain--and in all cases a grand
+selection of beautifully-plumaged birds was secured.  Many of these were
+the tiny sun-birds, glittering in scales of ruby, amethyst, sapphire,
+and topaz; then too at the sides of the streams vivid blue-and-white
+kingfishers with orange bills were shot, many of them with two of the
+tail-feathers produced in a long shaft ending in a racket-like flat,
+giving the birds a most graceful aspect.
+
+Then there were plenty of paroquets, rich in green, orange, and
+vermilion; rain-birds as the Malays call them, in claret and white, with
+blue and orange beaks; parrots without number, and finches, swallows,
+and starlings of lovely metallic hues; but the greatest prizes were the
+birds of paradise, of which several kinds were secured, from the
+grandly-plumaged great bird of paradise to the tiny king.  Whenever one
+of these was shot in some great grove at daybreak, Jack hesitated to
+have it skinned for fear of injuring the lovely feathers, over which
+adornments Nature seemed to have done her best.  Now it was one of the
+first-named, a largish bird, with its feathers standing out to curve
+over in a dry fountain of golden buff, ornamented with their beautifully
+flowing; wave-like shafts; and this would be of a prevailing tint of
+soft cinnamon red; while the smaller kinds were lavishly adorned with
+crests and tippets and sprays of feathers brighter than burnished metal.
+
+"I don't know how it is," said Jack one day, "but every bird we find
+seems more beautiful than the last."
+
+He had just picked up a fresh specimen which had fallen to the doctor's
+gun.
+
+"Well, it is more novel than beautiful, Jack," said the doctor, as they
+turned over and re-arranged the dark purple, or dark-brown, or claret,
+or black, or green metallic plumage, for it might have been called
+either according to the angle at which it was viewed.  "Come, this will
+help to make them believe that birds of paradise are of the crow
+family."
+
+"No one ever saw a crow half as beautiful as that," cried the lad.
+
+"At home--no.  But look at the shape of this bird--its wings, claws, and
+build altogether; doesn't he look as if he could be a crow?"
+
+"There is a slight resemblance, certainly," said Jack; "but this isn't a
+bird of paradise."
+
+"It is next door to one, my lad, and I am surprised to find it here."
+
+"You know what it is then?"
+
+"I know there's a northern Australian bird almost like it, if not quite.
+I think it is the rifle bird.  We'll have a good look when we get back.
+Take special care of that one, Lenny."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir.  I takes special care of all of 'em, when the bushes and
+thorns 'll let me."
+
+They were well up the gully through which the stream off which the yacht
+was anchored ran, for, finding the place rich in specimens, they had
+toiled up higher and higher that morning.
+
+Ned was for the first time of the party, on the condition that he would
+be very careful, for his arm was still stiff and numb, though otherwise
+he was much better; but he kept pretty close to his young master, and
+let the men with him carry the guns and ammunition, and in several ways
+made silent confession that he was not so strong as he was.
+
+Jack noticed it, and made some allusion to the fact.
+
+"Oh, don't you fidget about me, Mr Jack, I'm getting on glorious," said
+the man quietly.  "I feel as if the sun and wind up here were doing me
+no end of good, drinking 'em in like.  Doctor said I was to take it
+coolly; so coolly I take it, as the sun 'll let me, so as to get strong
+again as soon as I can.  But, my word, what a place it is!"
+
+"Lovely," said Jack.  "It grows upon one."
+
+"Ah, I should like to grow upon it," said Ned, grinning.  "I don't feel
+as if I should like to go away again."
+
+"There's no place like home, Ned," said Jack, who had stopped to watch a
+pair of vivid sun-birds probing the tiny trumpet blossoms of a white
+creeper with their beaks.
+
+"They say so, sir; but I say there's no place like this.  When are we
+going right up to the top?"
+
+"When you are quite well, Ned.  We should have started before now, but I
+asked my father to put it off till you were strong enough to carry my
+gun and wallet."
+
+Ned said nothing, but he looked as if he thought a great deal, and when
+he next spoke as they went on mounting the gully, it was directly after
+the doctor had added a lovely kingfisher to the bag.
+
+"I say, Mr Jack, sir, of course the doctor knows a deal, but do you
+think he is always right?"
+
+"I suppose no one is always right, Ned.  Why?"
+
+"About that bird--bird he shot.  He said it was a kingfisher."
+
+"Well, so it is.  You heard him explain about its habits?"
+
+"Yes; and that's what bothers me.  How can it be a kingfisher if it
+don't fish?"
+
+"You might just as well say, how can it be a kingfisher if it don't fish
+for kings."
+
+"No, I mightn't, sir," replied Ned, whose illness seemed to have
+developed a kind of argumentative obstinacy.  "Nobody nor nothing does
+fish for kings, sir, so that's nonsense.  But what I say is, how can
+that bird be a kingfisher if it don't fish?"
+
+"But it does fish."
+
+"No, it don't, sir; it flits about and catches butterflies, and moths,
+and beetles.  Doctor said it never caught fish at all, and never dived
+down into the water.  So what I say is, that it can't be a kingfisher."
+
+"Well, but Doctor Instow says that far away back in the past its
+ancestors must have lived on fish; and then the land where they were
+changed, till perhaps it was one like this, with plenty of beautiful
+little rivers in it, but few fish, and so they had to take to living
+upon insects, which they capture on the wing, and they have gone on
+doing so ever since."
+
+"Seems rum," said Ned thoughtfully.  "Then I suppose if this island was
+to change, so that there were no more butterflies, moths, or beadles,
+and more fish took to living in the rivers--they'd take to fishing
+again?"
+
+"Yes, I suppose so; all things adapt themselves to circumstances."
+
+"Do they now, sir?"
+
+"Yes; but you don't know what I mean."
+
+"No, sir, I'm blessed if I do."
+
+"How stupid! why don't you ask then?"
+
+"'Cause I don't want to bother you, sir, when you're getting tired."
+
+"What nonsense!  Always ask if you don't understand me.  I meant that I
+have read about plants and animals altering in time to suit the place
+where they are.  If dogs are taken up into the arctic regions they get
+in time to have a very thick fur under the hair; and if they are taken
+into a hot country like this, they have a very fine silky coat."
+
+"Do they now, sir?" said Ned.  "Now I wouldn't have thought that a dog
+would have so much gumption.  But I don't know, dogs are very knowing."
+
+"I don't think the dog has anything to do with it, Ned; it is a natural
+law.  Now, if a fir tree is in a sheltered place, where the soil is deep
+and sandy, it grows to a tremendous size; but if the seed falls in a
+rocky place, where it has to get its roots down cracks to find food, and
+cling tightly against the cold freezing winds, it keeps down close to
+the ground, and gets to be a poor scrubby bush a few feet high, or
+less."
+
+"Then the trees have got gumption too, sir.  That's better than being
+blown down."
+
+"I don't know about gumption, Ned; but it's the same with flowers.  They
+grow thin and poor on rocks and stones, and rich and luxuriant on good
+moist soils, and--Hallo! where are the others? we mustn't be left
+behind."
+
+"Oh, we're all right, sir.  They're only just ahead, and we can't lose
+ourselves, because all we've got to do is to go back along by the
+trickling water here.  I'll shout if you like."
+
+"Oh no; I could blow my whistle, but I don't want to, because it would
+startle the doctor.  He'd think there was something wrong."
+
+"Don't whistle him, sir.  Here's a nice comfortable bit o' rock here;
+would you like to sit down?"
+
+"You're tired, Ned," said Jack quickly.
+
+"Am I, sir?  Well, I dunno--p'r'aps you're right.  I s'pose I am a bit
+fagged.  Legs don't seem to go quite so well as they used.  If you
+wouldn't mind, I think I should like just ten minutes' rest to freshen
+me up a bit."
+
+"Sit down then."
+
+"After you, sir."
+
+"Very well: there.  No, sit down--or, better still, lie down on your
+back."
+
+"Make the things about puzzled, and want to know what I am.  I shall be
+having snakes and lizards going for a walk up my arms and legs, sir.
+But I don't know as I mind for a bit--I'll risk it."
+
+Jack had halted at the foot of a perpendicular wall of moss-grown rock,
+and set the example, after disturbing the grass and ferns at the foot,
+of sitting down, and Ned lay at full length.
+
+"Lovely, sir," he said.  "It's worth while to get regular tired so as to
+enjoy a rest like this.  I don't s'pose they'll go much farther, and
+they must come back this way, I suppose."
+
+"I think so, Ned.  They couldn't come back through the forest, and they
+would not as soon as they missed us, they'd be sure to come this way so
+as to pick us up."
+
+He was silent for a few moments, and then went on softly, as his eyes
+wandered over the trees and creepers about them--
+
+"How lovely it all is, with the sun sprinkling light through the leaves.
+It looks just like silver rain.  Look at that great flapping moth.
+That must be an Atlas, I suppose.  I ought to try and catch it, but it
+seems such a pity to go out and destroy every beautiful thing one sees,
+so as to turn it into a specimen.  Look at those orchid clusters growing
+out of the stump where the tree branches.  Shall I pick it, Ned?  Say
+yes, and I won't.  I haven't forgotten the little snake which crept out
+on to my hand that time.  Hallo!  What bird's that?  What a chance for a
+shot!"
+
+As he sat there with a gun across his knees, first one and then
+half-a-dozen large birds, emboldened by the silence, came stalking out
+from beneath the bushes, looking something like so many farmyard hens as
+they began to peck and scratch about.
+
+"What a chance!" thought Jack.  "I might get a couple for roasting, but
+we've killed enough things for one day."
+
+He sat perfectly still, watching the birds till they had crossed a
+little opening in front and slowly began to make their way up the slope
+in the direction taken by the doctor, Lenny, and the four men with them.
+
+Then all at once one of the birds uttered a low clucking sound, and
+stood up with outstretched neck gazing in Jack's direction.
+
+The bird was absolutely motionless for a few moments, then it ducked
+down its neck and ran off beneath the undergrowth.
+
+"Birds are beginning to know that we're dangerous," he said aloud.  "Did
+you see those, Ned?"
+
+There was no answer, and Jack turned to gaze down at his companion, who
+was fast asleep and breathing heavily.
+
+"Poor fellow, he is not so strong as he thinks," said Jack to himself,
+"or else he will not own to his weakness for fear of being a trouble to
+us.  What a wonderful thing strength is!  I suppose I'm a good deal
+sturdier than I was.  Must help father to-night arranging and making
+notes of some of the insects we got yesterday.  Why, we shall have a
+regular museum by the time we get back to England."
+
+And as he sat there in the calm silence, with the huge trees towering
+above his head, as if to filter the light and let it fall in streams and
+drops, it seemed to him that the best way to observe Nature was to sit
+down perfectly still as he had, and watch.  For in different directions
+he saw next how animal and even insect stole out now to pursue its
+ordinary courses, and he sat watching till the whole place seemed alive.
+
+Twice over he heard shots, but they were faint and distant, and once
+there was a peculiar bump as if a large stone had fallen from far up the
+mountain side.  Then all was still again, and the birds he had seen
+pause in alarm resumed their pecking and climbing about.
+
+"How soundly he sleeps!" thought Jack; and at last, when a good hour had
+passed away, he began to wish for the return of the doctor and the men,
+but there was no rustle of leaves, no sound of breaking strand or twig,
+everything was perfectly still, and the lad shifted his position a
+little so as to find a place to rest his back, and as he did so a
+peculiar sensation came over him.  It was as if a mental shadow crossed
+his mind, begetting a shock of dread.  The next moment a heavy blow from
+behind fell upon his head, and all was blank.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+THE MISSING PAIR.
+
+"Here!  Hi!  Jack!  Where are you, lad?"  There was no reply, and the
+doctor called the nearest of the men, who were slowly making their way
+through the dense growth, putting up some strange bird from time to
+time.
+
+"Where's Mr Jack, Lenny?"
+
+"Mr Jack, sir?  Arn't seen him lately.  'Long o' Ned, I think.  See Mr
+Jack from where you are, mate?"
+
+"No," came back, and the fresh speaker hailed his nearest companion, and
+he his.  But no one had seen the boy lately.  They had all been too much
+occupied in looking out for rare birds.
+
+"Let's wait a bit," said the doctor.  "Give them time to come up.  Here,
+Lenny--and you--let's look at the sport."
+
+He sat down on a block of lava, and became so interested in the
+specimens he had obtained that he did not notice the lapse of time.
+
+"Here," he cried at last, "they must have knocked up, and are waiting
+for us to go back.  Why, we must have come much farther than ever we
+came before."
+
+"That's why we've got such good birds, sir," said Lenny.
+
+"Perhaps so.  Well, back again now.--Oughtn't to have left him behind
+like that," muttered the doctor to himself.
+
+He was hot and weary from his exertions, but his anxiety made him hurry
+back nearly in the path they had made in ascending, but that soon proved
+to be too difficult, the growth having sprung back after they had
+passed, and as they had gone up the steep slope well separated, the
+tracks were feebly marked, and not as they would have been had they
+followed in each other's steps.
+
+The consequence was that first one mark was found, then another, in the
+shape of a broken twig or crushed-down patch of grass, but the next
+minute the steps were lost, and everything looked so different in
+descent they in a short time found themselves ready to give up the
+laborious task of trying to follow in the steps taken when going up, and
+glad to go back wherever the way was easiest.
+
+To make up for this the little party spread out as far as was
+reasonable, and at every few yards the doctor gave a loud whistle and
+waited for a reply.
+
+None came, and they hurried on, rarely recognising anything to act as a
+guide, but steadily going down toward the shore; and as there was no
+reply to his calls, the doctor soon came to the conclusion that, tired
+of waiting, Jack had turned back, and in the full expectation of finding
+the missing ones down by the boat, the party was pressed on, but with
+their leader getting more annoyed at every step.
+
+The boat was invisible till they were close upon it, lying in the mouth
+of the little river where the great trees spread their boughs right
+across, and at the first rustle of the bushes being heard the sailors in
+charge started up and began to draw her close in shore.
+
+The doctor uttered an ejaculation full of annoyance, but began clinging
+directly after to the thought which struck him.
+
+"How long have they gone on board?" he cried as soon as he was well
+within hearing.
+
+Then his hopes were crushed, for the men addressed replied--
+
+"Gone on board, sir?  Who gone on board?"
+
+"Mr Jack and his man."
+
+"Haven't been down here, sir.  Arn't lost 'em, have you?"
+
+The doctor made no reply.
+
+"Here," he cried, "take these birds, and you two who have been resting
+come back with me.  Lenny, I want you, and you come too," he continued
+to another of the men.
+
+The other two who had come down from the mountain slope were eager to
+return, but the doctor ordered them to take charge of the boat, and
+without pausing a minute shouldered his gun and turned to follow the
+path they had taken that morning, with better hope of success.
+
+"I dare say we came close by them somewhere," he said to Lenny.  "I
+hardly see though how we could have missed them."
+
+"Strikes me, sir, as I know how it was," said the man.
+
+"You think you know?"
+
+"Yes, sir, but it's only thinking, and mayn't be right."
+
+"Tell me what you think," cried the doctor impatiently.
+
+"It was hot, sir, steamy hot under the trees, and Mr Jack is young and
+none too strong, and Ned arn't quite got over his trouble."
+
+"Yes, of course.  Well, go on."
+
+"Well, sir, they must have trudged after us till they were tired out,
+and then sat down to wait for us, and went to sleep."
+
+"I hope that's it, Lenny," said the doctor as they struggled on, up and
+up, amongst tree, bush, and rock, while, to add to their difficulty, a
+complete change came on with tropic rapidity, a black curtain of clouds
+swept across the sky, and in an incredibly short time the lightning
+flickered for a few minutes through the trees, and then came in blinding
+flashes, accompanied more than followed by peal upon peal of thunder
+which seemed to shake the island to its foundation.
+
+Worse still was to follow.  Just as the lightning was flashing and
+quivering among the trees, and the thunder was at its loudest, the rain
+came down.  It had approached from the sea with, a dull hissing sound
+which grew louder and louder, till with startling force the wind which
+bore it on its wings flung it as it were with a tremendous force upon
+the mountain slope, whipping the boughs and tearing the leaves from the
+twigs, pouring away with terrific violence, and rushing downward into
+the gully, which soon became filled with a roaring torrent which swept
+all before it.
+
+This was the first example the doctor had encountered of the power of a
+tropical storm, and he was glad to shelter himself and his four
+companions beneath an overhanging ledge of lava rock--a poor protection,
+but such as it was it saved them from much of the force of the storm.
+
+The downpour ceased as suddenly as it had commenced, the tempest
+sweeping over the island to pass on to the ocean and be dissipated
+there, so that in little more than an hour the sun was shining down
+through the trees again, where the drenched earth was spangled as it
+were with jewels.
+
+But the task of continuing the search was now made excessively
+difficult.  The ground was slippery in the extreme, save where the lava
+had been washed bare, and at almost every step the water-laden boughs
+poured down a fresh shower upon them.  The labour was terrible, for now
+it was as if they were forcing their way through a bath of hot vapour
+which was enervating in the extreme.
+
+But they struggled on hour after hour, vainly seeking for some trace of
+the missing ones--a task which would have baffled the keenest-eyed Red
+Indian, for the rain had swept away every footprint, and when at rare
+intervals a broken branch or torn-off leaf-covered twig was found, it
+was as likely to have been the work of the storm as of any one passing
+through.
+
+Faint with an exhaustion he would not own to, the doctor was still
+urging or cheering his men on, when the dull concussion of a gun and the
+following echoes announced that those on the yacht were impatient for
+their return.
+
+"Signal to come back, sir," said Lenny despondently.
+
+"Yes, but we can't go back without finding them first," said the doctor
+angrily.  "Who is to face Sir John Meadows and tell him we have failed
+in our duty of protecting his son?"
+
+No one answered, and the silence was broken by the dull thud of another
+gun.
+
+"It is of no use, I can't return while it is light, but the summons must
+be answered.  Here, Lenny, go back and tell Sir John what has happened,
+and that we are searching in every direction."
+
+"Me, sir?" cried the man with a look of horror; "I couldn't do it, sir."
+
+"You must.  You have been out all day, and must be done up."
+
+"Me, sir!  My mate's ever so much worse nor me.  Send him."
+
+"G'orn with you," cried the other sailor who had been with them since
+the first start; "why I arn't half so done as he is, sir."
+
+"I want you to go, Lenny," said the doctor sternly.  "I dare say you
+will find another boat waiting.  Send the men up to help the search.
+But there is no need to send that message, Sir John is sure to have come
+himself."
+
+"Mean it, sir?  I'm to go?" said Lenny.
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"Well, sir, I'd sooner keep on hunting for the poor lad all night than
+face Sir John; but if you say I am to do it, why do it I must."
+
+"Go then," said the doctor, "and mind, you are not to attempt to
+return."
+
+"Arks your pardon, sir, but it'll be 'bout two hours 'fore I get down to
+the boat."
+
+"No, no; not half that time," cried the doctor.
+
+"We've come a long way, sir.  What do you say, mates?"
+
+"All two hours," was the reply.
+
+"Yes, sir, you've been so anxious 'bout it you arn't noticed how the
+time goes, and as I was going to say, by the time I get down to the boat
+it will be black as the inside o' one o' the coal-bunkers."
+
+The doctor stood gazing at the man wildly.
+
+"There won't be no more searching then."
+
+"You're right, you're right," groaned the doctor.  "There, stop with us.
+Come what may the poor fellows must be found."
+
+_Bang_! went a signal gun again, and the echoes rolled away up the
+mountain, growing fainter and fainter, while the lovely grove, full of
+dazzling light and darkest shade, resplendent in its beauty, and with
+the air fragrant with the freshened odour of leaf and flower, seemed to
+Doctor Instow the most horrible solitude to which man had ever been
+condemned.
+
+"There they go again," said one of the men, as once more a gun was
+fired.
+
+"Forward," cried the doctor, rousing himself from his utter despondency.
+
+"Which way, sir?" asked Lenny.
+
+"Any way, my lads.  System is of no use here.  We must trust to chance."
+
+"Think he can have got over into the next gully, sir?" said Lenny.
+
+"No, no, impossible.  It would take a party of strong men to cut a way
+through, and they would not make the clearance in a week.  Forward!
+Open out and keep on giving a hail from time to time."
+
+Another signal gun for their recall was fired.
+
+"We can't help it," said the doctor.  "Forward, my lads.  We must find
+them now."
+
+It was not until the occasional glimpses of the sky they caught told him
+by their altered colour that the night was close at hand, that the
+doctor once more halted, and then gave the order for the party to return
+as well as they could upon their tracks.
+
+And now as they staggered more than walked wearily back a shot was fired
+every few minutes, and a short halt made to listen for a response.
+
+But none came, and they struggled on through the darkness, the rapidness
+of the descent of the ground and the roar of the torrent at their side
+being their only guides, for the darkness beneath the trees was now
+intense.
+
+How long they had been going downward no one could have said, as they
+kept now in line, following each other closely, with Lenny first, when
+after stumble and fall at every few yards, as the doctor's gun flashed
+and the report rang out, it was at length answered from higher up on
+their left.
+
+"At last!" cried the doctor, rousing himself from the feeling of
+exhaustion which seemed to have deadened all his energies.  "Bear to the
+left, Lenny, for a few minutes, and then I'll fire again."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" said the man huskily, and in a very short time he
+stumbled and fell, rolling down a precipitous part.
+
+"Hurt?" cried the doctor.
+
+"Dunno, sir," said the man with a groan.  "Feels like it; but don't you
+mind me, you fire again."
+
+The doctor cocked his piece and raised it to fire in the air, when a
+shot rang out again, apparently about a hundred yards away, the flash
+before the report being plainly seen.
+
+"Ahoy!" yelled Lenny hoarsely, and this was answered faintly.
+
+"That's Ned," growled Lenny.  "No, no; not his voice," cried the doctor.
+"Mind how you go down there."
+
+The words were useless, for the men were too much worn out to study
+anything, and they let themselves slide down, only too glad to get to
+the bottom.
+
+"Ahoy!" came now, and as they answered there was a breaking and rustling
+heard among the trees, shouts and sharp orders could be heard, and in a
+few minutes the two parties encountered.
+
+"Have you found him?" cried the doctor, for he had known for some
+moments that he was wrong.
+
+"Found him!" came back in the voice of Sir John, full of agony.  "Is not
+Jack with you?"
+
+The doctor's answer was a groan before he announced what had happened.
+
+A few minutes' conversation followed between Sir John and the mate,
+before the former said sharply, in a tone which cut the doctor to the
+heart--
+
+"Can you give me no idea where you missed them first?"
+
+"Not the slightest," said the doctor bitterly.  "We are completely
+lost."
+
+There was silence for a few moments before Sir John spoke again.
+
+"Go on down to the mouth of the gully," he said sharply, "and make the
+best of your way on board."
+
+"What are you going to do?" said the doctor.
+
+"Stop here till daylight, and then continue the search.  Better make a
+fire, my lads."
+
+"Yes," cried the mate.  "It may guide them to us."
+
+"I must stay," said the doctor.
+
+"I do not want you," said Sir John coldly, "and you are too tired to be
+of any use."
+
+"I suppose so," said the doctor bitterly, "but I must stay all the
+same."
+
+"Then back with you, my men," said Sir John.
+
+"Keep on downward near the stream, and you must come upon the boat."
+
+There was a dead silence.
+
+"Well," said the mate sharply, "why don't you go?"
+
+"Dunno 'bout the others," said Lenny softly.  "I'm ready to make a
+start, but I can't.  It's my legs won't go."
+
+"That's about it with me," said another of the men; and the result was
+that the mate told them to sit by the fire that was made, and rest for
+an hour before starting back.  But when the hour had elapsed the poor
+fellows were plunged in a stupor-like sleep from which they could not be
+aroused.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+THE REVERSE OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
+
+"The worst headache I ever had," said Jack Meadows to himself, as he lay
+with his eyes close shut, and in terrible pain; and then, with his brow
+throbbing, and a miserable sensation of sickness making his head
+confused, he began thinking, as a lad who has been brought in contact a
+good deal with a medical man would think, of the causes of his ailment,
+and what he had eaten that so disagreed with him, while he mentally
+resolved that, however good it was, he would never be tempted into
+tasting it again.
+
+He might have added--till next time, but he did not.  For just then in
+his weariness, pain, and mental confusion it seemed to him that some one
+else was suffering too, and in a similar way, for he heard a low, dismal
+groan, and a voice muttered--"Oh, my poor nut."  Jack's eyes sprang
+open, and apparently let light into his brain, for in one glance he saw
+more than he had ever seen before in so short a glimpse.
+
+For he had a full comprehension of his position, while the details
+thereof fixed themselves like an instantaneous photograph upon his mind.
+The mental agony chased away the physical, and he gasped as he realised
+that he was bound hand and foot with green rotan cane; that Ned was in a
+similar condition lying alongside, but with his face away; that they
+were in an opening on the mountain side shut in by rocks and trees; and
+worst of all, that a few yards away a party of about twenty blacks of
+fierce aspect, and their hair mopped out with gum till each savage's
+coiffure was bigger than a grenadier's cap, were seated chattering
+together and feasting upon some kind of food which they had been
+roasting at a fire made among the stones.
+
+The peculiar odour of burnt flesh sent a thrill of horror through him,
+and made a heavy dew of perspiration break out upon his brow at the
+thought of what probably was to follow, and for a time he felt as if he
+must shriek aloud.  But he remained silent, though he did struggle
+fiercely to free his hands and feet from their bonds.
+
+How these people had come there was a puzzle, but he was bound to
+confess that it was no dream.  They had evidently landed on the island,
+prepared a fire, and cooked their food, which certainly was not fish,
+and they had surprised him and Ned, coming behind and stunning them by
+blows of the war-club each savage carried stuck through the band he wore
+about his waist.
+
+One of Jack's first thoughts was, Had they surprised the doctor and the
+four men with him as well?
+
+As this thought occurred to him he searched the group eagerly, but there
+was no sign of any plunder, and certainly he and Ned were the only two
+prisoners, so there was some hope of their being rescued as soon as they
+were missed.  They were five, and Doctor Instow would not hesitate a
+moment about attacking--how many were there?
+
+He counted twice over, and then, with his head still sufficiently
+confused to make the task difficult, he counted again, to find that
+there were more than he had thought at first, several being flat on
+chest or back, while two, like the Irishman's little pig, would not lie
+still to be counted.
+
+His further thoughts were put an end to by a low groan from his
+companion in misfortune, who suddenly made an effort and rolled himself
+over so that he lay face to face with his young master.
+
+"Oh, I say, sir," he whispered, with a look of horror in his eyes,
+"ain't this awful!"
+
+Jack nodded.
+
+"My wristies and ankles are nearly cut through."
+
+"So are mine."
+
+"Have they got your gun as well as mine?"
+
+Jack nodded, keeping his eyes on the lithe, shiny bodies of the hungry
+blacks the while, but they were too much intent upon feasting to take
+any notice of their prisoners.
+
+"They must have fetched me an awful crack on the head, sir.  Did they
+hit you too?"
+
+"Yes, my head aches horribly, Ned.  Look, there are our guns standing up
+against the rock with their spears."
+
+"And bows and arrows too, sir.  Ugh! gives me the shivers.  Poisoned!"
+
+"Ned, do you think we could get at our guns and make a dash to escape?"
+
+"What, and risk the arrows?"
+
+"Yes.  Once we could get amongst the trees we should have as good a
+chance of getting away as they would of catching us."
+
+"Don't know so much about that, sir.  They ain't got no clothes to catch
+in the thorns and creepers."
+
+"But you'll try?"
+
+"Try, sir!  I should think I would; only I'd wait till it got dark
+first."
+
+"By that time we may not be alive, Ned."
+
+"Oh yes, we shall, sir.  If they'd been going to kill us they wouldn't
+have taken the trouble to tie us like this."
+
+"You are saying that to cheer me up, Ned," whispered Jack.
+
+"No, sir, 'strue as goodness I ain't.  It's just what I mean.  But I'm
+ready to do anything you do if I can.  Legs hurt you, sir, where they're
+tied?"
+
+"Horribly, Ned."
+
+"So do mine, sir, and so does one hand and wrist.  T'other don't seem of
+any consequence at all.  It's ever so much number than it was before, so
+that it don't ache a bit."
+
+They lay there for some time watching the blacks, who kept on eating as
+if they would never leave off.  Every now and then one went round to the
+back of the stones which formed their rough fire-place, and helped
+himself to more, returning to sit down and go on eating with the
+customary result.  Thoroughly glutted at last, first one and then
+another sank back and went to sleep where he had sat eating, till not
+one seemed to be on the watch, and Jack looked full in the eyes of his
+companion in misfortune, questioning him.
+
+"I'd wait just a bit longer to let 'em get off sound, sir," said Ned
+softly; and seeing the wisdom of the advice, Jack waited with every
+nerve on the strain.  But there was no sound to be heard, and he took it
+for granted that the blacks had dragged or carried them for some
+distance, right away from the track taken by the doctor.  As he examined
+the place more attentively, it seemed as if this was a spot which had
+been used as a camp before, for the bushes and trees were disfigured by
+flame and smoke, and the stones and rock which rose up like a wall were
+utterly bare of grass, lichen, and creeper.
+
+Then as he lay he began to reason out matters a little more, till, right
+or wrong, he came to the conclusion that this must be a hunting party
+landed on the island to pursue the droves of pigs, one of which they had
+killed, cooked, and eaten.
+
+He felt lighter-hearted as he thought this, for ugly ideas had crept
+into his mind and made him shudder with horror.
+
+That this was the true reason for the blacks being there he felt more
+and more convinced, and this meant that there must be another opening
+through the reef somewhere unnoticed during their cruise round the
+island, so that if an examination had been made then, a canoe would be
+found run up on the sands waiting for their return.
+
+This point reached, Jack whispered suddenly to Ned--
+
+"Do you think they have tied us up like this so as to take us down to a
+canoe?"
+
+"Yes, they've made us prisoners to take us away somewhere.  That's what
+I think, sir."
+
+"Yes, and that's what I think, Ned.  Now look carefully all round, and
+see if you can make out whether any one is watching."
+
+"Can't get my head up, sir," whispered the man after a pause, "but as
+far as I can make out they're all fast asleep."
+
+"Then let's try to get away."
+
+"Yes, sir; but how?"
+
+"Do as I do.  I'm outside, and the ground slopes down from here.  I'll
+start and you follow."
+
+"But I'm tied wrists and ankles, sir.  I can't stir."
+
+"Yes, you can.  Don't whisper so loud.  I am going to roll myself over
+slowly, and keep on down that slope till I'm a little way off.  Then I
+think we can get our knives out.  I can get yours, or you can get mine.
+Or did they take yours?"
+
+"No, sir.  It's in my pocket all right; I can feel it against me."
+
+"Then, ready.  It's of no use to wait longer.  I'll start, and you lie
+still and watch.  If they don't notice my moving, then you can come."
+
+"No, sir, we go together or we don't go at all.  I'm not going to lie
+still and let you be caught and knocked about perhaps."
+
+"There's no time for arguing, Ned.  Do as I tell you.  There, I'm off."
+
+Ned drew his breath hard, and raised his head a little to note whether
+his young master's movements were heard, but though the growth rustled
+and crackled a little not a savage stirred, and Jack went on rolling
+himself over and over, suffering pretty sharp pain from his bonds, but
+setting it at nought, and struggling on till well down out of sight of
+the rough camp.
+
+Then he stopped and waited for Ned during what seemed to be quite an age
+before the man joined him, breathing laboriously, and then they lay
+listening, but all was still.
+
+"Easy enough to escape, sir, if you make up your mind to it."
+
+"But we have not escaped yet, Ned," whispered Jack.  "We ought to have
+waited till it was dark.  Now then, I'll creep close to you.  Try and
+put your hand in my pocket and take out the little knife I have there."
+
+It was harder to do than either of them had anticipated, and Ned
+suffered agony in one wrist as he strained to get at the knife with one
+hand, while the other was always in the way and kept it back.  At last
+though he was successful and held it in triumph, but there was something
+more to do, for a closed blade was as bad as nothing.
+
+Still they say "where there's a will there's a way."  Certainly there
+was will enough here, and by degrees Ned worked himself along so that he
+could hold the little clasp-knife to Jack's lips.  These parted
+directly, so did his firm white teeth, and closed upon the blade, while
+Ned drew at the handle, with the result that the blade was opened a
+little.  Then it was drawn from between Jack's teeth, and closed with a
+snap, when the work had to be gone over again.
+
+This time, trembling with excitement and dread lest at any moment the
+blacks might miss them, Jack closed his teeth with all his might upon
+the narrow portion of the blade awkwardly offered to him, held on at the
+risk of the ivory breaking, and Ned drew the handle away slowly, with
+the result that the strength of the spring was mastered, the knife half
+opened, and this done the rest was easy.
+
+Ned paused for a few moments to wrench his head round and gaze up the
+slope toward the savages' camp, then turning to Jack he laid the blade
+flat upon the back of his hand, and forced it under the thin cane which
+bound his wrists, having hard work to do it in his hampered position
+without cutting his companion's hands.
+
+"Now, sir," he whispered, "I'll turn the blade edge outwards, and you
+must work yourself up and down against it.  Try now."
+
+Jack made an effort, which hurt his wrist horribly without doing the
+slightest good.
+
+"That won't do, sir," whispered Ned.  "I can't help you half so much as
+by holding still.  Now try again, not jigging as you did before, but
+giving yourself a regular see-saw sort of swing.  Now then 'fore they
+wake.  Off you go."
+
+It was agony.  The back of the knife-blade seemed to be cutting bluntly
+down upon his wrist-bones, but setting his teeth hard, Jack forced
+himself downward and drew back.
+
+"That's the sort, sir.  Don't do much, but it's doing something.  If I
+had my hands free I could soon cut the withes.  Keep it up."
+
+Setting his teeth harder, Jack kept on the sawing movement, apparently
+without avail, but the pain grew less as the edge of the blade cut into
+the cane.
+
+"It's of no use, Ned," whispered the lad.  "Let's try to undo the knots
+with our teeth.  I'll try on yours first."
+
+"You keep on sawing," said the man in a low growl, and the words came so
+fiercely that Jack involuntarily obeyed, and the next minute, to his
+great surprise, there was a faint cracking sound; one strand of the cane
+band was through, and the rest uncurled like a freed spring.
+
+"Hah!  I thought so," said Ned with a low chuckle of satisfaction.  "Now
+catch hold of the knife and cut the band round your ankles."
+
+"I can hardly feel the handle," muttered Jack.
+
+"You will directly.  Look sharp, sir, sharp as your knife."
+
+"Yes," said Jack, "but I'm going to cut your wrists free first."
+
+"No, no, sir; your legs."
+
+Jack set his teeth again as hard as when he was holding the back of the
+knife-blade, and in response he took hold of Ned's hand with his left
+and applied the edge across the cane which held the poor fellow's
+wrists, and in a clumsy fumbling way began to saw downward.
+
+"Mr Jack, Mr Jack!" whispered the man excitedly, "you shouldn't, you
+shouldn't!  I wanted to get you cut loose first."
+
+"You hold your tongue and keep still," said the lad.  "I don't want to
+cut your wrist.  Steady.  Oh, how numb and helpless my hands feel."
+
+"They cut well enough, sir," said Ned with a laugh, as the outer turn of
+the cane band was divided, and once more the tough vegetable cord opened
+like a spiral string.
+
+"That's your sort, Mr Jack, sir.  Give me hold of the knife.  My turn
+now."
+
+"No, no, my hands are getting better.  Rub your wrists while I cut your
+ankles free."
+
+For answer Ned made a dash at the knife, but Jack avoided him, and
+forgetting everything in his desire to set his companion at liberty, he
+began sawing away at his ankles, while Ned thrust his hand into his own
+pocket and drew out his knife, to begin operating directly after upon
+Jack's bonds, with so much success that he was able to free him first.
+
+His own were at liberty though directly after, and then they lay panting
+and perfectly still.
+
+Jack was the first to speak.
+
+"Now then," he said, "shall we crawl up and try and get our guns?"
+
+"And make one of them wake and tap us both again on the head.  No, sir,
+that won't do.  Soon as you feel that you can move, crawl right away in
+among the bushes, and I'll follow.  Have you got any hands and feet?
+because I feel as if I hadn't."
+
+"Mine are terribly numb, Ned, but we'll start at once.  It will do me
+more good to work them than to rest them.  Which way?"
+
+"Downwards, because it's more easy.  Then go into that hollow ditch-like
+bit."
+
+"But it goes upward."
+
+"Never mind, take it, and we shall be out of sight.  It will be best.
+They're sure to think we've made for the sea.  Why, how dark it's
+growing.  Didn't know it was so late."
+
+Jack said nothing, but began to crawl away as fast as his tingling,
+helpless limbs would allow, feeling that so long as they got away from
+their captors it did not so much matter which direction they took.  He
+turned his head from time to time to see if Ned was all right, and found
+that he was lamely struggling on after him, but always gave him a cheery
+look.
+
+Jack followed the rugged little ditch-like place, which had evidently
+been carved out by one of the rivulets which ran down from the mountain,
+but after following it some time and turning to look back at Ned, he
+suddenly dropped flat on his face and began to crawl out of it, and
+toward the shelter of the forest, which came close up.
+
+"What's the matter?" said Ned.
+
+"Don't lift your head; creep as flat as you can, and let's get among the
+bushes."
+
+"That's right enough; but why?  It won't be such good going."
+
+"We've been crawling higher and higher," said Jack, "and when I turned
+to see how you were getting on, I looked down over your shoulder, on to
+the smoke of the fire, and the blacks were lying about it, and just at
+that moment one of them jumped up, and then all the rest followed, and
+they must have missed us!"
+
+"Shall we get up and run then?"
+
+"No, no, they may not come this way.  Hark! what's that?"
+
+"Wind.  Why, I didn't see it coming, only thought it was evening.  We're
+in for a storm."
+
+"Never mind, if it will only keep them from following us, Ned."
+
+They struggled on, finding their limbs less helpless.  Minute by minute,
+and just before plunging into the darkness beneath the trees, Jack
+turned to raise his head slightly, and to his great delight saw ten or
+twelve of the blacks far below the smoke of their camp, and evidently
+descending the mountain slope, but the next instant his hopes were
+crushed, for there in full pursuit, coming along the stony hollow up
+which they had crawled, was another party of the enemy.
+
+"In with you, Ned," he whispered, as he dropped down again to creep into
+the dense growth which swallowed him like a verdant sea, while before
+they had penetrated many yards the gloom beneath the spreading branches
+was lit up by a flash of lightning.  The next minute the flashes came so
+quickly that the forest seemed turned into one vast temple, whose black
+pillars supported a ceiling of flame, and as the deafening detonations
+shook the earth around them, they were glad to crouch as quickly as they
+could in a recess formed at the foot of a gigantic tree which sent out
+flat buttresses on every side, more buttresses passing down into roots.
+
+They were none too soon, for the storm was, brief as the time had been,
+now in full force; the rain dashed and swept in amongst the groaning
+trees, and the noise and confusion were deafening, and made the more
+awe-inspiring by the lashing of the branches as they were driven here
+and there by the wind.
+
+"What's that, sir?" cried Ned, with his lips to his companion's ear, for
+a tremendous crash had succeeded a roar of thunder.
+
+"Tree gone down."
+
+"Oh!" said Ned, pressing Jack close up into the recess.  "Well, so long
+as it ain't this one I suppose we mustn't grumble.  But I'd rather have
+undressed myself before I took my bath, sir, wouldn't you?"
+
+"Oh, how can you talk like that!" shouted Jack.
+
+"'Cause I feel so jolly and satisfied," said Ned, with his lips again to
+Jack's ear.  "A bit ago it was all over with us, going to be took and
+tied up again, sir.  P'r'aps to be taken away and fatted and eaten.  Now
+there's nothing the matter, only it's a bit dark.  Don't seem, sir, as
+if I'm doing any good in trying to be your umbrella.  You are a little
+moist, I suppose, sir?"
+
+"Moist, Ned!  I'm soaking; I can feel the water running down into my
+boots."
+
+"Oh, never mind, sir.  We'll have a good wring out as soon as the
+storm's over.  But my word, I never saw lightning like this before, and
+never felt it rain so hard."
+
+"Nor thunder so loud," cried Jack.  "It is terrible.  Hush! hark at
+that!"
+
+"Water, sir, running down this way."
+
+"Shan't be washed away from here, shall we, Ned?"
+
+"No, sir, I think not.  Seems to me that it's coming down that bit of a
+ditch we crawled up."
+
+It was: the dry, stony bed having been filled in a few minutes six feet
+deep by a raging torrent, which was constantly being augmented by scores
+of furious rills, the upper portions of the mountain having been struck
+by what resembled a swirling water-spout.
+
+"I say, Mr Jack, I hope the yacht won't get washed away.  Which side of
+that stony ditch were the niggers when you saw 'em last?"
+
+"The other side."
+
+"Then they won't come this.  Now if they'd only take to thinking that
+we'd been washed down the side and out to sea, what a blessing it would
+be for us!  They wouldn't come and hunt for us any more."
+
+"Don't--pray don't talk," cried Jack.  Then to himself,--"Oh, if the
+storm would only keep on."
+
+But, as has been shown, it did not.  Its violence on their side of the
+mountain was soon exhausted, and it swept on and out to sea, leaving the
+fugitives standing where hundreds of rills came amongst the foot of the
+trees on their way toward the stream overflowing the stony channel,
+while the leaves and boughs poured down a constant shower of heavy
+drops.
+
+By degrees the force of the water abated, the slope being too steep for
+it to continue long within the regular channels which scored the
+mountain side; and leaving their temporary asylum, the fugitives pressed
+on in the hope of reaching the ravine up which they had been making
+their way that morning when they hung back and were left behind.
+
+But it was in a bewildered way that they pushed on, till hours must have
+passed, feeling that there was nothing for them but to try and find a
+refuge in some rude shelter such as they had several times encountered
+by the side of one of the lava-streams, where in cooling the volcanic
+matter had split up and broken, and formed wildly curious, cavernous
+places, any one of which would have been welcome.
+
+Night was coming on fast; they dare not attempt to descend, and it began
+to be plain that they would have to be content with a resting-place on
+some stony patch from which the water had drained, when, as they
+staggered along, just within the sheltering gloom of the huge forest
+trees, they stumbled upon one of the ancient lava-streams, which stopped
+their progress like some mountainous wall, and a very few minutes'
+search was sufficient to find the shelter they required, a dark,
+cavernous place whose flooring was of volcanic sand.
+
+"It's dry as a bone, Mr Jack, sir," said Ned, after stooping down, "and
+as warm as warm.  Well, sir, if this ain't sunshine after storm I should
+like to know what is!"
+
+Jack was too much exhausted to reply, and directly after he began to
+follow his companion's example by stripping off and wringing his
+clothes.
+
+"Black sunshine this, Ned," he said.
+
+"Well, sir, it is certainly; but you can't say it ain't warm.  You put
+your hand down on the sand."
+
+"Yes; it's quite warm, Ned."
+
+"Why, is this only the back-door into the burning mountain, sir?
+Because if so, will it be safe?"
+
+"Ned, I'm too tired to talk.  Pray be quiet and let me think.  We must
+be safer than out upon the mountain side.  Let's lie down and rest."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+A BI-STARTLER.
+
+"What's that?" cried Jack, starting up into a sitting position, to face
+Ned, who rubbed his eyes and stared.
+
+"I dunno, sir; sounded to me like a horrid shriek."
+
+"Yes; that was what woke me, Ned," said Jack in an awestricken whisper.
+"It sounded like some one being killed."
+
+"There it is again!" cried Ned, as a harsh, shrill sound arose from
+close at hand, to be followed by a chorus of discordant cries, which
+seemed to run in by them to be echoed and made more hollow and strange.
+
+"Talk about sharpening saws," said Ned, as he hurriedly began to dress,
+"why that's lovely to it.  Cockatoos, that's what it is.  Good job it's
+daylight, or I should have been thinking that we'd come to sleep in an
+awful place."
+
+"I couldn't make out where we were, Ned, for some time.  Did you sleep
+well?"
+
+"I dunno, sir.  Don't know nothing about it, only that I lay down and
+snuggled the sand over me a bit.  Next thing I heard was those birds.
+How did you get on, sir?"
+
+"Slept! oh, so soundly!"
+
+"And feel all the better for it, sir?"
+
+"Yes--no, my head aches and feels sore from the blow."
+
+"Ah, I should like to have a turn at those chaps, Mr Jack, sir; I owe
+'em one, and you owe 'em one too.  Perhaps we shall get a chance to pay
+'em some day."
+
+"I hope not," said Jack, who was hurrying on his clothes.
+
+"You hope not, sir?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  I hope we may never see or hear anything of them
+again.  And perhaps they're waiting on the mountain side to seize us as
+soon as we go out of this cave."
+
+"Then we mustn't go out till they're gone, sir.  Clothes pretty dry,
+sir?"
+
+"Yes, Ned, they seem quite dry; but I want to bathe."
+
+"What, again, sir?  I got washed enough last night to last me for a bit.
+Fine place this would be to bring a cargo of umbrellas, if there was
+any one to buy 'em.  I never saw it rain like that."
+
+"Oh, Ned--Ned, do try and talk sensibly," cried Jack.  "How can you make
+jokes when we are in such danger?"
+
+"I dunno about being in danger now, sir.  We're pretty safe at present.
+I say, sir, this must be the way down into the kitchen," continued Ned,
+as he went on dressing, and trying to peer into the darkness of the
+cavernous place.  "My word, can't you smell the black beadles?"
+
+"I do smell something," replied Jack thoughtfully.  "It must be
+volcanic."
+
+"Beadly, sir.  There, it's quite strong."  At that moment from farther
+in a fluttering and squealing sound was heard, and Ned started back.
+"There, sir, I said so.  Mice and rats too."
+
+"Nonsense; it is the great fruit bats."
+
+"What, those we see of a night, sir, bigger than pigeons?"
+
+"Yes; this is one of their roosting-places."
+
+"And do they smell like beadles, sir?"
+
+"Yes; very much like.  But now, Ned, what shall we do next?"
+
+"Well, sir, if I did what I liked I should choose a good breakfast; but
+as I can't, what do you say to going a bit farther in here to see what
+it's like?"
+
+"Not now.  I want to make out whereabouts we are, and whether the blacks
+are on the look-out for us still; and then I want to communicate with my
+father; he must be horribly anxious about us, Ned."
+
+"Yes; I expect he thinks we've gone down some hole, sir, and it strikes
+me he'll be saying something to the doctor for going and leaving us
+behind."
+
+"I'm afraid that it was our fault, Ned, for not keeping up."
+
+"Well, sir, we can't help it now.  Next best thing is to get back to the
+yacht, so as soon as you're ready we'll make a start; but I'm afraid it
+will be a long walk before breakfast."
+
+"Terribly long, I'm afraid."
+
+"But there's always a good side to everything, sir, even if it's a
+looking-glass," continued Ned philosophically.  "We're better off than
+you might think."
+
+"I can't see it, Ned."
+
+"Why, we've got no guns, nor wallets, nor cartridges to carry, sir.  Now
+then, will you lead?"
+
+"Yes; be cautious.  We don't know but what some of the blacks may be
+near."
+
+"That's true, sir.  First thing I s'pose is to get what old Lenny calls
+our bearings."
+
+"Yes; we must find out where we face," said Jack, and he advanced
+cautiously to the cavern's entrance, and began to peer round warily for
+danger.
+
+But there was no sign of any.  They were very high up, the morning was
+clear, the sun was gilding the vapours which rose from the rifts and
+valleys, and the sea glittered gloriously.  Far below they obtained
+glimpses of the reef with its fringe of foam; but not a murmur of the
+beating waves reached them, while overhead, partially hidden in clouds,
+the crater of the volcano showed some of its craggy slopes, and the
+forest beneath seemed to be less dense.
+
+"I can't make out where we are, Ned," said Jack at last.  "Yes, I can;
+we have worked round more to the south, and must have done nothing but
+get farther and farther away from the yacht."
+
+"Think so, sir?  Let's see; we anchored east side first, then we went
+round and anchored west, and you say we've been travelling south.  Well,
+I dare say you're right, and that means we must keep to the west again.
+Why, those black fellows must have taken us out of that little valley
+and put us in another one.  I must say it's rather puzzling, sir.  But
+you lead, and I'll follow, for it's of no use for me to pretend to be
+able to steer."
+
+Jack made no reply, but stood looking downward, seeing nothing of the
+glorious prospect below, his mind being taken up with thoughts of trying
+to hit the head of the ravine up which they had travelled, for he knew
+the difficulties attendant upon going down another, to be led right to
+the edge of the lagoon, with the puzzle before him of not knowing
+whether to travel to right or left.
+
+"There's that flock of shriekers coming along below there, Mr Jack,
+sir," said the man, breaking in upon the lad's reverie.  "No, it ain't:
+it's pigs.  I can see 'em, sir; there they go.  My word, I wish I had a
+gun, and they came within reach; I'd have a shot at one of 'em, and
+before long it would be roast pork for breakfast.  See 'em, sir?  There
+they go."
+
+They were plain enough to see at times, a drove of twenty or so, of all
+sizes, down to quite small porkers, as they raced along over the open
+patches, and then disappeared in amongst the trees, to re-appear once
+more as they made for the denser portions of the forest.
+
+"Why, there's one left behind, Ned," said Jack suddenly.  "It looks as
+if it was lame."
+
+"Why, it has broken down.  Look, sir, how it keeps limping.  I say, we
+must have him.  We can't let a chance like that go when we're starving.
+Keep your eye on the spot, sir, while I try and hit off some mark to
+know him by."
+
+Jack's response, as Ned moved to get into a better position for
+observation, was to leap upon the man and drag him back into the
+entrance of the cavern.
+
+"What did you do that for, sir?" he cried angrily.
+
+"Couldn't you see what was coming?"
+
+"No, sir," cried Ned surlily; "could you?"
+
+"Go down on hands and knees to that block of stone lying there, and peep
+over cautiously."
+
+Ned obeyed in an ill-used fashion, and dropped down again to crawl back
+into the cavern.
+
+"Oh, I say, Mr Jack, seven or eight of them."
+
+"I only saw two."
+
+"Quite what I said, sir.  They must have been hunting the drove, and
+speared the one that hung behind.  Now, then, they'll be stopping to
+cook and have another feast.  Suppose they come in here to make this
+their kitchen?  Hadn't we better slip out at once and make a run for
+it?"
+
+"Run for it?" cried Jack.  "How can we up here, where it is all slow
+climb?  No, we must keep in hiding."
+
+"But suppose they choose this place and come here?"
+
+"Not likely, Ned.  If they do we must go farther into its depths."
+
+"Ugh!" cried the man with a shudder.  "I want to get out of the hole.
+It's hot and steamy, and unnatural.  I believe some of the melted stuff
+came out this way."
+
+"What, the molten lava?  Of course," said Jack coolly.  "I don't
+understand much about it, but it's plain enough that this was all liquid
+molten matter once, and that it ran out along here."
+
+"What, this rock, Mr Jack?  Do you mean melted like lead and running
+down?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Oh, I say, Mr Jack, is this a time, with black Indians close at hand,
+to go stuffing a fellow with cranky tales?"
+
+"I am only telling you the simple truth, Ned."
+
+"But hard stone can't melt."
+
+"Yes, it can, if the heat is great enough.  This was all running like
+molten metal once, this part under our feet."
+
+"And what about this where we are, sir?"
+
+"It seems to me, Ned, as if it were the cindery froth on the top, that
+was full of gas and steam, so that when it cooled it left all these
+holes and cracks and crevices.  Look at that piece lying there; only
+that it's of a beautiful silvery grey, it looks just like one of the
+pieces of cinder which pop out of the fire."
+
+"Want a pretty good-sized fire for a piece like that to pop out of,
+sir," said the man scornfully.
+
+"Well, it must have been a good-sized fire when this great mountain was
+in eruption, and the red-hot lava boiling over the sides of the crater
+and running down."
+
+"But do you really think it ever did, sir?"
+
+"I have no doubt about it whatever.  Look at that piece lying half
+buried in the black sand.  What is that?"
+
+"Looks like black glass, sir," said Ned, kicking a piece of obsidian.
+
+"Well, it is volcanic glass.  How could that have been made without
+heat?"
+
+"I dunno, sir.  It caps me."
+
+"You said the place was hot."
+
+"No need to say it, sir.  I'm as hot as hot.  Brings me out in a
+prespiration."
+
+"St! don't talk so loudly, Ned.  The place echoes so."
+
+At that moment the man laid his hand upon Jack's arm and pointed
+downward.
+
+The lad followed the direction of the pointing hand, to see that a group
+of the blacks were coming in their direction, and for the moment Jack
+felt that they must be seen, until he saw that they were standing well
+in the shadow.
+
+His first impulse was to catch Ned's arm, stoop down and hurry away to
+reach the shelter of the trees, but Ned stopped him.
+
+"No good, sir.  We should be seen.  Let's go right in here."
+
+"What, to be trapped?"
+
+"They mightn't come in here, sir, and if they did, perhaps they couldn't
+find us.  Anyhow they're sure to see us and come after us if we go
+outside."
+
+The wisdom of the words was evident enough, and with a sigh Jack drew
+back with his companion, startling some birds from a shelf where they
+seemed to be nesting within reach of his hand, and sending them rushing
+out uttering their alarm notes.
+
+"Are we in far enough, Mr Jack?" said Ned.
+
+"No: any one could see us here.  Come along."
+
+They went on inward for another twenty yards, the mouth of the entrance
+still being in full view.  It was awkward travelling, the black sand
+having given place to loose pieces of scoria and obsidian, some pieces
+of which crackled under their boots, and took revenge by entering into
+the soles.  As they went in the place widened out, but remained much
+about the same height overhead, the highest portions of the roof being
+nearly within touch of Ned's hand.
+
+Here the latter stopped again.
+
+"Don't let's go any farther, sir," he said nervously.  "Don't you feel a
+bit frightened?"
+
+"Of course I do.  It would be horrible if they caught us again.  They
+would kill us."
+
+"Yes, sir; most likely," said Ned.  "Be awkward, wouldn't it?  But don't
+you feel scared-like about this great black hole?"
+
+"Scared?  No; I like it, Ned."
+
+"Oh, no, you don't, sir.  You can't.  Don't say that.  There!  There it
+is again.  Just over your head."
+
+He shrank back with his fist doubled as if prepared to strike.
+
+"What is it?" cried Jack, startled now.
+
+"I dunno, sir.  Let's go back," cried the man in an agitated whisper.
+"It's very horrid though.  There's lots of 'em shuffling and scrambling
+about in the cracks and holes, staring at you with their wicked-looking
+eyes, and more 'n once I've seen 'em flapping their wings.  I don't like
+it.  Let's go back."
+
+"Go back to be taken?  Impossible.  Look, they are only bats."
+
+"Bats with wings a yard across, sir?  Oh, come, I know better than
+that."
+
+"What are they then?" said Jack angrily.
+
+"Oh, I dunno, sir.  Something horrid as lives in this dreadful place.
+They make me feel creepy all down my back.  I'd rather have a set-to
+with one of the ugliest blacks yonder."
+
+"I tell you they are bats--the great fruit bats.  Why, Captain Bradleigh
+pointed them out to me the other night, flying overhead in the darkness
+just like big crows."
+
+"Are you sure, sir?  There, look at that thing staring down at you and
+making noises.  Mind, pray, Mr Jack, sir, or he'll have you.  Perhaps
+their bite's poison."
+
+"They will not bite if we leave them alone.  They are flying foxes."
+
+"Flying wolves, I think, sir.  I say, hadn't we better go back?"
+
+"No," said Jack firmly.  "Why, Ned, are you going to turn coward?"
+
+"Hope not, sir; and that's what worries me--me being a man and feeling
+as I do, while you're only a boy and don't seem to mind a bit.  I
+wouldn't care so much if you were frightened too."
+
+"Well, I am frightened, Ned--horribly frightened, but not of the flying
+foxes."
+
+"But you don't seem to mind what might be farther in, sir," said Ned,
+staring wildly into the darkness ahead.
+
+"Oh yes, I do," replied Jack.  "I'm afraid we might slip down into some
+horrible black pit; but we need not if we're careful."
+
+"Ah, you don't seem to understand me, sir, and I don't quite understand
+myself.  I suppose it's from only being half myself again, for one of my
+arms is no good at all.  That's what makes me feel a bit cowardly like."
+
+"Yes, of course, it makes you nervous," said Jack quietly.
+
+"There!  Feel that, sir?" whispered Ned in a horror-stricken voice.
+
+"That hot puff of air?  Yes, it's curious.  I suppose it would grow
+warmer the farther we went in."
+
+"And you taking it as cool as can be, sir," said Ned in a voice full of
+reproach.
+
+"Well, why not?  We've only got to be careful, just as we should have to
+be if we were climbing up to the crater.  There would be hot steamy
+puffs of air there, and--Quick, don't speak.  Take hold of my hand, and
+let's go softly right in."
+
+Ned did not hesitate, but obeyed at once, and they walked softly on into
+the darkness ahead, for from apparently close behind them--though the
+speakers had not yet reached the mouth of the low cavern--there came the
+confused angry gabble of many voices, and on looking back Ned saw the
+mouth of the place darkened, and it seemed as if the enemy were about to
+come in; but some were apparently hesitating, and protesting against its
+being done.
+
+Ned's dread of the unseen departed at sight of the seen, and he walked
+firmly onward, gripping Jack's hand tightly.
+
+"Come on in, sir," he whispered; "they're after us.  Let's get into a
+dark corner, and let 'em have it with stones--some of these sharp bits."
+
+Everything seemed to point to the fact that they must either get right
+into the depths of the cavern and trust to finding a place of
+concealment, or stand on their defence as Ned suggested, and meet their
+enemies with stones.
+
+They must have retreated quite fifty yards over the sharp cracking
+fragments, when the light which shone in upon them from the mouth
+suddenly ceased, and looking round for the cause, they found that the
+passage had made a sudden turn, so that they had to go back three or
+four yards before they could catch sight of the enemy.
+
+That which they saw was enough to startle them, showing as it did the
+imminence of their danger, and that the blacks were probably coming in
+search of them, under the belief that they were in hiding.  For one,
+evidently the leader, was in advance, with bow and arrow in hand ready
+to shoot, and his companions held their spears prepared for action as
+they came on in a stooping attitude.
+
+"Shall we shoot at 'em?" whispered Ned, feeling now in the presence of
+danger.
+
+"No.  Let's get a little heap of stones and be ready to throw when they
+are well in reach."
+
+"Oh, if I could only use my other arm!" muttered Ned.  "Come on then,
+sir.  They can't see us now.  Perhaps there's a narrower place farther
+in, and the darker it is the better for us and the worse for them."
+
+The change in the poor fellow was wonderful.  He did not seem like the
+same.  It struck Jack for the moment, but he had something else to think
+about, and he followed his companion quickly, at the risk of slipping
+into some precipitous place.
+
+It was too dark to see much when they stopped again, but they could feel
+plenty of rough pieces of stone beneath their feet, and the place was
+narrow enough to make the chances of a successful defence greater.
+
+"It's an ugly job, Mr Jack, sir," said Ned, "and I feel precious shaky
+about my throwing, though there was a time when I'd hurl a cricket-ball
+with any man I knew.  If they think they're coming nobbling us about
+with their war-clubs and getting nothing back, they're precious well
+mistaken, so scuffle up all you can, and--Oh!  Murder!"
+
+Ned dropped down on his face, and Jack crawled against the wall, for at
+the first attempt made to pull a stone from a heap there was a sharp
+rustling sound, a little avalanche of fragments was set in motion, and
+they fell with a tremendous splash into some subterranean natural
+reservoir; a loud reverberation followed, and instantaneously, as the
+echoes went bellowing out through the passage by which the fugitives had
+entered, there was a strange rushing fluttering, and the sound as of a
+roaring mighty wind unchained from some vast chasm where it had lain at
+rest.
+
+Jack felt the wind touching him as it passed.  Then in a flash he knew
+that it was caused by the beating of thousands of wings, and then, with
+his heart beating heavily, he was listening to an outburst of shrieks
+and yells, and lastly nothing was to be heard but Ned groaning and
+muttering:
+
+"Oh dear! oh dear! it 'd frighten any man, let alone a poor chap who's
+been wounded mortal bad!"
+
+A few minutes of time only were occupied by the whole of what took
+place, from the first rattle of the stones to Ned's piteous
+ejaculations, and Jack crouched there listening till the poor fellow
+exclaimed--
+
+"Mr Jack, sir, where are you?  Don't say you're dead."
+
+"No, Ned, I won't."
+
+"Oh, my dear lad, where are you then?" gasped the poor fellow wildly.
+
+"Here, quite safe; but don't move, there must be a terrible gulf close
+beside you."
+
+"Yes, sir, and I thought it had swallowed you.  I say, is it all over
+with us?"
+
+"I hope not," said Jack quietly.  "But listen, Ned; can you hear the
+blacks?"
+
+"Hear 'em!  No, sir.  My ears seem full of the shrieks and cries of
+those things as they tore out of the place, and you would stick out that
+they were bats.  Phew, can't you smell 'em?"
+
+"Yes, plainly enough; but it was not the bats made those noises, it must
+have been the blacks."
+
+"No, no, sir, it was those horrid things.  I felt 'em hitting me with
+their wings as they swooped by."
+
+"Nonsense, nonsense.  They were scared by the noise of the stones
+falling, and the echoes, and it seems to me that they scared the blacks
+as well as us, and they have run out again."
+
+"What!" cried Ned.  "You don't mean that, Mr Jack?"
+
+"But I do.  Ned, they've gone."
+
+"Well! and I was only just before thinking that I was getting over being
+so shaky and nervous, and not so queer about myself, and then for me to
+break down like that.  Of all the cowardly cranks I ever did come
+across!  Oh, I say, Mr Jack, sir, ain't you ashamed of me?"
+
+"I'm quite as ashamed of myself, Ned.  I don't know who could help being
+frightened; my heart's beating tremendously still.  But they've gone,
+Ned, I feel sure."
+
+"Well, I believe they have, sir, 'pon my word.  But I say, Mr Jack,
+sir, don't be offended at what I say."
+
+"Of course not.  Say it quick."
+
+"It's on'y this, sir; are you the same young gent as sailed with us from
+Dartmouth a short time ago? because you cap me."
+
+"Here, give me your hand," cried Jack.  "No; stop.  Don't move.  You
+might slip.  Can't we get a light?"
+
+"Light, sir?  Yes; of course.  I've got a little box of wax matches in
+my pocket."
+
+There was a faint rustling sound in the darkness, and then Ned uttered a
+groan.
+
+"Lost them?"
+
+"No, sir; here they are, but I forgot about the rain last night.  They
+must be all soaked and spoiled."
+
+"Try one."
+
+"Yes, sir, I'll try.  But I say, Mr Jack, this is like being in a mine,
+and it must be fiery, as they call it, being so hot.  Will there be any
+danger of an explosion from gas?"
+
+"Oh, surely not.  This isn't a coal-mine, but a sort of grotto under a
+flow of lava.  Try if one of them will light."
+
+"All right, sir.  I say, they rattle all right, as if they were hard."
+
+The box clicked as Ned opened it; he took out a match, rubbed it
+sharply, and there was a faint line of phosphorescent light.
+
+"No go, sir; just like one of them fishy things we get alongside."
+
+"Try another."
+
+_Whisk_--_crick_--_crick_--_crack_--and a flash of light.
+
+"Hooray!" cried Ned, as the tiny taper blazed up and burned steadily,
+showing that the holder was close to the edge of a huge chasm, down
+which a couple of strides would have taken him, and as the light burned
+lower Jack crept quickly to where Ned still crouched by the side of the
+passage.
+
+"Why, Ned, I could not see much, but this opens out here into a vast
+place."
+
+"Yes, sir; I got a glimpse of it.  Shall I light another match?"
+
+"No, no, save them."
+
+"But we ought to get out of here as soon as we can, sir."
+
+"Of course, but we shall see a faint gleam from the entrance directly
+our eyes have grown used to the change."
+
+"Shall we, sir?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Well, I don't want to show the white feather again, but I can't help
+feeling that we ought to be out of this."
+
+"Wait and listen."
+
+"Can't hear nothing, sir," said the man after a minute's pause.
+
+"No, and I can see the faint dawn of light there gleaming against the
+wall yonder.  Let's begin to go back very quietly in case the blacks are
+still there."
+
+"I'm more than ready, sir."
+
+"Then lead on, Ned."
+
+"Mean it, sir?"
+
+"Yes, go on."
+
+Ned rose, and Jack followed suit, to begin stepping cautiously on, till
+by slow degrees they reached the sharp angle in the passage, and could
+look straight out to the entrance and see that all was clear, while
+there before them was the bright sunny sky, and away in the distance the
+gleaming sea.
+
+"I say, who's afraid?" cried Ned excitedly.  "But, Mr Jack, sir, what a
+rum thing darkness is!  I felt twice as much scared over that as I did
+about the niggers, and--Oh, I say, look at that!"
+
+Before the lad could grasp what he was about to do, Ned ran forward
+toward the light till he was half-way to the mouth of the cavern, when
+Jack saw the dark silhouette-like figure stoop down again and again, to
+pick up something each time, and he returned laughing, bearing quite a
+bundle of spears, bows, and arrows.
+
+"There, I was right," cried Jack; "they were frightened--so scared that
+they dropped their weapons and ran."
+
+"Yes, sir, and set us up with some tools.  Oh, if it had only been our
+guns!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+THE EVIL OF NOT BEING USED TO IT.
+
+But the blacks had not left the guns, and utterly unused as these two
+were to the use of such savage weapons, they felt a thrill of
+satisfaction run through them as they grasped the means of making one
+stroke in defence of their lives.
+
+"It's a many years since I used to go into the copses to cut myself a
+good hazel and make myself a bow, Mr Jack, and get reeds out of the
+edge of the long lake, to tie nails in the ends and use for arrows.  I
+used to bind the nails in with whitey-brown thread well beeswaxed, and
+then dress the notch at the other end to keep the bowstring from
+splitting it up.  I've hit rabbits with an arrow before now, though they
+always run into their holes.  You can shoot with a bow and arrow at a
+target of course?"
+
+"I?  No, Ned," said the boy sadly.  "I can't do anything but read."
+
+"Oh, I say, sir!  Why, I've seen you knock over things with a gun.  Look
+how you finished that sea snake."
+
+"I suppose I'd better try though, Ned."
+
+"Why of course, sir.  You take the one you like.  Here's three of them.
+Wish they hadn't been so stingy with the arrows--only five between two
+of us.  Never mind.  Hadn't got any ten minutes ago.  We'll keep a pair
+apiece and have one to spare, and a spear each.  We'll leave the others
+in here, and let 'em fetch 'em if they dare."
+
+"Yes," said Jack, selecting his weapons; "but we must not go out yet."
+
+"Well, sir, I don't want to interfere, but I haven't had anything to eat
+since lunch yesterday, and if I don't soon do some stoking my engine
+won't go."
+
+"But you don't expect that you are going to kill anything with these
+things?" cried Jack.
+
+"I'm going to try, sir.  Savages can, and have a feast of roast pig
+after, so we ought to be able to.  Don't you think we might risk
+starting, and get higher up the mountain, and then round somehow, and
+make for the shore?"
+
+"It will be very risky by daylight."
+
+"But we can't go in the dark, sir."
+
+"Come on then," cried Jack.  "The blacks may have been scared right
+away, so let's chance it."
+
+He led the way to the entrance, where, to the great delight of both,
+they found another bow lying, and close by one of the melon-headed
+war-clubs and a bundle of arrows, upon which Ned pounced regardless of
+danger, while Jack crept to the stones outside and took a long look
+round, over gully, rock, and patch of forest.  But there was nothing
+living within sight but a couple of flocks of birds, one green, the
+others milky white, and showing plainly as they flew over against the
+green trees.
+
+"See anything of that lame pig, sir?" said Ned, handing him the arrows
+to take what he liked.
+
+"No; nor the blacks neither."
+
+"They're hiding somewhere, sir, and I dare say on the look-out, or I'd
+be for going to have a look below there."
+
+"That would be too risky, Ned.  Let's creep to where we can get cover,
+and then do as you say, keep along the more open part under the trees,
+and see if we can get round somewhere by the sands."
+
+"On you go then, sir, and whatever you do, don't lose a chance of a
+shot.  We must have something to eat, or we can never get back.  Oh yes,
+you're a very beautiful island, no doubt--very well to look at, but I
+don't think much of a place where you can't find the very fruit as would
+be a blessing to us now."
+
+"And what fruit's that, Ned?" said Jack, as they reached the shelter of
+the trees about a couple of hundred yards from the mouth of the cave.
+
+"Well, sir, I'm not an Irishman, for as far back as I know we all came
+from Surrey; but I'd give something if I could find a patch of 'em going
+off at the haulm, ready to be grubbed up and shoved in the ashes of a
+fire to roast."
+
+"What, potatoes?"
+
+"Yes, sir, a good big round 'tater would just about fit me now, and I
+shouldn't fiddle about any nonsense as to trying it on."
+
+"There'll be no potatoes for you, Ned, but we may find some wild bananas
+lower down."
+
+"That's a nice comforting way of talking to a poor hungry chap who is
+going up, Mr Jack; but you keep a good look-out, and we must have a
+shot at the first thing we see, and then light a fire and cook it, and
+if that first thing we see happens to be a nigger, sir--well, I'm sorry
+for him, and I hope he won't be tough!"
+
+Ned directed a comical look at his young master as he began to try the
+bow, holding it in his injured, nerveless grasp, and pulling at the
+string.
+
+"Is it hard, Ned?"
+
+"Pretty tidy, sir.  Takes a good pull, but I can manage it, and--Hullo!
+Look at that."
+
+He threw the bow, arrows, and spear down, stretched out his left arm to
+the full extent; drew it in so as to raise the biceps, and then
+stretched it out again, and began to move it round like the sail of a
+windmill.
+
+"What's the matter with you?" cried Jack.  "Are you going mad?"
+
+"Pretty nigh, sir.  Look at that--and that--and that!"
+
+The three "thats" were so many imaginary blows in the air, delivered
+sharply and with all the man's force.
+
+"But I don't understand you, Ned.  What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, can't you see, sir?  That arm's been as dead as a stick ever since
+I got that arrow, now it has come to life again, and is stronger than
+ever.  I know what's done it!"
+
+"Being obliged to try and use it," cried Jack quickly.
+
+"That's got something to do with it perhaps, sir, but that isn't
+everything.  It was that soaking last night, and then the stewing in
+that hot sand.  It took all the rest of the trouble away.  Now then,
+only let me get a chance at one of these chaps, and I'll try how he
+likes arrow.  I'll 'arrow his feelings a bit."
+
+"But are you sure your arm is quite strong again?" cried Jack joyfully.
+
+For answer Ned swung his left round the speaker's waist, lifted him from
+the ground, and held him up with ease.
+
+"What do you say to that, sir?  But there, come along, I want to get
+something to eat.  I feel horrid, and begin to understand how it is that
+some of the people out here eat one another."
+
+"Don't keep on talking such absurd stuff, Ned," cried Jack, half
+angrily, half amused; for in the early stages of suffering from hunger
+there are symptoms of a weak hysterical disposition to laugh.
+
+"But I'm so hungry, sir!"
+
+"Well, push on, and we may get a chance at a big bird of some kind.  But
+suppose we should shoot one--we might--these arrows may be poisoned."
+
+"Wouldn't matter, sir.  They say cooking kills the poison.  Which way
+now?"
+
+"Keep bearing to the right up the mountain, but always well within
+shelter.  We must not be taken again."
+
+"Good-bye to the wild bananas that grow below," muttered Ned; and he
+pressed on eagerly, but keeping a sharp look-out all the while, and
+whenever an opening had to be crossed, setting the example of going down
+on all fours.
+
+"Won't do though to keep like this, sir," he said; "why, they'd shoot at
+us at once for wild beasts of some kind.  But do look here, sir!  Ain't
+it wonderful--ain't it grand?  My arm feels as if it had been bottling
+up all its strength, and to be readier than ever now.  Oh, if we could
+only see something to shoot at."
+
+But saving small brightly-plumaged birds, they encountered nothing to
+tempt the venture of an arrow, and at the end of what must have been
+quite two hours, when the cave of the lava flow was left far behind, and
+several hundred feet lower, Jack dropped upon his knees beside a lovely
+little pool, into which trickled through the rocks and stones a
+thread-like stream of the clearest water.
+
+"No, no, sir, don't drink--it's bad.  Cold water when you're hot, and on
+an empty stomach."
+
+"But I'm so thirsty, Ned, and it looks so tempting."
+
+"I'm ever so much thirstier, sir.  Look here, let's do what they do with
+horses.  Just wash our mouths out, but don't let's swallow any."
+
+As he spoke he went to the other side of the little rock pool, which was
+not above a foot deep and about four across, lying close up to the foot
+of one of the great rock walls which grew more frequent the higher they
+ascended.  Then together they dipped a hand in the soft, cool, limpid
+fluid, and raised it to their lips.
+
+"Poof!" ejaculated Ned, spluttering the water away.  "Oh, what a shame!
+There ought to be a notice up--Beware of the water.  Why, it's like
+poison, sir.  Ten times worse than that horrid stuff by the falls.  Oh,
+come on.  Only fancy for there to be water like that.  Physic's nothing
+to it."
+
+Jack's disappointment was a little softened by his amusement, and they
+resumed their tramp, rising higher and higher as they kept up a diagonal
+course along the mountain slope; but the difficulties in the way, and
+the caution requisite in passing through what they felt to be a
+dangerous enemy's land, made the progress slow, and after a time they
+seated themselves for a rest upon one of the many moss-grown masses of
+lava rock they passed, beneath an umbrageous tree, in which a flock of
+tiny finch-like birds were twittering, and once more looked around.
+
+The prospect was not wide, for they were surrounded by trees, and it was
+only by keeping close to one or other of the many lava rivers, where the
+growth of the forest was scanty, that they were able to progress as they
+did.
+
+"Nothing to eat, nothing to drink," groaned Ned.  "I say, Mr Jack, this
+is getting serious.  What's to be done?"
+
+"Rest a bit, and then at the first opportunity, say as soon as we have
+passed over that knoll there, let's begin to descend toward the shore.
+I hope we shall miss the blacks then."
+
+"And come across some one looking for us, sir, and carrying a basket.
+If it was only a bit of hard ship's biscuit now, I wouldn't care."
+
+"Hark!  What's that?"
+
+"Cockatoo, sir," whispered Ned.  "I know their screech.  I'll go and try
+and get a shot at him."
+
+"Better sit still and rest, and chance the flock coming near.  If you
+follow them they'll hear you, and lead you farther and farther away."
+
+"Yes, I know that, sir, but I'm so hungry, and I'm afraid to begin
+chewing leaves for fear of poison.  Hullo!  Don't move, sir.  Hear that?
+You're right, this is the best way and the easiest."
+
+"What shall we do, Ned, shoot, or try to get at them with the spears?"
+
+"Let's see 'em first, sir," said Ned wisely, "and wait our chance, and
+then do both."
+
+The objects which had excited their attention by sundry familiar
+sounding grunts were not long in showing themselves in the shape of a
+little herd of pigs, three old ones and about a dozen half-grown; and as
+they came down a slope to their left, and began rooting about under the
+trees a couple of hundred yards away, Ned softly smacked his lips,
+looked at Jack, took out his brass matchbox, and said the expressive
+word "crackling."
+
+The formation of the mountain side was mostly that of shallow stony
+gullies opening one into the other, but all with the general tendency up
+and down, and it was on the slope of one of these that the fugitives
+were resting, while the herd had entered it from its highest part.
+
+Ned's fingers played tremblingly about the bow he held.  Then he felt
+his arm, and a look of joy and pride came into his eyes.
+
+"It's all right," he whispered.  "I say, sir, wasn't it a grand idea to
+leave some pigs here to breed?  You stop quiet and wait your chance."
+
+"Why?  What are you going to do?" whispered Jack.
+
+"Creep round by the back of this tree, sir, and as they feed down I'll
+go up the side, and by and by you'll see me dodging softly along toward
+you over yonder beyond them.  Then we shall have 'em between us, and if
+they take fright they must either go up or down, and pass one of us.
+It's our chance, and we must not let it go.  Look here, sir, you choose
+one of the little ones, and wait till you think you can hit him.  Then
+hold up your hand and we'll fire together.  Then run at 'em with your
+spear.  We must get one or else starve."
+
+It was the best way of approaching success, as Jack saw, and whispering
+that he would do as his companion suggested, he sat there watching Ned's
+movements as he crept away up the slope and disappeared.  Then fitting
+an arrow to the bowstring, after laying his spear ready by his side, he
+rested the bow across his knees, and sat on his mossy stone, watching
+the movements of the little herd, and expecting, moment by moment, to
+see one of the watchful elders take alarm, give warning, and the whole
+party dash back up the gully.
+
+But they kept rooting and hunting about, evidently for some kind of
+fruit which fell from the trees, and Jack felt as if he were far back in
+the past, a hunter on that beautiful, wild mountain slope, dependent
+upon his bow for his existence.  The sun poured down its hot rays,
+making the leaves glisten like metal, and the air was so clear that the
+pigs' eyes and every movement were as plain as if close at hand.
+
+"Seems treacherous lying in wait like this," he thought.  "Poor
+wretches! they all look as playful and contented as can be."
+
+But he knew that he and Ned must eat if they were ever to escape from
+that mountain, and the sentiment of pity died out as the time went on.
+
+The pigs were slow in coming down, for under the trees at the other side
+of the gully the fruit they sought seemed to be plentiful, and he could
+see the younger ones hunting one another as a lucky find was made, this
+resulting in a good deal of squealing, while above it the deep grunts of
+the elders were plainly heard.
+
+But there was no sight of Ned, and half-an-hour must have passed, with
+the pigs still out of reach for a good shot.
+
+"If they do come this way," thought the lad, "I can't study about
+picking one; I must shoot into the thickest part and chance it.  But
+where is Ned?  Why don't he show?"
+
+At last there was the appearance far up of a large pig coming down
+toward the herd, but the next moment, as it glided among the leaves,
+Jack saw that it was a pig with clothes on, and that it carried a bow
+and arrow.
+
+The time had come for a shot, and softly and slowly the lad edged
+himself back till he could drop on his knees behind the stone, rest the
+bow upon it horizontally, and wait for the critical moment to draw and
+launch his arrow.
+
+He could watch Ned the while as well as the herd, and by slow degrees he
+saw his companion creep from tree-trunk to tree-trunk, slowly
+diminishing the distance, while, having probably cleared off the fallen
+fruit, the herd broke into a trot as if to pass within twenty yards of
+where he waited.
+
+But the next minute they had stopped fifty yards away, and Ned had soon
+reduced his distance till he was about as much above them.  Then all at
+once he disappeared.
+
+The minutes seemed to be terribly long drawn out now, but the herd came
+lower and lower, till fully half of them were rambling about just in
+front; and feeling that he would never have a better chance, the lad
+singled out one half-grown fellow in the midst of three more, all
+feeding, and he held up his hand for a moment or two in the hope that
+Ned might see it, though where he hid it was impossible to say.
+
+Slight as was the movement of the raised hand it was seen, for the
+biggest pig, a rough, bristly-necked animal, suddenly raised its head
+and gazed sharply, with eyes that looked fiery in the brilliant
+sunshine, straight in his direction.
+
+_Twang! twang_! went two bowstrings, the arrows whizzed through the air,
+and in the midst of a rush, away tore the herd down the valley, just as
+Ned leaped up, made a bound or two, and plunged his spear down amidst
+the bushes.
+
+Jack dropped his bow, caught up his own spear, and dashed forward to
+help finish the wounded pigs, and Ned was up before him, panting and
+dripping with perspiration.
+
+"Got one?" cried Jack.
+
+"Got one!" cried Ned bitterly.  "Course we ain't.  Just like my luck."
+
+"Oh!" groaned Jack, as a pang of hunger shot through him.
+
+"I never saw such arrows," cried Ned passionately.  "I could smash the
+lot.  They don't go straight."
+
+"Is it any use to follow them?" said Jack.
+
+"No, sir; it ain't," cried the man angrily.  "And what's more, you know
+it ain't.  What's the good of aggravating a poor fellow?  And," he added
+pathetically, "I did mean to have such a roast."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
+
+IN THE FACE OF PERIL.
+
+"Come on," said Jack, after they had stood listening for a few minutes,
+and gazing in the direction taken by the pigs.  "Is it any use looking
+for the arrows?"
+
+"Not a bit, sir.  Here, only let me find one lying asleep in the mud
+somewhere.  I dare say there's, dozens doing it now, with their eyes
+shut, and their curly tails pretending to whisk away the flies.  Come
+on, sir, we must keep going, hot as it is.  Never mind, we shall do it
+yet, but next time I'm not going to trust to bows and arrows.  You shall
+hunt them down to where I'm hiding, and I'll skewer one somehow or
+another."
+
+But in the next two hours' weary struggle among trees, rocks, and waving
+creepers they only heard pigs once, and then it was as they dashed off
+unseen, grunting and squealing wildly.  Birds were scarcer and very
+small, while they felt no temptation to try the esculent qualities of
+the lizards they saw glancing about over the hot lava, or of the snakes
+which hurriedly crawled away.
+
+They were successful though in finding a trickling stream of pure cold
+water, and a tree bearing a kind of fruit something like a poor, small
+apricot with a very large stone.  It was bitter and sour, but it did, as
+Ned said, to clean your teeth.
+
+Three more arrows were lost in shooting at birds, but without success,
+and Ned shook his head.
+
+"I don't know how it is with you, sir," he said, "but my arm has had
+such a long rest that the muscles now seem to be too strong, and they
+must have jerked the bow just when I let go the string."
+
+"I can soon tell you how it is with me, Ned," said Jack.  "I never could
+use a bow and arrow, so of course I can't now."
+
+They struggled on, growing less cautious in their eagerness to get down
+to the shore.
+
+"Shall get some cocoanuts there, if we can't get anything else, sir,"
+said Ned; "but I do hope it will be somewhere near the yacht."
+
+"But how are we to signal them if we don't get there before dark?"
+
+"Light a fire on the sands, sir.  Oh, don't you be afraid of that.  It's
+the getting there is the difficulty."
+
+It was growing well on in the afternoon when this was said, and, so weak
+and exhausted that they could hardly struggle on, they welcomed an open
+slope covered with some creeping kind of plant, as it seemed, for it
+offered the prospect of getting along better for a couple of hundred
+yards.  Here, too, they could see down a ravine to the reef, which
+seemed to be wonderfully close at hand, though they knew that they had
+miles to struggle over before they could reach the sands--and such
+miles.
+
+"Let's make for that valley, Ned, and try to go down there."
+
+"Very well, sir; just which way you like.  Seems all the same; but let's
+get close up to the trees, though it's furthest, for we may find some
+kind of fruit.  What a country!  Not so much as an apple, let alone a
+pear, or--Mr Jack, sir!  Oh!"
+
+"What is it?" cried Jack, startled by his companion's excitement.  "What
+have you found?"
+
+For Ned had thrown himself upon his knees, and with one end of the bow
+was tearing away at the straggling plants which covered the ground
+wherever it was not rocky or smothered by bush.
+
+"Can't you see, sir?  Here, come and help. _'Taters_!"
+
+"What?" cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, 'taters, sir; only little 'uns.  Not so big as noo potaties at
+home, but 'taters they are.  Look!"
+
+"Fingers were made before forks," says the old proverb, so under the
+circumstances it was not surprising that Ned began to use his hands as
+if they were gardener's potato forks, and with such success that in a
+short time quite a little heap of the yellow tubers were dug out of the
+loose sandy soil, the average size being that of walnuts.
+
+Jack set to work at once to help, but he had hardly dragged away a
+couple of handfuls of haulm when he started up with a cry of alarm.
+
+Ned leaped up too and seized his spear, expecting to have to face the
+blacks; but the enemy was a good-sized snake which had been nestling
+beneath the thick stalks of the plants, and now stood up fully three
+feet above the tops of the growth, with head drawn back, moving to and
+fro as if about to launch itself forward and strike at the first who
+approached it.
+
+"Stand back, Mr Jack," cried the man, and with one mower-like sweep of
+his spear-handle he caught the serpent a few inches below its
+threatening head, and it dropped writhing at once, with its vertebras
+broken.
+
+"Can't stand any nonsense from things like that, sir," cried Ned, as he
+took his spear now as if it had been a pitchfork, raised the twining
+reptile from among the haulms, and after carrying it a few yards, threw
+it cleverly right away among the bushes at the side.
+
+"Take care, perhaps there are more," said Jack.  "So much the worse for
+them if there are, sir.  I want the 'taters, and I'd have 'em if the
+place was full of boa-constrictors as big as they grow.  Come on."
+
+In a very short time they had their pockets and handkerchiefs full, the
+tubers coming out of the hot, dry, sandy soil perfectly clean; and thus
+furnished, they made for a spot where the lava rock was piled up,
+selected a niche, and scraped out a sandy hollow about a couple of feet
+across, laid the potatoes down singly and close together, covered them
+again with the sand, and then turned to the edge of the nearest patch of
+trees to gather dead boughs, leaves, everything they could which seemed
+likely to burn, and carried it to their improvised oven.
+
+"Suppose the blacks see the smoke of the fire?" said Jack, as they piled
+up the smaller twigs and leaves over the potatoes, and Ned brought out
+his box of matches.
+
+"I can't suppose anything, sir, only that we must eat.  If they do come
+on for a fair fight, I'm ready.  Fight I will for these 'taters, come
+what may."
+
+The leaves and twigs caught readily, and the smoke began to curl up in
+the clear sunny air, as bigger and bigger pieces of wood were thrown on.
+Then as they went to the foot of the trees for more of that which lay
+in abundance, they glanced in all directions, but all was silent and
+solitary, with the beautifully-shaped mountain curving up above them,
+and a faint mist as of heat just visible in transparent wreaths above
+its summit.
+
+"Don't let's take too much, Mr Jack--only a little at a time, so as to
+have to come again and again."
+
+"Why not take as much as we can carry now?"
+
+"Because if we do we can't put it all on at once, and we only want a
+nice gentle fire, and to keep on mending it till there are plenty of
+ashes."
+
+"Well, we need not put it all on if we've got it there."
+
+"But we must have something to do, sir."
+
+"Well, lie down and rest till the potatoes are done."
+
+"You don't know what you're talking about, sir.  You can't think of what
+agony it will be.  They must have half-an-hour, and it will seem like a
+week.  You take my advice, sir.  I'm sure it's right."
+
+"Very well," said Jack, and they kept on going to and fro, breaking
+enough to keep on feeding the fire, and trying hard not to think about
+what was cooking, as they still piled on the twigs and branches of dead
+wood, Ned busying himself in breaking them up, far more than was
+necessary in his desperate determination not to be tempted to draw out a
+single tuber before they were done.
+
+"I know what 'taters are, sir," he said between his teeth, "and as bad
+as can be really raw, but the gloriousest things as ever were for a
+hungry man when he has got nothing else.  But what a pity it is!  If
+we'd had our guns we could soon have brought down a skewerful or two of
+those green and scarlet parrots to roast, and--Oh, don't talk about it.
+Makes my mouth water horribly."
+
+"Think they're done now, Ned?" said Jack, after three or four journeys
+to and fro.
+
+"No, sir, nor yet half.  The sand underneath has to get hot.  I tell you
+what, we'll dig up some more and put them in the hot ashes after these
+are done, to cook and take away with us.  They'll do all right while
+we're eating our dinner."
+
+"Very well," said Jack, as he tried hard to curb his impatience, "but
+it's terrible, this waiting."
+
+"Try not to think about it, please, sir.  There, let's make up the fire
+once more, and then go and dig."
+
+The wood was fetched and thrown on, both standing a little back
+afterward, and having a hard struggle to keep from raking out two or
+three of the potatoes to try if they were done, but they mastered
+themselves bravely, and hurried to the spot where they had dug before,
+to find it taken possession of by a larger and thicker snake than the
+one that had been killed.  It was coiled up on the dry sand which they
+had cleared of leaves, and rose up menacingly at their approach.
+
+"What shall we do--go somewhere else?" said Jack.
+
+"No, sir, that we won't," cried Ned fiercely.  "If that long eely thing
+chooses to play dog in the manger over the potatoes, it must take the
+consequences.  I'll soon finish him.  Think he's poisonous?"
+
+"I feel sure of it, Ned," said Jack anxiously.  "Look at the swollen
+poison glands."
+
+"That settles it.  Seems to me like a duty to kill poisonous things.  I
+know what it is to be poisoned, sir."
+
+He gave his shoulder a twist, and advanced toward the serpent with his
+spear-handle ready.
+
+"You keep back, sir, and let me have room to swing my spear round."
+
+"No; I want to kill this one, Ned."
+
+"Better not, sir.  It's risky.  You might miss."
+
+"You be ready to strike him if I do."
+
+"Very well then, sir; only be careful.  A good swish round will do it,
+but snakes are quick as lightning, and we've had trouble enough without
+you getting bitten."
+
+The snake rose higher, and prepared to strike as Jack advanced, holding
+his spear in both hands, and waiting his opportunity, he brought it
+round with all his force, but the end passed, through his miscalculation
+of the distance, a couple of inches short of the reptile's head, and
+before the lad could recover himself to make another blow, the creature
+struck back, and would have fastened upon him but for Ned's quick
+interposition of his own spear-handle, against which the serpent struck
+instead.
+
+The next moment Ned struck again, full on the creature's back, and it
+was helpless now for attack, writhing in amongst the growth till Jack
+obtained another fine cut at it, and the battle was at an end.
+
+Ned picked it, up upon the end of his spear.
+
+"They say that things are good if roasted, sir.  What do you say--shall
+we cook him?"
+
+"Ugh!  No.  Throw the horrible thing away."
+
+"Yes, sir; off it goes.  One wants another day's starving to eat roast
+snake."
+
+He sent the nearly dead creature whirling through the air with a sudden
+jerk of his spear-handle, and then turned to Jack.
+
+"Now, sir," he said, "as quick as you can, and then--"
+
+He did not finish his sentence, but threw himself upon his knees again.
+Jack followed his example, and for about ten minutes they busied
+themselves getting another load, and then ran to the fireside and
+emptied all they had into a heap.
+
+"Now then," cried Ned; "but be careful, sir; they'll be horribly hot."
+
+Jack said nothing, but looked on while his companion thrust the still
+burning wood aside with his spear, then swept off the thick bed of
+glowing embers, and lastly the hot sand, before turning the potatoes out
+into a heap on the other side, and spreading them to cool.
+
+"Let 'em be, sir, till we've charged the oven again," cried Ned, and the
+fight now was harder than ever as they began to throw the fresh batch
+into the hot pit.  But it was done, and the sand swept over them.  The
+glowing embers followed, the wood was piled on, to begin crackling and
+blazing, and then, and then only, did they fall to.
+
+Only a meal of little hot roasted potatoes, without butter, pepper, or
+salt, but no banquet of the choicest luxuries could have tasted half so
+good.  They were done to a turn, and though very small, of the most
+desirable flavour, and satisfying to a degree.
+
+"Try another, sir, try another," Ned kept on saying; but Jack needed no
+urging, and as he sat there eating one after another, the sun seemed to
+be less hot, the place around more beautiful, the shore less distant,
+and the possibility of their reaching the yacht that night more and more
+of a certainty.  But that certainty began to grow into doubt when, well
+satisfied by their meal, the pair lay back to rest a little before
+making a fresh start.
+
+"Must give the second batch time to get well done, sir, and to cool a
+bit, before we toddle, and then we ought to be on the look-out for
+water.  A good drink wouldn't come amiss."
+
+"No," replied Jack slowly; "but hadn't we better get some more wood to
+put on?  The fire's getting very low."
+
+"No, sir, it's just right.  There's a good heap of embers now, and by
+the time the wood's all burned the potatoes will be about done.  Think
+any one planted them here first?"
+
+"I should say they were planted by the captain who left the pigs."
+
+"Then I say he ought to have a monument, sir, for it was the finest
+thing he ever did in his life--much finer than anything I shall ever do.
+My, how different everything looks after you've had a good feed!"
+
+Jack made no reply to that, but said, a minute or so later--
+
+"Think the savages have seen our fire, Ned?"
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"'Sleep, Ned?" said Jack, looking toward him.
+
+There was still no reply.
+
+"Poor fellow!  Let him rest a bit," thought the boy; and then he began
+to think of what news it would be when he got back to the yacht, to
+announce that the arm was restored.  The yacht brought up the thought of
+sailing right away over the blue waters, gliding easily on, with the
+warm sun upon his cheek and the soft breeze fanning his brows, and Jack
+Meadows went on sailing away, but it was only in fancy, for he too,
+utterly worn out by the morning's exertions, was fast asleep, without a
+thought that danger might be near.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
+
+COOKERY UNDER QUEER CIRCUMSTANCES.
+
+"Ah-e!  Ah-e!  Ah-e!"
+
+A loud peculiar call, followed by a repetition from a distance, too long
+after to be a reverberation, though strange echoes had been heard from
+far up the mountain when a shot was fired well down in one or other of
+the ravines which scored the slopes of the volcano.
+
+There was a pause of a few minutes, another cry came again, and was
+answered or echoed.
+
+The first time it had no effect whatever upon Jack, who lay upon his
+back fast asleep, in the deep slumber which comes to the hungry after
+that hunger has been appeased.
+
+But there was the strange instinct of self-preservation awake in the
+lad, and that had started into watchfulness, though the body remained
+inert, and when the cry was repeated the body was warned, and Jack
+aroused into wakefulness, feeling, he knew not why, that something was
+wrong.
+
+It was close upon sunset, and the cap of the mountain glowed once more
+as if it had burst into eruption, but all was perfectly still save the
+whistling and shrieking of birds at a distance.
+
+He did not move, but turned his eyes toward where Ned lay snoring
+softly; then he cast his eyes toward the fire, which was apparently
+quite out, but the next moment the soft sea-breeze came with a gentle
+puff, and the embers glowed faintly, showing that with a little tending
+there was enough left to revive the blaze again.
+
+The silence in face of that wondrous glow overhead was oppressive, and
+the feeling of danger at hand seemed to grow, and then began to die out,
+for there was nothing visible, till all at once a peculiarity close up
+by the glowing wood ashes took the lad's attention, and then he
+shuddered slightly, for there, evidently attracted by the warmth, toward
+which they had crawled, were several snakes, with the possibility of
+there being more which he could not see.  For the most part they were
+small, but a part of the coil of one showed that its owner must be as
+thick as his arm, and beyond lay in a kind of double S one that was far
+larger.
+
+Then all at once there came the peculiar cry which had awakened him, and
+it had hardly died out when it was answered from the edge of the forest
+beyond the opening, at one side of which they lay.
+
+"All right, Mr Jack, sir," said Ned in a muttering, ill-used tone.
+"We'll toddle on now.  Needn't be so hard on a fellow.  Only just closed
+my eyes."
+
+Jack turned his head to the speaker, but Ned had not stirred, and after
+a momentary glance in the direction from which the call had come--
+evidently the ravine leading down to the sea--he rolled over three
+times, and brought himself close enough to touch his companion.  But in
+the act of turning he felt something move, there was a sharp struggling,
+and a snake glided from beneath him hissing angrily, and he turned cold
+at the thought that another of the dangerous creatures had been sleeping
+coiled up closely to him for warmth.
+
+Worse still, the hissing and rustling had startled those by the fire.
+Two malignant heads suddenly started up a few inches, and there was that
+peculiar gliding of coils in which the same serpent seems to be going in
+several directions at once.
+
+For a few minutes Jack lay perfectly still, feeling as if he were
+yielding to that peculiar fear which paralyses in the presence of a
+serpent.  But he closed his eyes, set his teeth hard, and remained
+motionless, mentally combating the sensation of horror and mastered it.
+While upon unclosing his eyes and looking in the direction of the fire,
+he saw that the coiling and uncoiling had ceased, and the raised heads
+had been lowered as if to resume the interrupted sleep.
+
+Jack felt that action was the best safeguard against the horrible,
+paralysing sensation, and softly passing his hand along till he could
+touch Ned's face, he tapped his cheek sharply.
+
+"Don't!"
+
+He tapped again.
+
+"I'm awake, I tell you.  Guv'nors' call?"
+
+"Ned!--Ned!"
+
+"Eh? yes!--all right.  That you, Mr Jack?"
+
+"Yes.  Hush!" whispered the lad.  "Don't move; don't raise a hand.
+Listen.  Are you quite awake?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  What's the matter?"
+
+"We're in danger, Ned."
+
+"Yes, sir, I knew that before I shut my eyes; but it was no use to
+holloa about it.  What is it now?"
+
+The call was repeated and answered before Jack spoke.
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it, sir?" said Ned quietly.  "Pretty creatures.
+After us again, eh?  Well, if we lie still they won't see us, and--yes--
+shadow's rising on the mountain, it will be dark directly.  All we've
+got to do is to make out which way they go, and then go the other, so
+the sooner they show the better for us--I mean before it gets dark.
+Such a stupid place too; there ain't no evening, it's dark directly."
+
+"There's more danger, Ned," whispered Jack.
+
+"Eh? what, ain't that enough, sir?  Well, what is it?"
+
+"Turn your head very gently, so that you can look at the fire."
+
+"Yes, sir.--Well, it's out."
+
+"Don't you see anything there?"
+
+"Whoo!" ejaculated the man in a tone full of horror, "snakes, hundreds
+of 'em!  Oh, we mustn't stand that, sir; they're waiting till it's cool
+enough, so as to get our 'taters."
+
+"Nonsense: after the warmth.  Now you see, Ned.  What's to be done?"
+
+The man was silent for a few moments.  Then softly--
+
+"This is nice, Mr Jack; we can't get up and run away because of the
+niggers, and we can't stop here because of the snakes.  Yes; what's to
+be done?"
+
+Jack was silent in turn for a few moments.
+
+"Let's crawl a little way off, Ned."
+
+Jack set the example, and it was very willingly followed, till they were
+a dozen yards farther from the fire; but before half the distance was
+covered, the shouting of the blacks was heard again.
+
+"I say, Mr Jack," whispered Ned, as they subsided, "you're a very
+clever fellow over your books."
+
+"Am I, Ned?" said Jack sadly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I've often heard the guv'nor and Doctor Instow say so.  Well
+then, there's me.  I'm sharp enough over my work--sort of handy chap."
+
+"Yes; but what's the good of talking about that now?"
+
+"I was only thinking, sir.  Here's you and me making no end of a fuss,
+and starving, and all the rest of it, and getting into a state o'
+melancholy, because we've lost our way, while these poor ignorant
+savages go about without any clothes, and regularly enjoy themselves in
+the same place."
+
+"Yes, Ned, they are a deal cleverer than we are after all."
+
+"That they ain't, sir.  We've only got to use our brains more, and we
+can beat 'em hollow.  I ain't going to dump it any more.  It's like
+saying a nigger's a better man than a white; and he ain't.  Now then, as
+the boy in the book I once read used to say, take it coolly, and let's
+see if we haven't got more brains than they have."
+
+"Very well, Ned; but now, if we don't mind, they'll kill us."
+
+"Then we will mind, sir.  I should like to catch 'em at it.  First thing
+is we must now be cool.  Well, we've got enough for to-morrow, only
+those snakes are watching it.  Well, while we're waiting for those
+niggers to go by, let's give the snakes notice to quit."
+
+"How?  Pelt 'em?"
+
+"There; look at him!" said Ned.  "Only wants a bit of thinking.  Come
+on, sir, we can do it as we lie here; they'll soon scatter."
+
+"But suppose they come this way?"
+
+"Throw at 'em again, sir.  Ready?"
+
+There were plenty of loose fragments of lava lying about in the sandy
+soil, stones which had doubtless been ejected by the volcano, to fall
+upon its slopes, and which had in course of time been washed lower and
+lower, and armed with these, they began to pelt the sides of the fire,
+the effect being wonderfully speedy.  As the first stones fell there was
+a strange rustling and hissing, heads were raised menacingly up, and as
+a second couple fell the reptiles began to move off rapidly.
+
+"Two biggest coming this way, Ned," said Jack excitedly, and gathering a
+half-dozen or so smaller stones in his right hand, he hurled them
+catapult fashion right at the advancing heads, with the result that the
+two reptiles turned sharply, and went off at full speed in beneath the
+abundant growth of plants, while at the end of a few minutes the
+missiles thrown in their track produced no effect.
+
+"That's done, sir," said Ned coolly, "and our to-morrow's dinner's safe,
+and it'll be very hard if I don't dodge something better to go with it.
+Hist! hear that!"
+
+The call had been uttered evidently much nearer, and Jack grasped his
+spear.
+
+"That's right, sir," whispered Ned, "but this is a big place, and it
+ain't likely that they'll come right over us.  Let's lie still and
+listen.  We can't see them, and they can't see us."
+
+At that moment Jack pinched the speaker's arm, and pointed over him.
+
+"Something to see that way?  All right, sir."
+
+He softly wrenched himself round, and gazed in the indicated direction,
+to see a black figure standing in bold relief against the orange slope
+of the mountain.  He was nearby a hundred feet higher than where they
+lay, having mounted upon a ridge which was probably one of the hardened
+lava-streams which had flowed down, and as they watched him, one by one
+seven more joined him.
+
+He stood looking round for a few moments, and then uttered the cry they
+had heard before, and turned to descend, making straight for the bend of
+the ravine which seemed to lead to the shore.
+
+The call was responded to, and a few minutes after another party came
+into sight away to the left, making apparently for the same place, and
+if they kept on, it was evident that they would pass about a hundred
+yards from Jack and his companion, so that their policy was to lie quite
+still.
+
+"Be too dark to see us in ten minutes, sir," whispered Ned.
+
+"Yes; and then we can't do better than make our way up that ridge till
+we come upon another valley running down to the shore."
+
+"That's the way, sir," said Ned.  "Only wants a little thinking about.
+A set o' naked niggers beat you at scheming?  Why, it ain't likely."
+
+But they had a scare a quarter of an hour later, the second party of
+blacks coming into sight suddenly, not twenty yards away, tramping in
+Indian file, with their spears over their shoulders, and for the moment
+Jack's heart seemed to stand still, and he grasped his weapon, ready to
+make one blow for his life.
+
+For it seemed impossible that the men could pass by--men of such a keen,
+observant nature--without seeing the pair lying there amongst the
+trailing growth of the potatoes.
+
+Worse still, they came nearer, so as to avoid a block of stone in their
+way, and one of the number leaped upon it, and after a look round,
+uttered the call of his tribe, just as one of a flock of running birds
+does to keep the rest together.
+
+"Now for it," thought Jack, as the black looked straight in his
+direction, and he prepared to spring up as the man leaped down, and
+seemed about to run at him, spear in hand.
+
+But just when an encounter for life or death seemed inevitable, the
+savage trotted on, and the others followed, seeming to grow shorter,
+till one by one they disappeared, shoulders, heads, tops of the spears,
+dissolving into the coming gloom of evening.
+
+"Oh, scissors!" whispered Ned.  "I say, Mr Jack, sir, if I'd held my
+breath much longer, I'm sure all the works would have stopped."
+
+"I thought it was all over, Ned."
+
+"Yes, sir, so did I; but I meant to have a dig at one or two of 'em
+first.  Talk about as near as a toucher, that was nearer.  How do you
+feel now?"
+
+"Heart beats horribly."
+
+"So does mine, sir.  It's going like a steam-pump with too much to do.
+But who's afraid?"
+
+"I am, Ned."
+
+"That you are not, sir.  I'm just the same as you, but it's only
+excitement, and what any one would feel.  Now then they've gone down and
+blocked our road, so we must go up another way.  Just give 'em another
+five minutes, and then we'll go and get our 'taters."
+
+The ashes were soon being raked aside, and the invaluable potatoes about
+to be uncovered, when Ned sniffed.
+
+"I say, Mr Jack, sir, they smell good."
+
+"Why, what's that, Ned?" cried Jack, pointing through the gloom at
+something long and stiff curled up into a knot.
+
+"That, sir?  Well, I am stunned.  Why, it's one of they snakes, sir, got
+closer in to get warm, and he overdid it.  He's cooked; and just you
+smell, sir."
+
+"Ugh! throw it away."
+
+"But it smells 'licious, sir.  It does really."
+
+"It makes me feel sick, Ned--the idea's horrible.  Why it will have
+spoiled all the potatoes."
+
+"Don't make me feel sick, sir; makes me feel hungry.  You've no idea how
+good it smells."
+
+"What! a horrible reptile?"
+
+"So's a turtle, sir; and you won't say turtle-soup isn't good."
+
+"But a snake, and perhaps poisonous, Ned?"
+
+"We shouldn't eat his head, sir.  Don't see why you might not just as
+well eat a snake as an eel, sir."
+
+"Throw it away!" cried Jack sharply.
+
+"All right, sir, you're master.--Good-bye, good victuals!"  Ned added in
+an undertone.--"Won't have hurt the taters, sir, there was all this
+thick layer of ashes between."
+
+"Are they burnt up?"
+
+"No, sir, just right, and floury as can be.  Look at that."
+
+It was getting too dark to see much; but Jack made out that the little
+round vegetable was all floury where it was broken.
+
+The whole cooking was raked out, the ashes scattered away, and Ned
+proceeded to take out his knife and hand it to his young master, with
+instructions to cut out his shirt-sleeves just at the shoulder.
+
+"I shall be warm enough without them, sir," he said.  "There: now we'll
+just tie up the ends, and here we have a good bag apiece to carry the
+taters in.  Nothing like having a bit of string in your pocket, sir.  I
+wonder whether Robinson Crusoe had a bit o' string when he was wrecked;
+I 'spose he would have, because he could have twisted up a bit out of
+the old ropes.  It's always useful, sir.  There you are, now.  I'll tie
+the bags together, and swing 'em over my shoulder, one on each side."
+
+"I'll carry one."
+
+"You shall have 'em both, sir, when I'm tired and want a bit of a rest.
+Now then, ready, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then shoulder arms: march!"  They made for the ridge of lava, climbed
+upon it without much difficulty, and began to ascend the gradual slope
+it formed, till they were shut in by the trees rising on either side,
+when the darkness became so intense that their progress was very slow,
+and they had to depend a good deal upon their spears used as
+alpenstocks.  But one great need urged them on, and it chased away the
+thoughts of pursuit, and of the risks they were running.  This need
+acted as a spur, which kept them crawling up the solidified river for
+fully a couple of hours, which were diversified by slips and falls more
+or less serious.
+
+At last, as the lava flood took a bend round toward the north, they
+became aware of a bright glow high above their heads, where the summit
+of the volcano must be, and after a remark from Ned that it looked as if
+a bit of the sunset was still there, Jack grasped its meaning.
+
+"It's the reflection of the fire that must be burning up at the top of
+the mountain."
+
+"Think so, sir?  Well, I suppose it's too far off to hurt us.  That's
+miles away."
+
+"Yes; but we are walking on one of the rivers which ran down, and these
+stones we keep kicking against were once thrown out."
+
+"Ah, you've read a lot about such things, sir; I haven't.  Then you say
+it's all fire up there?"
+
+"Yes, Ned; look, it's getting brighter."
+
+"Then what's the good of our expecting to find water?"
+
+"Because so many springs rise in mountains, and so much water condenses
+there.  Hark! what's that?"
+
+Ned listened.
+
+"Can't hear anything, sir."
+
+"Not that?" cried Jack, whose senses seemed to be sharpened by his
+needs.
+
+"No, sir, nothing at all."
+
+Jack made no remark, but pressed on with more spirit than he had before
+displayed.  Then he stopped short in the darkest part they had
+encountered, a place where the trees encroached so much from the forest
+on either side that they seemed to be completely shut in.
+
+"Now can you hear it, Ned?" cried the boy triumphantly.
+
+"Yes, sir, I can hear it now--water, and a lot of it falling down the
+rocks.  It must be there just below."
+
+Ten minutes after they had lowered themselves down amongst the trees, to
+where in the darkness they could lie flat at the edge of a rocky basin,
+scooping cool, sweet water with one hand, and drinking with a sense of
+satisfaction and delight such as they had never experienced before.
+
+"There, Mr Jack," said Ned joyously, "I don't know what you think, but
+I say that it's worth going through all the trouble we've had for a
+drink like that.  Here goes again."
+
+He bent down over the stone basin, scooping up the water with his hand.
+
+"Have another, Mr Jack, sir," he cried.  "That first one was nothing.
+It's coming down over the fall sweeter and fresher than ever."
+
+Jack, nothing loth, went on drinking again, but in a more leisurely
+manner.
+
+"That's it, sir; have a good one.  We shall be wanting it to-morrow,
+when perhaps we can't get any.  Fellow ought to be a camel in a place
+like this, and able to drink enough to last him a week.  Go on, sir; I
+feel as if it's trickling into all kinds of little holes and corners
+that had got dried-up.  Think it goes into your veins, because I'm
+getting cosy now, right to the tips of my toes, where I was all hard and
+dry."
+
+"I've had enough now, Ned," said Jack with a sigh, as if he were sorry
+to make the announcement.
+
+"Don't say that, sir.  We've got no bottles, so we must take what we
+want inside.  Have another drink, sir, so as to get yourself well
+soaked, then you'll be able to stand a lot.  I didn't like to howl about
+it, so as to put you out of heart when you were as bad as me; but my
+mouth was all furred inside like a tea-kettle, and as for my throat, it
+was just as if it was growing up, and all hard and dry."
+
+"That was just as I felt, Ned."
+
+"I thought so, sir.  Hah!" with a loud smack of the lips.  "I've tasted
+almost every kind of wine, sir, from ginger up to champagne, and I've
+drunk tea and coffee, and beer, and curds and whey, thin gruel, and
+cider, and perry, but the whole lot ain't worth a snap compared to a
+drink of water like this; only," he added with a laugh, "you want to be
+thirsty as we were first.  Done, sir?"
+
+"Yes, quite, Ned."
+
+"Then I tell you what, Mr Jack, sir; we'll try and hunt out a snug
+place somewhere close handy and have a good sleep."
+
+"I don't feel sleepy, Ned.  I want to get back and end my father's
+terrible suspense."
+
+"So do I, sir; but I put it to you--can we do anything in the dark
+to-night?"
+
+"No.  There is only the satisfaction of trying."
+
+"Yes, sir; but you have to pay a lot for it.  Say we try for home now--
+that's all we can do,--shan't we be less fit to-morrow?"
+
+"I'm afraid so."
+
+"Very well then, sir; it's a lovely night, let's have a good sleep.
+Then as soon as it's light we'll set to work and eat one of these
+sleeves of potatoes, come down here again, and take in water enough to
+last us for the day, or till we find some more, and try all we can to
+get down to the shore somehow or another.  By this time to-morrow night,
+if I don't find some way of showing that a white man can manage to live
+where a black can, my name's not what it is."
+
+It was rough work searching for a resting-place, and the best they could
+find was upon some rough, shrubby growth, not unlike heather, in a
+recess among several mighty blocks of stone.  But if it had been a
+spring bed, with the finest of linen, they could not have slept better,
+or awoke more refreshed, when the forest was being made melodious by the
+songs of birds.  The mountain top was beginning to glow, and just below
+there came the soft tinkling splash of the falling water.
+
+"Morning, sir," cried Ned, springing up.  "Your shower-bath's waiting,
+sir.  Come along, sir.  Do us no end of good to have a dip.  We shall
+take in a lot of water that way, and get rid of the dust that choked us
+yesterday."
+
+Jack needed no farther invitation, and upon descending the sides of the
+stone river, there was the natural bath ready to send a thrill of
+strength through them, for the rivulet came down in a series of little
+falls each having its well-filled basin.
+
+There was the drawback that there were no towels to use, and Jack said
+so.
+
+"What, sir?" cried his man.  "You don't mean to say that you would have
+used a towel if you had had one!"
+
+"Why, of course.  Why not?"
+
+"Been waste of so much water.  Let it soak in gradual, sir.  You'll want
+every drop by and by.  You wait till we get out in the sun.  Just think
+of how we were yesterday."
+
+Ten minutes after they were seated beneath a tree, discussing their
+potatoes, eating away with a glorious appetite till about half of one
+sleeve-full had been demolished, when Jack cried, "Hold!"
+
+"Why, you ain't had enough yet, sir?"
+
+"No, but we will keep these till by and by when we are hungry again."
+
+"But I'm hungry now, sir," cried Ned; "and they'll be so much easier to
+carry after we've eat 'em--we shall have got rid of the skins."
+
+"Never mind, don't let's be improvident."
+
+"But I'm pretty sure to spear or shoot a pig to-day for supper, sir."
+
+"Then the potatoes will come in all the more useful as we have no
+bread," said Jack, smiling.  "Let's go now, and climb to that little
+basin, to have a good draught of water."
+
+"All right, sir; what you say's best, but it's hard work leaving those
+beautiful little 'taters.  They make you feel as if you could go on
+browsing like all day long."
+
+But the rest were carefully tied up in the sleeve, a good hearty draught
+of the cool refreshing water taken, and they descended once more to the
+natural road.
+
+"The breakfast makes one feel different, Ned.  I am not nearly so
+low-spirited this morning."
+
+"Low-spirited, sir?  Why, I could run and shout _Hooray_, I feel so
+well.  Look at that arm, sir!  Who's going to feel mis'rable when he's
+got his strength back like that.  Ready, sir?"
+
+"Ready?  Yes," cried Jack.  "Now then, we must make up our minds to get
+back to the yacht to-day."
+
+"That's it, sir; but if you see me run mad-like, and go off with my
+spear, you come and help me, for it means pig."
+
+They started once more, following the course of the lava-stream, with
+its steady ascent, and at every turn Jack looked back longingly, feeling
+as he did that they were going away, but knowing that the longest might
+prove in the end the shortest road.  They kept on, waiting for the time
+when they found that the great flow of fiery molten stone had
+encountered an inequality which had made it divide into two streams, the
+further of which might lead them down to the sands somewhere far from
+the yacht.
+
+But mid-day with its burning sun had come, and the intense heat
+compelled them to stop and rest beneath a clump of trees, which struck
+them both as being more dwarfed in appearance, though their growth was
+luxuriant and beautiful.  The forest, too, had become more open, there
+were glades here and there, and it was possible, if they had been so
+disposed, to have left the stony road and threaded their way among the
+bushes.
+
+"Why, if we are forced to keep on like this much longer, Ned, we shall
+reach the crater."
+
+"Well, why not do it, sir?  Once up there we can look all over the
+island, and choose our way down straight to the yacht."
+
+"I should like to do it now we are so high," said Jack; "but we must
+only think of getting back."
+
+"And getting our suppers, sir," whispered Ned, as he pointed toward a
+rocky ridge high up above the lava-stream to the left, where seen
+against the sky-line, as they browsed on the herbage among the rocks,
+there was a group of about half-a-dozen goats, two of which were
+evidently kids, while one was a patriarch with enormous curved horns.
+
+"Now, Mr Jack," whispered Ned; "we had some practice with our bows and
+arrows yesterday; this time we must do it at any cost."
+
+"Yes, Ned," whispered back the lad excitedly.  "It may mean the strength
+to escape."
+
+The next minute, bow and arrow in one hand, spear in the other, they
+were carefully stalking the herd by creeping upward among the trees and
+blocks of tumbled-together volcanic stone, which gave them the
+opportunity of climbing up within easy shot unseen.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
+
+IN SPITE OF ALL.
+
+They were too close to the goats to venture upon much whispering, and
+the decision was soon arrived at that they were to divide, and each make
+the best of his way up the ridge till there was an opportunity for a
+close easy shot; then without waiting that shot was to be sent whizzing
+from the bow, the probability being that as there was no report, the
+goats would not be much alarmed, and another chance might be afforded.
+
+"Think we must have one this time, Mr Jack," whispered Ned, and they
+started from behind the great block which now sheltered them, each
+taking his own side.
+
+From that moment Jack had no eyes for his companion, his attention was
+centred upon the great father of the herd, to the left of which the two
+half-grown kids were browsing upon the tender young shoots of the
+bush-like growth.
+
+It was nervous work, for every now and then the old goat raised his head
+on high to take a long careful look round, and when he did, Jack
+remained motionless where he had crawled.  Directly he saw the tips of
+the horns lowered he began to creep again, taking advantage of every
+tree-trunk, stone, or bush, and always getting nearer, though still far
+too distant to risk a shot.  His hands trembled and were wet with
+perspiration, and again and again he felt that he must be seen, and
+expected to hear the beating of the animals' hoofs as they dashed off,
+but the great curved horns, sweeping back like those of an ibex, were
+still visible, and he crawled slowly on, forgetting all about Ned and
+his progress.
+
+At last, after many minutes devoted to the struggle upward, he reached a
+spot sufficiently elevated to give him a view of the volcano whose
+crater rose above the ridge, and forming; a background for the big goat,
+which stood out plainly about forty yards away even now, and offering
+itself for a shot, easy enough with a rifle, but very doubtful with a
+bow and arrow.  The lad was in a capital position, but unfortunately the
+slope beyond offered no cover, and to have moved from it meant to be
+seen at once, while, more unfortunately still, the two kids, which
+should have shown themselves nearer, were now completely hidden by a
+clump of dense growth twenty yards from where he lay.
+
+"If I could only have got there," thought Jack, "how easy it would be."
+But to have moved would have been to send the whole herd careering away,
+and all he could do was to wait and see if the kids would at last come
+from behind the shrubs.
+
+"They may come nearer," he thought, and he softly fitted an arrow to the
+bowstring, and waited for his opportunity, for he could do no more.
+
+There he rested, bow and arrow held ready, in a very awkward position
+for shooting, but he dared not move, for at the slightest movement even
+of his companions, the goat raised his head, and several times gave an
+angry stamp with one of his fore-feet.
+
+"I wonder where Ned is now," thought the boy, and he hoped that he was
+having better fortune, and he glanced cautiously in the direction where
+he must be, but all was still; butterflies were flitting about, birds
+darted by, and the old goat, the only one of the herd now visible, still
+browsed or watched.
+
+Jack glanced away to his left to see if he could take and creep round to
+a better position, but there was less cover than where he was; and after
+waiting impatiently for what seemed to be over a quarter of an hour, the
+lad determined to risk all, and creep to the clump in front, if only a
+few inches at a time, bearing to his left in the hope of getting it
+between him and the old goat, and bearing still more off till he could
+get his shot at the young.
+
+All at once, in the midst of the soft hum of insects and the cropping
+sound made by the invisible goats, Jack heard a peculiar bleating noise
+away to his right.
+
+Jack looked quickly round, expecting to see an easy shot, and the big
+goat looked too, and took a step or two forward.  Then the bleating
+began again and ended suddenly in a peculiar smothered way, as if the
+creature which uttered it had been suddenly strangled.
+
+The big goat looked puzzled, raised his head higher, and stared in the
+direction of the sound, stamped angrily, and uttered an angry, defiant
+_ba-a-a-a-a_!
+
+At the cry Jack's heart leaped, for a kid that he had not previously
+seen sprang into sight, and stood within thirty yards of the watcher,
+side on, offering an easy shot, while the rest of the herd trotted
+hurriedly up to their leader.
+
+_Twang_!  Jack's arrow had sped after he had drawn it to the head, and
+as he was in the act of springing up to see if the shaft had taken
+effect, something heavy pitched on to his shoulders, throwing him face
+forward among the thick growth, and a pair of black hands clasped his
+neck and throat.
+
+It was all done so suddenly that he was half stunned.  The stalker had
+been stalked, and as he was twisted round by the man who had leaped upon
+him, and who now sat upon his chest, half-a-dozen more black faces
+appeared, their owners grinning with triumph.  Jack yelled with all his
+might--
+
+"Run for it, Ned.  Savages.  Run!"
+
+The warning was all in vain, for the next minute four more blacks
+appeared, dragging the man after them bound hand and foot, and looking
+purple in the face, and scratched as if he had been engaged in a severe
+struggle.
+
+"There you are, Mr Jack," he panted.  "They've 'most killed me.  Jumped
+upon me just as I had a splendid chance.  On my back.  Five to one, the
+cowards.  And then they come behind you, and can't hit fair.  Are you
+hurt?"
+
+"Not much.  Oh, Ned, and I thought we had got away from them."
+
+"Yes, but they must have been on the look-out, sir."
+
+The blacks were standing round them, spear in hand, ready to strike if
+an attempt was made to escape, and Jack said so.
+
+"Oh yes, sir, they'd let go at us if we tried to run, but it's of no use
+to do that, for they'd bring us down at once.  There, we may as well
+look it straight in the face and make the best of it."
+
+"We can't, Ned," said Jack dismally; "there is no best to it.  I only
+wish I knew what they were going to do with us.  Only fancy, after us
+taking all that trouble to get away!"
+
+The bewailings were brought to an end by a stalwart black clapping him
+on the shoulder and saying something as he pointed over the ridge.
+
+"Ugh! you ugly, mop-headed Day and Martin dummy," cried Ned.  "If I
+hadn't a better language than that I'd hold my tongue.  No use to kick,
+Mr Jack; suppose we must go on."
+
+Jack was already stepping forward, urged by another powerfully-built
+fellow, who showed his teeth and pricked him forward with the point of
+the spear he carried.
+
+It was a blunt, clumsy weapon, the point being merely the wood of which
+it was formed, hardened by thrusting in the fire, but the hand which
+held it was powerful, and the prod received severe, though the skin was
+not pierced.  Jack uttered no cry, neither did he shrink, but turned
+round so fiercely upon the black that the fellow started back.
+
+"Well done, Mr Jack, sir," cried Ned excitedly; "that did me good.  I
+like that, sir.  Let 'em see that you're Briton to the backbone, and
+though they've tied me up again with these bits of cane, Britons never
+shall be slaves.  Here, ugly: come and stand in front and I'll kick
+you."
+
+It was waste of words, but the blacks understood that it was meant
+defiantly, and they lowered their spears and signed to their prisoners
+to go on.
+
+"Oh yes," cried Ned proudly, "we'll go on.  Can't help ourselves, can
+we, Mr Jack?  But don't be down-hearted, sir.  They haven't killed us,
+and perhaps after all they may take us where we want to go down to the
+shore."
+
+But as they tramped on, with one of their captors leading the way, and
+the rest behind, keeping an eye upon the cane bonds which now held both
+prisoners' wrists behind, their way proved to be diagonally up the slope
+of the volcano, and the tramp was kept up for hours beneath the broiling
+heat of the sun, while it seemed to Jack that every now and then hot
+sulphurous puffs of wind escaped from the stony ground over which they
+passed.  The trees grew rapidly fewer and less in size, till there were
+only scattered bushes, and higher still these were dwarfed into wiry
+grasses and tufts of a heather-like growth, with lichens and dried-up
+mosses.
+
+"Try and hold up, Mr Jack sir, they must halt soon to eat and drink.
+My word, if we weren't prisoners, I'd say what a view we get from up
+here.  See anything of the yacht?"
+
+"No, Ned; she's inside the reef, and we can't see that."
+
+"No, sir, you're right.  `Britons never shall be slaves,' but all the
+same I feel just as if I was being driven to market.  That's it, they're
+taking us somewhere to sell us, I know; wonder how many cocoanuts we
+shall fetch, or p'r'aps it'll be shells.  Thirsty, sir?"
+
+"I don't know, Ned, I haven't thought about it.  I suppose I am, and
+hungry and very tired; but I've been thinking about whether we shall
+ever see the yacht again."
+
+"Oh yes, sir.  Never say die.  Life's all ups and downs.  Sir John ain't
+forsaking us, you may be sure, and any moment we may see him and a lot
+of our jolly Jack Tars coming round the corner, and the doctor with 'em,
+ready to give these black brutes a dose of leaden pills.  Ah! and
+they'll have to take 'em too, whether they like 'em or no.  Don't you be
+down."
+
+"I'm not, Ned.  I keep trying to think that it's all adventure and
+experience."
+
+"That's it, sir.  Do to talk about when we get back to old England."
+
+Twice over, as the diagonal ascent grew steeper, the blacks halted for
+about half-an-hour, and the prisoners were glad to lie down in the
+shelter of one of the lava blocks with which the slope was strewn, the
+cool air which came from the sea being fresh and invigorating; and the
+second time Ned suddenly exclaimed--
+
+"Not going to take us up to the top, are they, and pitch us into the
+fire?"
+
+"Not likely, Ned," replied Jack; "but we little expected to make the
+ascent like this."
+
+"With our hands tied behind us, sir."
+
+"I believe they are going this way so as to avoid the forest, and as
+soon as we get a little farther round they will begin to descend on the
+other side."
+
+Jack's idea proved to be correct, for upon reaching a spot where nothing
+but a friable slope of fine ashes kept them from the summit, the leader
+suddenly leaped down into a hollow which was scored into the mountain
+side, and began to descend, followed by the rest.
+
+"Due west," said Jack thoughtfully.  "Why, Ned, we shall reach the shore
+far from where we left the yacht."
+
+"If it goes straight down, sir; but is it west?"
+
+"Yes, we are going straight for the sun now, and this gash in the
+mountain grows deeper.  Look."
+
+"Yes, that's right, sir; but I do wish we could get to some water now.
+It's a dry journey from here to the shore, and you're beginning to be
+done up."
+
+"Yes, Ned," said Jack wearily; "I am beginning to be done up now."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
+
+RUNNING THE REEF.
+
+The whole of that journey down the rugged gash in the mountain side was
+a prolonged agony to Jack, but he fought like a hero to keep his feet,
+and at last, satisfied that he could not escape, the man who had
+surprised him and treated him as his own prize caught him by the
+shoulder as he was tottering down the descent, with the stones every
+here and there giving way beneath his feet, and about to fall heavily.
+The next minute his numbed and swollen hands were set at liberty, so
+that he could better preserve his balance, and the first use he made of
+them was to point to Ned's bonds, with the result that the man's captor
+entered into a short colloquy with Jack's; and the savage fitted an
+arrow to his bow and took aim, half drawing the arrow to the head, while
+he jabbered away and scowled menacingly, showing his white teeth the
+while.
+
+"What does he mean by that, Mr Jack? going to shoot me--a coward?"
+
+"No, no; he means he will untie your hands, but that if you attempt to
+escape an arrow will go faster than you can run, and he will bring you
+down."
+
+"And very kind of him too, sir.  But I shan't run away without you, sir.
+Here, undo 'em then, blackie."
+
+He bent forward so as to raise his tied hands, and the black began to
+unfasten the cane.
+
+"I always knew you were a big scholar, Mr Jack, sir," continued Ned,
+"but I didn't think you were up to this jibber-jabber.--Thankye, old
+chap.  Nice state you've got my hands in though.  Why, I don't believe
+the size gloves I should want are made.  Look, Mr Jack, about
+four-and-twenty they'd take, wouldn't they?  How's yours?"
+
+"They ache horribly, Ned."
+
+"Oh, mine don't.  I shouldn't know I'd got any if I couldn't see 'em.
+Plain enough though, ain't they?"
+
+Ned had no time to say more, for his captor urged him on.
+
+"Just like driving a donkey, sir, ain't it?--All right, blackie, I'll
+go."
+
+The party descended as rapidly as they could till just after the great
+orange sun had descended over the rim of the sea, and then, as if
+perfectly familiar with the place, they turned suddenly off to the left,
+down a second ravine much steeper than the larger one they had left, and
+after going down about a quarter of a mile to where dwarf trees were
+beginning to grow thickly again, they stopped short in a natural shelter
+close by a rock pool, into which a clear thread of water trickled.
+
+Jack's captor pointed to the pool, and the lad lay down and drank
+deeply, Ned following his example without orders, and upon being
+satisfied they rose, to find the men busily preparing a fire.--Then one
+of the party rubbed a couple of pieces of wood together till the
+friction produced sparks, which began to glow in the wood dust fanned by
+the fire-maker's breath, and soon after the fire was burning merrily.
+
+Jack did not see it dug out, but a quantity of closely-packed green
+leaves were lying about, and a rough hollow was close at hand where it
+had evidently been buried--_it_ proving to be the hind-quarters of a
+small pig, which as the fire burned up well was put to roast, and soon
+began to send out a pleasant odour.
+
+The prisoners had taken the place pointed out to them, and found that
+they were well guarded, Ned drawing Jack's attention to this fact.
+
+"And that means, sir," he said, "that it's of no use to try and run
+unless they go sound off to sleep again as soon as they've had a feast.
+We might perhaps steal off then, but not if we're watched.  I don't want
+any more arrows in me, and I'm sure you feel the same.  I say, sir, I
+hope they mean to ask us to dinner.  Only fancy niggers dining at
+quality hours in black soots!"
+
+"Don't talk about eating, Ned; the idea makes me feel sick."
+
+"Fight it down then, sir.  You must eat, or you can't try to get away,
+and if you can't try to get away, I can't."
+
+"I'll try, Ned," said Jack abruptly.
+
+"That's right, sir; only let's wait and see if they give us any first.
+Shame on 'em if they don't."
+
+The pig extracted from the blacks' hiding-place began to smell tempting
+enough to excite any one's appetite, and as a good-sized piece was
+handed to each by their captors--
+
+"Don't mean to kill us yet, Mr Jack," said Ned merrily.  "Hope they
+don't mean any of that nonsense later on."
+
+But Jack was too weary and low-spirited to reply to his companion's
+jokes, and he lay back after a time, watching the soft glow over the
+volcano far above their heads, then the brilliant stars, which looked
+larger than at home, and glided suddenly into a deep sleep, from which
+he was awakened by a rough prod from the butt end of a spear.
+
+The lad flushed angrily, but tried to curb his resentment, and turned
+away as he rose, to find Ned standing watching him in the early morning
+light.
+
+"Never mind, Mr Jack," he said softly.  "It's hard to bear; but this
+isn't the time to show fight.  That black brute kicked me to wake me,
+and it made me as savage as a bear.  If he'd had boots on I should have
+hit him, I know I should, I couldn't have helped it even if he'd killed
+me for it; but then you see he hadn't boots on, though the sole of his
+foot's almost like hoof."
+
+"They're going on directly, Ned."
+
+"Are they, sir?  Well, I must have a drink of water first."
+
+He took a step toward the pool; but a spear was presented at his breast,
+and it was not until Jack had made a sign of drinking that they were
+allowed to bend down over it.
+
+Directly after they started back up the side gorge to where it joined
+the greater, and then began to descend again by what proved to be a very
+precipitous but direct way down toward the sea, water soon after making
+its appearance in a mere thread, which suddenly leaped down from a crack
+in the side and found its way to the bottom: while as they were hurried
+on by their more nimble captors, the stream kept on increasing in volume
+by the help of the many tiny tributaries which joined it.
+
+Under different auspices the walk would have been glorious.  Sir John
+and the doctor would have found it one grand preserve for birds and
+insects; but the prisoners had hard work to keep up with their
+sure-footed captors, and any hesitation on arriving at a difficult bit
+of the descent was looked upon as an attempt to escape.
+
+The blacks were evidently quite at home in this one of the many ravines
+which carried the water condensed upon the mountain down to the sea, and
+consequently made pretty good speed; but this came hard upon their
+prisoners, who occupied so much time in descending the worst parts that
+they became at last menacing, and Jack trembled for the consequences of
+Ned retaliating with a blow.
+
+"It would do no good, Ned," he said earnestly.  "But it makes us seem so
+cowardly to let them poke at us with their spears, sir, and never do
+anything."
+
+"Never mind how it seems, Ned.  You are not cowardly."
+
+"Well, I'd punch any fellow's head who said I was, sir, or who said the
+same about you."
+
+"They can't say it so that we can understand, and let them think what
+they like.  We'd fight if there was anything to be got by it; but there
+isn't, Ned.  Let's pretend to be beaten now, and then they will not be
+so watchful.  To-night they will sleep somewhere down near the shore,
+and we may get a chance to escape."
+
+"Then I'm not to hit out, no matter what they do to me?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"But suppose I see 'em hitting or prodding you, sir?  Must do something
+then."
+
+"Nothing whatever, Ned; I'll bear it patiently in the hope of getting a
+chance to escape later on."
+
+"All right, sir; but I'm getting very hungry for a bit of revenge."
+
+"Wait, Ned, and perhaps it will come."
+
+The difficulties of the descent detained them so that it was fast
+nearing sunset when the ravine began to widen out and pass beneath the
+branches of the huge forest monarchs which clothed the lower slopes of
+the mountain, and wearied out with the day's exertion, Jack began to
+look out eagerly for the green, park-like expanse which followed the
+dense jungle, to be succeeded in turn by the sands that ran down into
+the lagoon.
+
+The more open part appeared sooner than he expected, and with it the
+river widened into a good-sized pool of open water, where, to the
+prisoners' surprise, they suddenly found themselves face to face with
+another party of blacks, who welcomed the new-comers with an eager
+jabbering as they closed round and examined their captives curiously.
+
+"Our chance of escape cut shorter, Mr Jack," said Ned.
+
+"Yes, I'm afraid so, Ned.  They must have been camping here; and I
+suppose we shall have to stop in this place for the night?"
+
+"Dunno.  P'r'aps," said Ned.  "See that, Mr Jack?"
+
+He glanced down beneath the trees, where the water lay dark and deep;
+but for a few moments Jack saw nothing unusual.  The next moment though
+he uttered a little cry of surprise.
+
+"Yes," he said, "I see it now, the boat--drawn right up beneath the
+boughs."
+
+It was impossible to comprehend the words of the reunited parties of the
+blacks, but easy to grasp the meaning of their gestures, and as Jack's
+attention was caught by the eager conversation going on, he pretty well
+saw that those who had been waiting had seen danger, for they kept on
+pointing and making other signs, the end being that the prisoners were
+hurried down to the edge of the water, and pushed toward the great
+canoe.
+
+"All right!" cried Ned angrily.  "I ain't a sack of oats: I can get in.
+Don't chuck a fellow into the tub."
+
+Expostulation was useless, and the two were thrust down in the bottom;
+the blacks hurried in and took their places, each man seizing his
+paddle, and in perfect silence they began to dip their blades into the
+smooth water, the huge canoe began to move very slowly, and then by
+degrees faster, the men paddling almost without a splash.
+
+"The _Star_ must be pretty close at hand, Mr Jack," said Ned, as they
+glided at last out of the little dark river into the bright, golden
+waters of the lagoon, "and they know it; that's how I take all their
+play-acting jigging about to mean."
+
+"Yes, Ned, that's it.  Oh, if we could only see her, or one of the
+boats!  Which way are they going?"
+
+"Well, Mr Jack," said Ned grimly, "I don't like to tell you; but it
+seems to me that we're off on a voyage to nigger-land, and yet the
+newspapers say that slavery's nearly done away with now."
+
+"Slavery?" said Jack, and his heart sank within him.  "Oh, Ned, that
+would be awful."
+
+"Better than being made beef and mutton of, Mr Jack.  But don't you be
+down-hearted; p'r'aps we may be together after all, and if we are, there
+ain't nothing I won't do to make it easier for you, sir, and we'll cut
+and run, as the sailors say, some day.  Ups and downs in life we see;
+right-tooral-looral-looral-lee.  There's only heads and tails to a
+penny, and if you spin it up in the air, it sometimes comes down one
+side, and sometimes the other.  Well, it's come down wrong way for us
+this time, next time p'r'aps it may come down right.  If it don't, well,
+you've got too much pluck in you to howl about it: so have I.  Here, I
+don't care; let's look at the bright side of things."
+
+"Oh, Ned, how can we at a time like this?" groaned Jack.
+
+"Easy, sir.  It's all adventures, and it might be a jolly deal worse."
+
+"How?"
+
+"Why, this might be a poor old leaky canoe as wasn't safe, and all the
+time it's a fizzer.  See how it goes.  Then we might have had a shabby,
+common-looking crew; but I will say it for them, spite of all the love I
+don't bear for 'em, they're the blackest and shiniest set of fellows I
+ever did see.  Look at their backs in the warm light; why, you might see
+to shave in 'em--well, I might; you're lucky enough not to have any
+beard yet."
+
+"It don't seem as if I shall live to have one, Ned."
+
+"Tchah! nonsense.  You'll live to a hundred now.  This voyage has made a
+man of you, my lad.  All you've got to do is to keep up your pluck.  I
+say, look at 'em, Mr Jack; they paddle splendid.  Talk about our
+boat-races; why look here, I'd back these chaps.  What's that old song?
+You know; voices keep toon and our oars keep time--only it's paddles.
+Row, brothers, row.  Keep it up, niggers.  Slaves indeed! why they're
+the slaves, not us; we're sitting here as jolly as two lords in a
+'lectric launch, going down to Richmond to eat whitebait and drink
+champagne.  Let's see though, I don't mean Richmond, I mean Blackwall.
+Let's think we've got a crew of blacks taking us to Blackwall."
+
+"Why, Ned!" cried Jack excitedly, "they're paddling straight across the
+lagoon for the reef."
+
+"That's right, Mr Jack; so they are," said Ned recklessly.  "Hooray!
+who cares!  Go it, you black beggars.  I say, Mr Jack, sir, look; did
+you ever see such lovely heads of hair?  They'd make splendid
+grenadiers, and be an advantage to Government to 'list a lot of 'em.
+They'd come so cheap.  They wouldn't want any clothes, and there they
+are with their busbies a-growing already on their heads.  Might call 'em
+the Blackguards, and that's what they are."
+
+"But, Ned, this long low canoe can never weather the waves on the reef."
+
+"It can, sir, or they wouldn't go for it.  Tend upon it they know a
+place where they can get over, and that's how they came.  What do it
+matter to them if she fills with water? they only pop out over both
+sides, and hold on and slop it out again, and then jump in.  Water runs
+off them like it does off ducks' backs.  I believe they oil themselves
+all over instead of using a bit of honest soap.  Don't matter though;
+the dirt can't show.  My word, we are going it.  Straight for the reef."
+
+Ned was right; the long canoe with its fifty men paddling glided over
+the calm lagoon straight for where the great billows came curving over
+on to the coral reef with a deep boom, and it was now not above a
+quarter of a mile away.
+
+"Take tightly hold of the side, Ned," said Jack excitedly.  "You are
+right, they will manage it, I suppose, or they would not attempt it."
+
+"Trust 'em for that, sir.  I'll stick to the canoe like one of those
+limpet things; mind you do too.  I say, I'm beginning to like it, ain't
+you?"
+
+"It is exciting, Ned, and I don't think I mind."
+
+"That's your style, sir.  That's the true British boy speaking.  Ah,
+it's no wonder we carry all before us when we don't get licked.  There
+now, you look every inch of you like Sir John, and he'd be proud of you.
+Hooray! who cares!  Go it, you black rascals.  We shall go over that
+reef like a flash.  One of our boats with a big crew dare not attempt
+it, and--Oh, I say, look, Mr Jack, look.  You were wishing for it, and
+there it is, half-a-mile away--one of our boats coming to save us,
+and--"
+
+"She'll be too late, Ned," groaned Jack, and, unseen by their captors,
+every man of whom had his back to them, and was working away with his
+paddle, the lad rose softly in his place and waved his hand above his
+head.
+
+"Sit down, sir," whispered Ned excitedly.  "It means a topper if they
+catch you at it.  But look, look, there's some one waving his helmet."
+
+"Yes, yes," whispered back Jack, "it's father."
+
+"Hooray!" said Ned softly.  "But what are they firing for?"
+
+"Signal that they see us, Ned," whispered back Jack hoarsely, as there
+were two faint puffs of smoke seen and the reports followed.
+
+"Too far off to try and swim to 'em, sir?"
+
+"Yes, Ned," said Jack sadly, "and there are the sharks."
+
+"Ugh! yes, sir.  That won't do.  Never mind, let's sit still.  They've
+seen us, and they'll have us now."
+
+"But our boat can't follow through the surf."
+
+"Can't!" cried Ned; "it has to.  Never know what you can do till you
+try."
+
+The rush through the water had been exciting before; it was tenfold more
+so now, and the prisoners looked wildly over the lagoon at the cutter,
+which was being pulled after them evidently with all the rowers' might,
+the oars dipping and the water flashing in the last rays of the sun as
+it dipped swiftly down.  But Jack's heart sank again as he saw that they
+would be crossing the reef while the rescue party were still half-a-mile
+away.
+
+Ned felt with him, and said softly--
+
+"Oh, why don't they go back to the yacht and signal to 'em to get under
+weigh and go out in chase of us--cut us off on the other side?"
+
+"But where is the yacht, Ned?" cried Jack.  "She may be the other way."
+
+"Ah, that's what we don't know, sir.  There, we can't do anything but
+sit fast.  You get your arm over that side, I'll hold on this."
+
+There was little talking now, the two prisoners' attention being turned
+to the reef in front, which the paddlers were now straining every nerve
+to reach at full speed.  Suddenly a couple of the blacks sprung up, came
+aft past where Jack and Ned sat, and thrust a long paddle over the stern
+to help in the steering, which so far had been managed by the paddlers
+themselves, one side easing when it was necessary.
+
+The two men said something as they passed, but took no more notice of
+them, and after looking sharply ahead for a few moments, Jack turned to
+gaze at the pursuing boat, coming on steadily now.  But the next minute
+it looked dim, then it died out of sight, for the canoe had entered into
+the mist of fine spray raised by the billows on the reef, and directly
+after they were in a thick fog, as they rushed into the tremendous race
+of waters leaping and surging about them.  The long canoe quivered, the
+men behind them yelled, and were answered by a fierce shout as the crew
+frantically plunged their paddles into the yielding foam water, while
+the spray blinded, the canoe bumped again and again, and then all at
+once began to rise, till she seemed as if she were going to fall
+backward prow over stern.
+
+"It's all over with us," thought Jack; but the next moment she began to
+sink toward the horizontal, hung for a second or two level, and then
+glided down after a tremendous pitch, rose again, and then began to race
+along on the top of a huge billow which foamed and raved hungrily by
+their side.
+
+This was repeated again and again, but the canoe shipped very little
+water, and before Jack could realise that they were in safety, the wild
+excitement and confusion of the tumbling water was at an end, and they
+were being paddled away out to the open sea in the fast-coming
+transparent darkness of the brief evening, with a wall of white waters
+behind.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
+
+A STERN CHASE--VERY.
+
+"Ah!" ejaculated Ned, as he sat wiping the salt spray out of his eyes;
+"can't say as I should like to go through that again, Mr Jack, but now
+we have done it I like it.  My word, how I can brag now to our chaps on
+board!"
+
+"Do you think they will try and follow us, Ned?" panted Jack, who spoke
+as if he had been running hard.
+
+"Surely not, sir.  Never be so mad."
+
+"But I'm afraid they will.  My father would never sit there and make no
+effort to save us."
+
+Ned was silent for some minutes, and the foam of the breakers on the
+reef began to soften as the blacks paddled hard straight out to sea.
+
+A few minutes later it was night, with the stars beginning to shine out
+clearly from the purpling sky, and the paddles making the water flash
+into phosphorescent foam.
+
+"You're right, Mr Jack," said Ned at last; "Sir John wouldn't mind
+running any risk to save us, but he might see that it was only throwing
+away a chance to get the boat capsized, and he may have to row back to
+the yacht so as to get her out of the lagoon and after us to cut us off
+before these black ruffians can get home to where they came from."
+
+"It means slavery after all, Ned," said Jack bitterly.  "Why didn't we
+jump overboard and--and try to swim to the boat?"
+
+"What the doctor calls `law of self-preservation,' sir," said Ned
+quietly.  "We'd seen too much in that lagoon, very pretty to look at,
+but too many ugly things about in the blue waters.  Been just about as
+mad as for them to try and follow the canoe.  What do you say to making
+ourselves comfortable, sir, and having a nap?"
+
+"What, now?  At a time like this?" cried Jack.
+
+"Yes, sir, that's what I was thinking, so as to be ready for work
+to-morrow."
+
+"I could not sleep," said Jack sadly, as he sat gazing back in the
+direction of the reef.
+
+"Very well, sir; then you take the first watch while I go below, only
+there ain't no below.  It's of no use for you to look back at the reef,
+sir, for they couldn't have got through, and if they could this canoe
+goes two miles to their one.  What we've got to do is to wait for
+to-morrow morning, and hope for the best."
+
+Jack said nothing, but he knew that all his companion said was right,
+and he sat there silent, while Ned stretched himself in the bottom and
+was off soundly to sleep.  Almost directly after about half the blacks
+withdrew the paddles from the water and lay down in the bottom, leaving
+the rest to urge the boat along.
+
+It was hard work in the solitude of that night to keep from giving way
+to despair, and to cling to the hope that those in the boat had not
+attempted the daring feat performed with the canoe, but had turned back
+to the yacht to get her under weigh and come in chase.  For always there
+came the thought that by morning the canoe would be out of sight, and he
+and Ned still on the way to some state of captivity, preserved for
+Heaven only knew what terrible fate.
+
+From time to time the resting half of the savages sprung up, summoned by
+a thump given with the handle of a paddle, each rower awakening the man
+who was to relieve him after about an hour's spell; and Jack watched all
+this in a dull, apathetic way again and again, till somehow the long
+weary night sluggishly drew near its end.  Over and over again an angry
+feeling of resentment attacked the watcher, and when the sleeping
+savages were aroused he felt disposed to kick Ned and make him wake up
+and talk.
+
+But a better feeling soon prevailed.  "Poor fellow!" he said to himself;
+"why shouldn't he rest and forget all his troubles for a few hours?  It
+is only selfishness to rouse him."
+
+It was still dark when Ned suddenly sat up.  "Morning, sir," he said;
+"been to sleep?"
+
+"I?  No, Ned, I couldn't sleep."
+
+"That's a pity.  I could, like a top.  It's done me a lot of good, and
+I'm ready now for anything, fighting, swimming, or breakfast, specially
+the last.  Hot coffee, toast, fried ham, or a bit of fish.  Not
+particular.  Don't do to be when you're at sea."
+
+"You don't seem to trouble much about our position, Ned," said Jack
+bitterly.
+
+"Not a bit, sir.  What's the good?  Don't make it any better to go on
+the dump.  It can't last.  It's like the weather--either gets better or
+it gets worse.  My word, what a fine thing a bit o' sleep is!  Bit cool
+though.  Always is just before sunrise.  Seen anything of the yacht,
+sir?"
+
+"Bah!  Impossible!  How could I?"
+
+Ned said nothing, but glanced at the dimly-seen paddlers working away,
+and at the sleeping party who were in the bottom of the canoe, and then
+turned his attention astern.
+
+"Wonder where they are taking us, sir," he said.  "There must be a big
+island somewhere out in this direction, and--"
+
+He became silent so suddenly that Jack turned to him in surprise, and
+saw that he was gazing fixedly over the stern of the canoe into the
+black darkness, for there was no sign of the coming day.
+
+"What are you thinking?" said Jack at last.
+
+"That I shall have to report you to the captain, sir, for not keeping
+better watch.  I didn't set you to it.  You volunteered."
+
+"What do you mean, Ned?" cried Jack excitedly.
+
+"You said, when I asked you whether you had seen anything of the yacht,
+`Bah!  Impossible!  How could I?'"
+
+"Well, how could I in the dark?"
+
+"By keeping a bright look-out, sir.  There's her light."
+
+"What!" cried Jack.
+
+"Steady, sir, steady.  Don't jump out of the boat."
+
+"But you don't mean--"
+
+"Oh yes, I do, sir.  Look yonder."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" cried Jack bitterly; "that must be a star setting in the
+west."
+
+"Well, it may be, sir, and if it is, it's so close down that in another
+five minutes it'll be one; but it strikes me that there's a little
+lighter look yonder, and that it's the east.  Of course I don't know for
+certain like, and I've been asleep.  Let's watch for a bit.  I believe
+it's our star as the guv'nor's had lit up to let us know he's coming
+after us--that's what I think, sir."
+
+"It is too much to hope," said Jack despondently.
+
+"Not a bit, sir.  You can't say but what it's as likely as likely.  But
+there, we shall soon know.  I wonder whether the niggers have seen it
+yet."
+
+Evidently they had not, and this, knowing how sharp-eyed they were,
+strengthened Jack's belief that it was only a star, and he said so.
+
+"All right, sir," said Ned, after a long watching, "pr'a'ps you're
+right; but it's a new kind if it is, for it don't come up nor it don't
+go down.  Anyhow that's the east, for the sun means to come up there, or
+I'm a Dutchman."
+
+They sat watching for about a quarter of an hour longer, and then Jack
+exclaimed softly--
+
+"You were wrong, Ned, it was a star, and it has sank out of sight."
+
+"Down in the east, sir?"
+
+"It cannot be the east, Ned, it must be the west."
+
+"Then it's last night again, sir, and that's a speck left up to show
+where the sun went down."
+
+As Ned spoke he pointed to where there was a faint flush of light, which
+grew warmer and warmer as Jack sat trying to keep from being too
+sanguine.  Then he turned away and feared to gaze aft any more, oh
+account of the blacks, who were paddling steadily away, for against a
+pale streak of light in the east, there, plainly enough to be seen, were
+the hull and spars of the _Silver Star_, while like a pennon there
+floated out behind her a long dark cloud of smoke, telling that her
+engine fires were roaring away and her propeller hard at work.
+
+"I was afraid to hope, Ned," whispered Jack.  "Think they see us?"
+
+"Think they see us, sir!  Why, of course.  Mr Bartlett's up in the
+main-top with his glass to his eye, you may be sure, and the lads below
+are shovelling in the coals as if they cost nothing.  Look at the smoke.
+I say, see how the niggers are at it.  They know.  Shouldn't be
+surprised if we catch sight of the place we're going to when the sun's
+up.  All I hope is that it's so far away that they can't reach it."
+
+The sun rose at last, and the mountain became glorified once more, but
+it was a long time before a glimpse could be caught of their
+destination, and then, like a faint cloud extending right and left for
+miles, there was land--dim, low-lying misty land, without a sign of
+elevation or peak.
+
+"That's it sure enough, Mr Jack, sir," said Ned, shading his eyes from
+the glare of the sea; "and now it's a question of paddles against
+screw."
+
+"Yes.  Which will win, Ned?"
+
+"Screw, sir.  If it was wind and sails in this changeable sort of place
+I should be a bit doubtful, but I ain't the least."
+
+A stern chase is always a long one, they say, and to the prisoners it
+seemed to be here, and Hope and Doubt alternately held sway, while to
+Jack's agony the dim, distant flat land, which by degrees began to
+assume the aspect of a long range of extremely flat islands, appeared to
+come steadily nearer, while the yacht hardly seemed to stir.
+
+"She will never catch us, Ned," said Jack despondently.
+
+"Go along with you, sir.  She'll do it before we get near.  Not but what
+these fellows paddle splendidly.  Hallo! what are they going to do?"
+
+The answer came in the quick hoisting of a couple of low masts and the
+same number of matting sails, for the water was beginning to be flecked
+by a coming breeze.  In addition, the men rapidly rigged out a couple of
+bamboos on one side, and lashed their ends to another which lay along
+the bottom of the boat, so as to form an outrigger to counteract the
+pressure of the sails.
+
+A few minutes later the paddles were laid in, for the great canoe was
+gliding through the water faster than the men could propel her.
+
+At last, though, hope began to grow stronger in the prisoners' breasts,
+for it was plain now that with full steam on the yacht was rapidly
+coming up.
+
+"They'd got no pressure on at first, sir, only enough to send her along
+a bit.  What do you say to it now?"
+
+"It's in doubt, Ned.  They may run us into shallow water where the yacht
+dare not come."
+
+"But she dare send her boats, sir.  Oh, we're all right now.--If they
+don't knock us on the head when they find they're beaten," Ned added to
+himself.
+
+The faces of those on board the yacht began now to grow plain as the
+mountain seemed to be steadily sinking in the distance, and figures
+could be made out on the low shore in front.
+
+"Ned, Ned, look," whispered Jack excitedly.  "It's all over with us."
+
+"Why, what for?"
+
+"Can't you see they are getting out two more canoes?"
+
+"You've got better eyes than I have, sir; I can't see anything."
+
+Jack proved to be right, for soon after a couple of great canoes came
+through an opening in a line of breakers, and made straight for the one
+which bore the prisoners.
+
+"It's going to be a close shave, Mr Jack," said Ned at last.  "If they
+get near enough to the land they'll win, because the _Star_ won't dare
+to follow, but I don't give up yet.  Only look here, sir, if matters
+come to the worst they'll try and kill us, so be on the look-out.  You
+can swim now after those lessons I gave you."
+
+"Oh, Ned, only a few strokes.  I cannot trust myself," groaned Jack.
+
+"Oh dear! and you a gent, and your education neglected like that.  Why,
+to be able to swim now, sir, is worth all the Latin and Greek in the
+world.  But never mind, I can, though all the Greek I know is _quantum
+stuff_, and p'r'aps that's Latin.  You do as I tell you; the moment you
+see that one of the niggers means mischief, over you go; I shall be
+there, and I'll help you swim, sir, and the yacht's sure to have a boat
+ready to drop and pick us up."
+
+On they went, with the wind sending the canoe rapidly along, and the
+blacks sat on the edge to keep her well down, and on the outrigger.  The
+speed now was wonderful, the long elastic vessel bent and glided like
+some live creature over the swell, and had the blacks had another mile
+to go, the fate of the two prisoners would have been sealed; but at full
+speed now the yacht, with sail after sail shaken out to the help of the
+propeller, came up hand over hand, and when pretty close swayed off to
+windward, curved round as she glided by, and was once more answering her
+helm in the other direction, racing for the canoe's bows, the steering
+being so true that the fore-part was forced under water while the stern
+rose slowly in the air.  "Now for it," said Ned sharply.  Jack hesitated
+for a moment or two, and then tried to plant one foot upon the side and
+leap after his companion; but his momentary hesitation was nearly fatal,
+for one of the blacks made a dash at him, caught him by the shoulder,
+and struck at him with his raised club.
+
+In his despair the lad forced himself forward, and instead of the head
+of the heavy club, it was the man's arm which struck him across the
+shoulder, and the next moment they were thrown by the rising of the
+stern headlong amongst the struggling crowd as the canoe filled.  Then
+all was darkness and confusion as the lad felt himself dragged down
+lower and lower, till it seemed as if he would never rise again.
+
+Moments are changed to minutes at such times as these, but prolonged as
+the agony seemed, he was soon at the surface once more, panting for
+breath and beating the water like a drowning dog.
+
+But coolness came with the strong desire for life, and he now struck out
+bravely as he saw the water about dotted with the black heads of his
+enemies, one and all swimming for the floating wreck of their canoe,
+whilst the yacht was far away, and Jack's courage became despair as he
+kept on swimming slowly, better than he could have believed, so as to
+keep himself afloat.
+
+"That's the way, Mr Jack, sir," came from behind him; "and you said you
+couldn't swim."
+
+"Ned," gasped the boy, turning in the direction of the sound, and his
+slow, steady strokes became on the instant fast and wild.
+
+"Ah, don't do that!" cried Ned, swimming alongside.  "Slow and steady,
+sir.  Don't wind yourself.  There, it's all right; I could keep you up,
+but I want you to try yourself.  Strike out as I told you last time we
+bathed.  Slow and steady.  Let your legs go down as far as they like.
+Never mind if the water comes right up to your mouth; lay your head
+sideways and screwed round so that you can look over your right
+shoulder, and rest the back of it on the water.  That's the way.  Think
+you're having a lesson in swimming, and do just as I do.  See?  We only
+want to keep afloat till a boat comes from the yacht to pick us up.
+Well done, sir.  This is the best lesson in swimming you ever had."
+
+Jack took stroke for stroke feebly enough, and kept well afloat, but he
+felt all the time that if Ned were not at his side he would have begun
+to strike out again in frantic despairing haste, wearied himself in a
+very short time, and gone down.
+
+"Man never knows what he can do till he tries, sir," said Ned cheerily.
+"It's all right.  Just keep your mouth above water while you take a good
+long breath, and then shut it again.  Lower you are the easier you
+float.  When you're tired you shall turn on your back, and I'll guide
+you."
+
+"Shall we be drowned, Ned?" panted the lad.  "We'll talk about that by
+and by, sir.  We can go on like this easy in the sea for an hour, if you
+do as I tell you.  Now then, we're not running a race.  Just try to
+think you're standing in the water, and to move your hands as slowly as
+you can.  It's all right, Mr Jack, sir.  We've escaped.  Here's the
+yacht coming back to pick us up, and they've got one of the cutters
+ready to drop with the men in her.  Don't you say nothing.  You just
+attend to your swimming lesson: I'll do all the talking.  I learnt to
+swim when I was a little bit of a nipper and went with the boys at
+school.  They used to pitch me in, so that I was obliged to swim, I can
+tell you.  That was only fresh water.  It's ever so much easier to swim
+in the sea--when it's smooth.  Mind you, I don't know nothing about it
+when it's rough."
+
+"Is the yacht near, Ned?" said Jack huskily.  "What's that to you?"
+cried the man fiercely.  "You mind your lesson.  Ought to know better
+than that.  I want to see you swim well, and you were doing beautiful
+before you began to talk.  No, you ain't getting tired.  If you was, as
+I told you, I'd make you float.  Ur-r-r!"
+
+Ned uttered a sound like a savage dog, for a panting and splashing had
+made him turn his head to see, not six yards behind him, a
+fierce-looking black face, with grinning teeth and flashing eyes,
+looking the more savage from the fact that, to leave his arms both at
+liberty, the black was holding his war-club in his grinning teeth.
+
+The partly submerged canoe, burdened with its clinging crew, was a
+hundred yards away, the two which had been launched to her assistance
+quite three, and the yacht still two, but cutting the water fast.
+
+Ned set his teeth; and for a brief instant thought of getting out his
+knife, but he knew it would be madness to attempt it, and he prepared
+with desperate energy for the worst.
+
+"Don't you take any notice of me," he growled fiercely to his young
+master.  "You keep on swimming.  Do you hear?"
+
+In utter ignorance of the peril behind, and influenced in his weakness
+and helplessness as a swimmer by one whom he instinctively felt to be at
+home in the water, and his master, Jack obeyed, keeping to the slow
+stroke with his arms, while his action with his legs was that of the
+well-known treading water.
+
+All this was but brief.
+
+After savagely shouting at Jack, Ned drew a deep breath and turned to
+meet the black, whose eyes glowed with race hatred as he raised one hand
+from the water, took the short melon-headed nulla-nulla club from his
+teeth, rose a little higher, and struck at his fellow-swimmer with all
+his might.
+
+But it was for dear life.  Ned threw himself sidewise, the head of the
+club grazed his shoulder as it splashed the water.  Then, quick as
+thought, Ned retaliated by dashing out his left fist, and struck his
+enemy full on the cheek.
+
+But it was a feeble blow, and did no more than make him fiercer as he
+turned to renew the attack.
+
+"It's all over!" groaned the poor fellow.  "If they'll only pick up the
+poor young governor in time!"
+
+A hoarse sob of despair escaped from Ned's breast, as he prepared to
+dodge the next blow from the club, meaning not to strike another
+nerveless, helpless blow from the water, but to grapple with the black.
+
+"And then it's who can hold his breath longest," he thought.  "Oh, why
+did I come on a trip like this?"
+
+Thought comes quickly at a time like this.
+
+The club was once more raised and held suspended in the air for a few
+moments, the wily black feinting twice over, and making Ned dodge.  The
+third time he made another quick feint, and was in the act then of
+delivering a tremendous blow, when Jack uttered a wild cry, for he had
+turned his head to appeal to his companion for help.
+
+At that moment Ned heard a whizz, as if some beetle had suddenly passed
+his ear; there was instantaneously a sharp pat, and the moment after the
+report of a rifle.  The club fell into the water with a splash.
+
+"Hah!" ejaculated Ned, turning on his side, and in a dozen side strokes
+he was alongside of Jack once more, as he was making a brave effort to
+come to his companion's aid.
+
+"Back, my lad, back!" cried Ned as he swam.  "No, no; you're not beaten
+yet.  Hooray! the boat!  They're close here, and--Mr Jack, sir--it's--
+it's too much--I--I--Swim, sir, swim--don't--don't mind me!"
+
+The poor fellow's look seemed fixed and staring, his arms refused their
+office, and Jack caught at him to try and support him.  Then struggling
+vainly the water closed over his head, as his starting eyes saw the
+flashing of the water thrown up by six oars, and a figure standing
+leaning toward him, boat-hook in hand.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.
+
+NOT BEATEN YET.
+
+"How are you, boy?"
+
+The voice seemed to come from a great distance, and the face of the
+speaker looked far away, and yet his hand was being held in his father's
+firm palm.
+
+"Ah!" sighed Jack in answer.  Then quickly, "Ned!  Ned!  Where's Ned?"
+
+"Safe here," said Sir John.  "In the boat.  We were only just in time."
+
+"He's coming to," said another familiar voice.  "Pull away, my lads.
+Well, Jack, old fellow, you've been carrying on a nice game.  How are
+you?  Glad to see you.  No, no, lie back for a bit.  We'll soon have you
+on board."
+
+Jack said nothing for a few moments.  Then quickly--
+
+"Who was it fired that shot?"
+
+"Oh, never mind about who fired it," said the doctor gruffly; but he
+picked up a double rifle lying against one of the thwarts, and
+mechanically opened the breech, drew out a spent cartridge, and thrust
+in another.
+
+"Have your pieces ready, my lads.  Half at the word cease rowing, aim,
+and fire.  Are you ready, gentlemen?  They're coming on very fast."
+
+"Yes; all right," said the doctor; and Sir John rose in the boat, rifle
+in hand, and gave the mate, who had spoken, a nod, and then he smiled as
+Jack rose up quickly and picked up one of the loaded pieces at his side.
+
+But no one fired at the rapidly advancing canoes, which were crowded
+with men; for suddenly there was a deep roar from the yacht, a heavy
+charge of grape-shot ploughed up the water in front of the first canoe,
+and the paddling in both ceased.
+
+Another shot sent the water flying over the second canoe, and as if
+animated by one brain, the paddles began to work again, not to send the
+vessels forward, but back toward the island; and five minutes later the
+boat was alongside the yacht.
+
+The men sent up a hearty cheer as Captain Bradleigh held out his hand to
+assist Jack on board, and his words were almost drowned in the welcoming
+cries; but Jack heard him, as the warm grip retained his hand, and
+another pressed his shoulder.
+
+"The best day's work, my lad, we ever did.  God bless you, and thank Him
+for giving you safely back."
+
+Five minutes later the boat was swinging to the davits.
+
+"Don't want to punish them any more, Sir John, I suppose?" cried the
+captain.
+
+"No, no, let the miserable wretches go," said Jack's father.
+
+"Then we'll go back to the old anchorage, sir, for there's a look about
+the sky I don't like."
+
+The signal was given, and the yacht began to glide rapidly through the
+water, back toward where the volcano rose up glowing with colour in the
+morning light, while Jack was at Ned's side as he lay coming to on the
+deck.
+
+He stared about him for a few moments, and then fixed his eyes on those
+of Jack, breaking out half hysterically--
+
+"I couldn't help it, Mr Jack, sir; don't set me down for a cowardly
+cur."
+
+"Help what?" said the lad wonderingly.
+
+"Turning like a woman, and fainting away that how.  Oh, do give me a
+dose o' something, doctor, I feel sick as a dog."
+
+"No, no; lie still for a minute or two, and you'll be all right," said
+the doctor, patting his shoulder, and Ned uttered a cry.
+
+"Don't, don't, sir.  It's agony--my bad shoulder--the arrow--and he hit
+me there with his club."
+
+"Ned, Ned," said Jack softly, as he bent over the poor fellow and held
+his hand, "who could think you a coward for saving my life?"
+
+The men began to cheer again when Ned was helped by the doctor and Jack
+down to his berth, wincing at the slightest touch, for his arm had
+received a nasty jar, but a smile came into his drawn face as he heard
+the hearty welcome.
+
+"Thankye, lads, thankye kindly," he kept on saying till he got below,
+where the steward helped him to change his clothes, and Jack went to his
+cabin for the same purpose.
+
+"Ever so much better, sir," cried Ned half-an-hour later, when Jack went
+to see him, and found him dressed and ready to go on deck.  "That crack
+was just like one on the funny-bone, sir, but it's all gone off now.  My
+eye, though! suppose it had been where he meant it!  What a headache I
+should have had!"
+
+By the time Jack reached the deck, the islands from whence the blacks
+came were hidden by a peculiar-looking haze, and the _Star_ was racing
+through the sea to gain the shelter of the lagoon.
+
+"A hurricane, my lad," said the captain, "and we shall get into shelter
+none too soon."
+
+"A nice hunt you gave us, Jack," said his father.  "Here have we been
+with half the crew hard at work every day looking for you two.  Well,
+thank Heaven you are both back safe and sound."
+
+"We did our best to get back, father," said the lad, looking at Sir John
+wistfully.
+
+"Of course, I know that, my boy, and I hope you think we did our best to
+find you.  The doctor here pretty well lamed himself with walking."
+
+"Of course I did," said that gentleman.  "Doctors don't like to lose
+their patients, do they?"
+
+Go where he would during their run back to the harbour, Jack found the
+men ready to smile and salute him with a hearty "Glad to see you back,
+sir," till it set him wondering, and finding Ned forward alone, he went
+to him and said something about it.
+
+"Yes, sir, ain't it queer?  I was thinking the same.  I ain't done
+nothing but be civil to the chaps since we come aboard, but they're as
+pleased as Punch to see us back again.  They're a bit disappointed
+though that Sir John didn't go in for giving the black beggars an
+out-and-out good thrashing."
+
+"My father says he came for a pleasure-trip," said Jack quietly, "and he
+does not wish to go back home feeling that it was obtained at the cost
+of killing a number of fellow-creatures."
+
+"No, no, of course not," said Ned quickly; "only you must draw the line
+somewhere, and I want to know whether black fellows who shoot poisoned
+arrows into you, and when you're swimming for your life, and ain't never
+interfered with them, and they come and try to knock your brains out
+with clubs, is fellow-creatures.  Why, if it was me, I'd rather try to
+make friends with a respectable set o' wild beasts.  They wouldn't eat
+you unless they was hungry.  Strikes me that if I hadn't dodged that
+gentleman when he hit at me, I shouldn't have been here; nor I shouldn't
+neither if some one hadn't fired that shot.  I say, Mr Jack, sir; it
+was Sir John, wasn't it?"
+
+"No, Ned, it was Doctor Instow."
+
+"Then that's two I owe him.  I always used to think that Sir John was
+best man with a gun, but after that--well, I'm done.  All I can say is,
+I hope my turn 'll come to do something for the doctor, and till it does
+I'll take anything he likes to give me, even if it's jollop, and won't
+make a face."
+
+Jack laughed.
+
+"Oh yes, it's easy to smile a grin, sir," said Ned, "but if you'd tasted
+some of the stuff he gave me you wouldn't."
+
+"Ah, well, you will not want any physic now, Ned."
+
+"Hah! it seems more natural on board now," said the mate, coming up
+smiling.  "You two have given us an anxious time.  We must have it all
+over as soon as we're safe from the hurricane."
+
+"Hurricane?" said Ned, staring.  "What hurricane?  Where?"
+
+The mate pointed astern, and Ned stared out to sea as the yacht raced
+along.
+
+"Well, I can't see anything," he said.
+
+"Can't you see that thick, hazy look astern?"
+
+"What, that bit o' fog?"
+
+"Yes; it is chasing us pretty sharply; I'm afraid we shall not get into
+harbour before it's down upon us.  Ah, there's the skipper."
+
+The speaker walked quickly aft, and found Captain Bradleigh, who had
+just come on deck from the cabin, and after a look round there was a
+brief consultation, and all hands were piped on deck.  Then for the next
+hour there was a busy scene.  The tops were sent down, the sails doubly
+secured, boats swung inboard and lashed, and every possible precaution
+taken to make all that could be caught by a furious tempest thoroughly
+secure.
+
+"Well, I suppose they know what they're about, Mr Jack, sir," said Ned;
+"but it looks to me like taking a lot of trouble because the sky's
+getting a bit dark, and a shower's coming."
+
+But Ned's knowledge of the typhoon of the eastern tropical seas was
+naturally not very extensive, and he altered his opinion an hour later,
+when, in spite of the speed with which the yacht had rushed away before
+the terrible storm sweeping after them, the sea was white, and half the
+heavens black as night.  It was at half-speed the yacht ran in through
+the gates of the reef into smooth water, and then turning round at full
+speed again, went on and on, till she was well under the lee of the
+great volcano, which did its part when anchors were down, and head to
+the wind they lay facing the quarter from which the awful hurricane
+blew.
+
+There was no narrative of adventure given by the seekers or the sought
+that night, nor any thought of sleep, for officers and men never left
+the deck, but passed a terrible time of anxiety in the expectation that
+one of the terrific blasts would tear the little vessel from her
+moorings and cast her upon the inner side of the reef.  But the steam
+was kept up, and the propeller gently turning, sufficient to ease the
+strain upon the cables, and the anchors held fast.
+
+"She's a splendid craft, gentlemen," said the captain, when they had
+assembled for refreshment in the cabin, during one of the brief lulls of
+the furious blast; "but I'm afraid we should none of us have seen
+another day if we had been caught outside.  A man feels very small at a
+time like this.  The worst hurricane I was ever in.  Didn't think the
+wind could blow so fiercely, Mr Jack, eh?"
+
+Jack shook his head.
+
+"It feels," he said slowly, "as if the world had broke away, and was
+rushing on through space faster and faster, and never to stop again."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the captain quietly, as he gazed at the thoughtful lad.
+"You're a scholar, and have read and studied these things.  So have I,
+sir, but not from books, and it seems to me that these things work by
+their wonderful laws for reasons far beyond our little minds to grasp,
+and all are working for some great end."
+
+No one answered, and the wind began to increase in violence again, the
+noise almost stifling the captain's next words:--
+
+"But we have not broken away, sir, and the sun will rise to a minute in
+the morning, just as if this hurricane had not come, and please God
+everything around us will be calm; but be sure yonder you will hardly
+know the island, it will be such a wreck."
+
+The captain's words were true enough as to the calm, for just before
+daylight the intense blackness which had covered the heavens passed
+away, leaving the stars glittering with a most wondrous brilliancy;
+there was a deep murmur dying away in the distance, and, utterly
+exhausted, Jack laid himself down on one of the cabin lounges, to drop
+off into the deep sleep of utter exhaustion, one from which he awoke to
+find the warm glow of evening shining in at the open window, and his
+father watching him with an anxious expression upon his face.
+
+Captain Bradleigh was quite right.  The hurricane had passed, and the
+aspect of the island from where Jack stood with his glass on deck,
+sweeping the mountain slopes, in places a terrible wreck.  The hollows
+and deep ravines had naturally escaped, but the higher portions, even on
+that side, were swept bare, and every now and then the lad gazed through
+his binocular at piled-up masses of tangled bough and branch shattered
+and splintered as if they had been straws.
+
+"Yes, my lad, it looks a terrible ruin here and there," said the
+captain, as Jack handed him the glass to try; "but changes take place
+quickly out here, and the sun's hard at work already repairing damages.
+Those heaps will soon rot away, and fresh growth cover the bare patches.
+It's bad enough, but an eruption from the mountain there would have
+done more mischief than this."
+
+Over a late meal there was a discussion about their future proceedings,
+and the elders went into the pros and cons of their position.
+
+"You could find us another island, captain, couldn't you?" said Sir
+John.
+
+"Oh yes, sir; several that I dare say would answer your purpose, but I'm
+afraid that we shall have the native difficulty go where we may, for
+these sanguinary blacks are a restless lot, and wherever there is a
+beautiful spot they generally take possession of it."
+
+"Of course," said the doctor gruffly.  "We should do the same."
+
+"We have done the same all the world round," said Sir John, laughing.
+
+"Of course.  `It is their nature to,'" quoted the doctor.  "For my part
+it seems a sin to go away when we have not secured half the grand
+specimens of birds to be found."
+
+"And my cases of insects not half filled," said Sir John.
+
+"But after his rough experience," said the captain dryly, "I cannot
+wonder at Mr Jack here feeling anxious to be homeward bound."
+
+"I?" cried Jack, turning upon the captain excitedly.  "I anxious to go
+back?  Why, what made you think that, Captain Bradleigh?"
+
+"Oh, I thought you must be, sir, after what you have gone through.
+Nobody could like that."
+
+"Of course I did not," said the lad, flushing.  "It was terrible and
+risky while it lasted, but I don't mind it all now, and we might stay
+here for months and never see the blacks again."
+
+"That means you would like to stay a little longer?"
+
+"Yes, father," cried the lad excitedly.  "It would be dreadfully
+disappointing to go away and not climb right to the crater now I have
+been so near, and know the way."
+
+An hour later Jack was on deck watching the stars, and listening to the
+deep, heavy boom of the surf on the reef, thinking of how wonderful the
+contrast was, and mentally going over the horrors of the past night,
+when he heard a familiar air being whistled forward, one he had often
+heard coming from the pantry at home, and he walked ahead, to find Ned
+leaning over the side.
+
+"Ah, Mr Jack! here you are then.  I say, I'm not going to have any more
+of this nonsense.  Doctor's all very well, but it's a strange thing if a
+man don't know best how he is."
+
+"Why, what's the matter?"
+
+"Doctor Instow's the matter, sir; and after all he ain't my master.  If
+the guv'nor says I ain't to do a thing, or you, my young guv'nor, says
+it, why that's enough; but Doctor Instow don't pay me my wages."
+
+"What has he been saying to you?"
+
+"Put his foot down, and wouldn't let me wait dinner, sir.  But I mean to
+go on as usual to-morrow morning."
+
+"Oh, very well; go on, then.  But what do you think of our starting for
+home to-morrow morning, Ned?"
+
+"What, sir?  Start for home--to-morrow morning?"
+
+"Yes, aren't you glad?"
+
+"Glad, sir?  Will you excuse me asking you a question?"
+
+"Of course.  What is it?"
+
+"Would you be good enough to tell me why we come out here, if, as soon
+as we find a place like this, we want to start back?"
+
+"The place is dangerous.  These blacks--"
+
+"Bother the blacks!  Who cares for the blacks, sir?  Why, haven't we
+licked 'em over and over again?  Oh, well, sir, I'm not master.  All
+I've got to say, sir, is, I'm jolly sorry we came."
+
+"Then you are glad we are going back?"
+
+"That I ain't, sir.  I say it's a shame.  Why, the fun has only just
+begun."
+
+"Ah, well, we're not going yet.  I said I should like to stay and see
+more, and do more collecting, and ascend the mountain by the way we came
+down."
+
+"There, I beg your pardon, Mr Jack, sir, I do indeed, for I was all
+wrong.  Thought you were saying that because of the niggers; and I did
+hope you were too English for that."
+
+"Well, Ned, I hope I am."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
+
+THE LAST ADVENTURE.
+
+From that day the collecting went on merrily, for it seemed as if, to
+use Ned's words, "the niggers" had had "a regular sickener," excursion
+after excursion being made with careful precautions, which as the weeks
+rolled on were more and more relaxed.
+
+Naturally at every landing traces of the terrible havoc made by the
+hurricane were seen; but, as Captain Bradleigh said, the sun was hard at
+work repairing damages, and there were endless lovely places which had
+completely escaped.
+
+The men were never happier than when they were forming guards or porters
+for the various expeditions, and the naturalists' cases grew fuller and
+fuller of gorgeously-painted or armoured birds.  The display of
+butterflies and wondrously-shaped flies and beetles was extensive, and
+as Jack and his henchman handled gun, butterfly-net, dredge, or
+fishing-line, the very existence of inimical natives not many miles away
+began to be forgotten, just as Jack's life before he was roused from his
+dreaming existence into that of a strong, manly English lad seemed to be
+a thing of the past.
+
+Many months had elapsed since they left England, and in spite of the way
+in which the provender was supplemented by fish and fresh meat in the
+shape of pork, kid, and a small kind of deer discovered in one valley,
+as the captain said, stores would not last for ever, and they must soon
+either turn homeward, or run to one of the ports where supplies could be
+obtained.
+
+Sir John said that another fortnight must end their stay at the island,
+and then they would sail for Hong Kong, take in stores, and start for
+their journey homeward round the world.
+
+One thing had been kept for the last, and that was an ascent of the
+volcano, and three days before the fortnight had elapsed, the yacht was
+run round to the foot of the valley where the canoe had lain and from
+here a strong party was to start at daybreak, carrying provisions and
+canvas for a couple of tents, so that they could sleep somewhere up the
+mountain, and descend on the other side, where the yacht was to meet
+them.
+
+Full of excitement over this, which he looked upon as the great event of
+the voyage, Jack was awake before Ned came to summon him, and headed by
+Sir John and the doctor, the captain remaining on board, the expedition,
+which included ten well-armed men from the crew, who were provided with
+axes, ropes, and light tent-poles, started in the highest of spirits.
+
+No collecting was to be done, but every effort directed to scaling the
+mountain, which had several times shown a brighter light from its top,
+and in anticipation of strange sights and the discovering of fresh
+wonders, Jack stepped to the front with Ned, their experience being
+sufficient to warrant their acting as guides.
+
+It proved to be a stiff climb, but at sunset they had reached a
+sheltered hollow where there was a sufficiency of scrubby dwarfed trees
+to supply them with wood and a screen to keep off the keen wind which
+blew pretty hard at five thousand feet above sea level, and after
+watching the sun set from the grand elevation supper was eaten, and a
+watch set, the rest lying down eager for morning and their ascent of the
+final slope of some hundred feet to the crater.
+
+These long tramps and climbs in the open air had the effect generally of
+making the night's rest seem astoundingly brief to Jack, who lay down,
+be the bed hard or soft, took a few deep breaths, and then all was
+oblivion till it was time to rise.  And it was so here high up on the
+mountain slope, upon a bed of soft grey ashes, with a thin canvas
+loosely hung tent fashion.  One minute he was awake, thinking of the
+coolness of the wind at that height, the next fast asleep, and then, so
+it appeared, directly after staring at Ned, who had shaken him to
+announce breakfast, while a scent of newly-made coffee floated in
+through the opening in the canvas.
+
+In half-an-hour they were climbing the yielding slope of ashes
+diagonally, with the sun just appearing at the edge of the sea,
+glorifying the mists and the island below in a way that forced them to
+halt and gaze in wonderment at the beauty of the scene.  Then up and up
+once more, but so slowly that a good two hours were spent over what had
+seemed to be to Jack the work of a few minutes.  For the sides were deep
+in cindery stones which gave at every step, and ran down in little
+avalanches, leaving beneath a bed of fine silvery ash into which their
+feet sank deeply.
+
+To have gone straight up would have been impossible, but by a side
+movement the way was slowly won, and at last Jack paused for a few
+moments to get his breath, then hurried up the rest of the way, reached
+the top first, and was seen by those below to pass over what seemed to
+be a sharp edge and disappear.
+
+Ned shouted in alarm and rushed up after him, Sir John and the doctor
+next, for there was no reply to the shouts, and as just then a puff of
+smoke suddenly shot into the air, a horrible dread assailed the little
+group.  But when they reached the edge they saw that their alarm was
+needless, for Jack had dropped into a sitting position upon the soft
+ashes, and was gazing down into a great cup-like depression about
+half-a-mile across, and gradually dipping down till the centre of the
+hollow was about five hundred feet below the top.
+
+"Not much to see, Ned," said Jack as the man joined him.  "That must be
+where the bright glow comes from at night."
+
+He pointed down over the dark silvery grey waste, dotted with stones of
+all sizes, to where a pool lay on one side, apparently of water, for a
+shimmering light played over it, and a faint mist was rising slowly into
+the air.
+
+"Couldn't come from water, sir," said Ned.  "I didn't expect to see a
+pond up here; but I suppose it's hot, and that's steam."
+
+"Oh yes, that's hot enough," said the doctor, who was panting with his
+exertions.  "Liquid fire, eh, Jack?"
+
+"Wouldn't it be molten metal of some kind, father?" cried the boy.
+
+"No, my lad, it is molten stone--rock.  Lava."
+
+"But it puzzles me," cried Jack, "how stone can melt.  You said
+something to me one day about a flux."
+
+"Yes, of course.  People who smelt metals found that out long enough
+ago, and it is the same with making glass.  If you expose some minerals
+separately to great heat they merely become powder; but if you combine
+them--say flinty sand with soda or potash--they run together and become
+like molten metal.  I believe if ironstone and limestone are mixed, the
+ironstone becomes fluid, so that it can be cast like a metal--in fact
+becomes the metal itself."
+
+"Then that pool down there, if emptied out, would run like the volcanic
+glass we have found below?"
+
+"Most likely."
+
+"Let's go down this slope so as to see the pool from nearer."
+
+"Rather a risky proceeding, my boy," said Sir John; "suppose we were to
+break through."
+
+"Break through?  Why, you don't think it is hollow under here?"
+
+"I should rather believe that there was a stony crust hardened by
+cooling, and that a very short distance beneath us the rocks are all
+molten."
+
+"But all these great stones lying about don't break through.  Let's go a
+little way down."
+
+"Don't be rash then.  Will you come, Instow?"
+
+"Oh yes, if it's safe.  Let's go cautiously."
+
+Just then the sailors, who had had to pack up and carry the camping-out
+necessaries, appeared at the edge, and waited there watching the little
+party as they slowly descended toward the shimmering pool, threading
+their way in and out among the blocks of lava and pumice which lay in
+their road.
+
+Sir John led, with Jack close beside him, and the doctor and Ned
+followed a little way behind, to their right.  But they had not
+descended a hundred yards before Sir John stopped short.
+
+"No farther!" he said.  "The heat is getting intense, and overpowering
+gases are escaping from the ashes.  We must go back, Jack."
+
+"I suppose so," said the lad unwillingly.  "We don't see the pool any
+the better for being here either.  Oh, look at that!"
+
+There was no need to call attention, for all were startled by a sudden
+report, and a glow of heat swept past their faces as a huge fountain of
+fire suddenly played up some sixty or seventy feet like a geyser, and
+fell back with a heavy splash, lower and lower, still playing till there
+was only a slight eminence, as if bubbling in the middle of the pool.
+Then it was perfectly level again, and a cloud of white smoke floated
+away.
+
+"That would have been grand by night," shouted the doctor.
+
+"It was grand now," replied Sir John.
+
+"Well, I think we had better turn back," said the doctor.  "There is no
+doubt about its being molten fire below here, for the heat gets fiercer.
+Look."
+
+He had been resting on the climbing pole he brought up with him, and
+found that the end had gone down a couple of feet, while as he drew it
+out the point was charred and smoking.
+
+This induced Sir John and Jack to do the same, and theirs were burnt as
+well.
+
+"Yes, get back at once!" shouted Sir John in startled tones.  "Quick,
+all of you; our weight is acting upon the ashes, and they are gliding
+down with us."
+
+"Hi! look out below, gen'lemen," shouted Lenny from the edge, "that
+there's bending like thin ice."
+
+The warnings were none too soon, for as the pair turned sharply and
+began to climb back, it was quite plain that though the blocks of stone
+about lay or half floated upon the ash-covered surface, any further
+weight was sufficient to produce a change, and before they had taken
+many steps, one huge mass not twenty yards from Sir John was seen to be
+sinking slowly, then faster and faster, and disappeared through the
+ashes, which changed rapidly to a shimmering fluid, and sent forth a
+terrible heat.
+
+"Don't hurry--open out slowly so as to spread the weight!" cried Sir
+John; and the doctor and Ned obeyed; but Jack saw that at every step his
+father's feet sank lower, and that his alpen-stick gave him no support,
+but went right in.
+
+"Do you hear me, Jack?" shouted Sir John.
+
+"Yes, father, but I can't leave you," cried the lad.  "Here, give me
+your hand, or take hold of the end of my staff."
+
+"Go on!  Obey me, boy, or you will destroy us both," cried Sir John
+sternly, and Jack continued to climb up the slope, finding it more and
+more yielding, and as if below the ashes and stones there was a
+quivering or bubbling going on.
+
+"That's right! go on, Jack; go on," cried Sir John.  "It isn't far now."
+
+They pressed on with a horrible feeling of panic attacking them now, for
+the quivering beneath them increased, the surface over which they toiled
+was trembling, and several of the blocks they passed began to settle
+slowly down.
+
+"Only another fifty feet!" shouted the doctor.  "Come on."
+
+But at that moment a yell of warning came from the sailors, and Jack
+looked round to see that the ashes where his father climbed up were
+changing colour; then he noted that the slope was growing steeper and
+steeper; and to his horror his father threw himself at full length and
+began to crawl.
+
+"Below there!" yelled Lenny.  "Look out, Sir John."
+
+"Below there! look out, Mr Jack," cried another sailor; and a couple of
+ropes flew down the slope in rapidly opening rings, and so accurately
+pitched that Jack caught his just as he felt that he was sliding
+downward.
+
+Before he could turn to look at his father the rope tightened, and he
+was rapidly drawn up out of a heat that was terrible; but as he reached
+the edge of the crater he wrenched himself round in time to see that Sir
+John was nearly up; and the next minute he too was well over the side,
+the doctor and Ned, who had reached the top unaided, coming up white and
+trembling.
+
+It was none too soon, for a minute later the slope down toward the pool,
+which had been easy, had now become, from the sinking of the centre,
+tremendously steep, and the pool itself suddenly began to spread out
+more and more, till half the expanse below was covered with the
+shimmering molten lava, and the heat became so intense that they were
+all glad to retreat down the side.
+
+"What an escape, my boy!" panted Sir John, as he grasped his son's arm.
+
+"It was dreadful," whispered Jack.  "But are you hurt?"
+
+"Nothing much; a little scorched."
+
+Sir John held up one of his feet, and Jack could see that the leather of
+the boots was crushed up and drawn out of shape, while this drawing his
+attention to his own feet, which he now felt were uncomfortable and
+strange, he saw that his heavy boots were wrinkled up in the same way.
+
+But they had to hurry their steps down the mountain side, for an
+earthquake-like quivering made the earth feel as if a wave was running
+beneath them, while in quick succession two thunderous explosions came
+from below; huge stones were thrown high in the air, and could be heard
+falling back into the crater with an awe-inspiring sound.
+
+There was no temptation to pause and watch what was evidently the
+commencement of an eruption, and which might at any moment grow in
+force, so every effort was made to reach the shore, as nearly as they
+could judge about the part of the island off which the yacht was
+expected to lie.
+
+They were fortunate on hitting upon one of the ravines which scored the
+mountain side some time before noon, and after a brief halt for
+refreshment, pushed on down its precipitous sides hour after hour, for
+the explosions from the crater grew more frequent, and all felt that
+they might culminate in some terrible cataclysm that would overwhelm
+them all.
+
+Darkness did not overtake them that night, for long before it was
+sundown they were conscious of a peculiar glow above them, and the final
+part of their descent was illuminated by an intense light, which as
+night fell was reflected from the clouds which had gathered, and helped
+them to reach the shore not above half-a-mile from where the yacht lay
+with her lights burning.
+
+A shot or two brought a boat to where they were waiting, and weary
+though they all were, they sat for hours gazing up at a great glowing
+stream of fire, which was plainly enough the beginning of one of the
+lava-streams which flowed down the mountain's sides.
+
+"Notice to quit, I think, sir," said the captain quietly.
+
+"Yes," said Sir John, "it would be foolhardy to stay here longer now."
+
+"Then by your leave, sir, I'll take the yacht outside at once, for one
+never knows what may happen when a volcano begins to work.  There! look
+at that!  We'll get out while we can."
+
+A terrific explosion reached their ears as he spoke, and without a
+moment's delay orders were given for steam to be got up, and before
+morning the yacht glided out through the reef, and past a flotilla of
+canoes which looked as if on their way to the island, but were lying-to
+as if startled from landing by the explosions which kept coming from the
+crater.
+
+"Quite time our adventures ceased, Jack," said Sir John, "when they were
+becoming as dangerous as this.  It seems that we have just had another
+escape."
+
+"Yes, father," said Jack quietly.  "I am sorry to leave the place; but,
+as you say, it was quite time to go."
+
+Peaceful sea voyages in fine weather, from one of the well-known ports
+to the other for coal and other supplies, have been described too often
+for Jack Meadows' quiet journey to China, from thence to Japan,
+Australia, New Zealand, and then round the Horn to Rio, Barbadoes, and
+then homeward, to need recapitulation here.  Let it suffice that it was
+within six weeks of two years from starting that Sir John's yacht
+steamed into Dartmouth harbour once more.
+
+Two years--from sixteen to eighteen--work strange alterations in some
+lads; they had done wonders here, and Sir John and the doctor exchanged
+glances as Jack stepped down into the boat amid the cheers of the men,
+after he had shaken hands all round.
+
+"Good-bye!" he shouted.  "Remember that in six months we start on
+another cruise."
+
+A deafening cheer was the answer to this, and the men sprang up into the
+rigging, to stand waving their caps to the lad--the young man who had
+been almost carried on board.
+
+That evening as the express steamed into Paddington, and Ned met his
+master on the platform to say that the luggage was all right, the man
+seized the opportunity to whisper to Jack--
+
+"Home again, sir!  I say, what will they think of you there?  They won't
+know you!"
+
+"Not know me, Ned?  Am I so much changed?"
+
+"Changed, sir?  What, don't you know it?"
+
+"I--I think I'm stronger, Ned, and grown a little."
+
+"Why, sir, you're as strong and as big as me."
+
+"My cure, Jack!" said the doctor, shaking hands with him as they reached
+the old home.  "I say, Meadows, what am I to charge for this?--No: I'm
+paid already in the sight of my old friend's son."
+
+It's rather a hard thing to do, but it is to be done.  I mean for three
+people to shake hands at once.  These three--Sir John, the doctor, and
+Jack Meadows--did in self-congratulation at being safe and sound at
+home.
+
+It is done like this--No, you can find that out yourselves.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jack at Sea, by George Manville Fenn
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