into ahalf-circle on which the stock would rest.
The staff was high enough for them to shoot standing, but afterwards itwas shortened, as they found it best to aim kneeling on one knee. Whenthe barrel was fastened in the stock by twisting copper wire round, itreally looked like a gun, and they jumped and danced about thebench-room till the floor shook. After handling it for some time theytook it to pieces, and hid it till the cave should be ready, for so longa weapon could not be got out of the house very easily, except insections. Not such a great while previously they had felt that theymust not on any account touch gunpowder, yet now they handled it andprepared to shoot without the least hesitation. The idea had grown upgradually. Had it come all at once it would have been rejected, but ithad grown so imperceptibly that they had become accustomed to it, andnever questioned themselves as to what they were doing.
Absorbed in the details and the labour of constructing the matchlock,the thinking and the patience, the many trials, the constant effort hadworn away every other consideration but that of success. The labourmade the object legitimate. They gloried in their gun, and in fact,though so heavy, it was a real weapon capable of shooting, and many abattle in the olden times was won with no better. Bevis was stillmaking experiments, soaking cord in various compositions of saltpetre,to discover the best slow match.
By now the cave began to look like a cave, for every morning, sailing orrowing to New Formosa, they chopped for two or three hours at the hardsand. This cave was Mark's idea, but once started at work Bevis becameas eager as he, and they toiled like miners. After the two headings hadbeen driven in about five feet, they cut away the intervening wall, andthere was a cavern five feet square, large enough for both to sit downin.
They had intended to dig in much deeper, but the work was hard, and,worse than that, slow, and now the matchlock was ready they were anxiousto get on the island. So they decided that the cave was now largeenough to be their store-room, while they lived in the hut, to be put upover the entrance. Bevis drew a sketch of the hut several times, tryingto find out the easiest way of constructing it. The plan they selectedwas to insert long poles in the sand about three feet higher up than thetop of the cave. These were to be placed a foot apart; and there wereto be nine of them, all stuck in holes made for the purpose in a row,thus covering a space eight feet wide and eight high. From the cliffthe rafters were to slope downwards till the lower and outward ends weresix feet above the ground. That would give the roof a fall of two feetin case of rain.
Two stout posts were to be put up with a long beam across, on which theouter ends of the rafters were to rest. Two lesser posts in the middlewere to mark the doorway. The roof was to be covered with brushwood tosome thickness, and then thatched over that with sedges and reed-grass.
The walls they meant to make of hurdles stood on end, and fastened withtar-cord to upright stakes. Outside the hurdles they intended to pileup furze, brushwood, faggots, bundles of sedges--anything, in short. Apiece of old carpeting was to close the door as a curtain. Thestore-room was five feet square, the hut would be eight, so that withthe two they thought they should have plenty of space.
The semi-circular fence or palisade starting from the cliff on one side,and coming to it on the other, of the hut was to have a radius of tenyards, and so enclose a good piece of ground, where they could havetheir fire and cook their food secure from wild beasts or savages. Agateway in the fence was to be just wide enough to squeeze through, andto be closed by two boards nailed to a frame.
It took some time to settle all these details, for Bevis would not begintill he had got everything complete in his mind, but the actual work didnot occupy nearly so long as the digging of the cave. There were plentyof poles growing on the island, which Mark cut down with Bevis's ownhatchet, not the blunt ones they had used for excavating, but the onewith which he had chopped at the trees in the Peninsula.
As Mark cut them down, some ash, some willow, and a few alder, Bevisstripped off the twigs with a billhook, and shortened them to the properlength. All the poles were ready in one morning, and in the afternooncoming again they set up the two stout corner posts. Next day therafters were fitted, they had to bring a short ladder to get at thecliff over the mouth of the cave. Then the hurdles were brought and setup, and the brushwood cut and thrown on the top.
Sedges grew in quantities at the other end of the island, where theground sloped till it became level with the water. In cutting them theytook care to leave an outer fringe standing, so that if any one passed,or by any chance looked that way from the shore, he should not see thatthe sedges had been reaped. They covered the roof two feet thick withbrushwood, sedges, and reed-grass, which they considered enough to keepout any ordinary shower.
Of course if the tornadoes common to these tropical countries shouldcome they must creep into the inner cave. Against such fearful stormsno thatch they could put up would protect them. The walls took a wholeday to finish, as it required such a quantity of brushwood, and it hadto be fastened in its place with rods, thrust into the ground, and tiedat the top to the outside rafters.
At last the hut was finished, and they could stand up, or walk about init; but when the carpet-curtain was dropped, it was dark, for they hadforgotten to make a window. But in the daytime they would not want one,as the curtain could be thrown aside, and the doorway would let inplenty of light, as it faced the south. At night they would have alantern hung from the roof.
"It's splendid," said Mark; "we could live here for years."
"Till we forgot what day it was, and whether it was Monday or Saturday,"said Bevis.
"And our beards grow down to our waists." Their chins were as smooth aspossible.
"Ships would be sent out to search for us."
"And when we come home everybody would come to see us," said Mark."Just think of all the wonders we shall have to tell them!"
"I wish Ted could see it," said Bevis, "and Charlie, and Val."
"Wouldn't they be jealous if they knew," said Mark. "They'd kill us ifwe did not let them come too."
"It's a great secret," said Bevis; "we must be very careful. There maybe mines of gold in this island, don't you see."
"Diamonds."
"There's a pearl fishery, I'm sure."
"Birds of Paradise."
"Spices and magic things."
"It's the most wonderful island ever found out."
"Hurrah!"
"Let's have a sail."
"So we will."
"Not work any more this afternoon."
"No; let's sail up farther--"
"Beyond the island?"
"Yes; unknown seas, don't you know. Come on."
Away they ran to the Pinta. The wind lately had blown lightly from theeast, and continued all day. These light easterly summer breezes are adelight to those who watch the corn, for they mean fine weather and fullwheat-ears. Mark took the tiller, and they sailed southwards throughthe channel, between New Formosa and Serendib. Not far beyond, Bevis,looking over the side, saw the sunken punt. She was lying in six orseven feet of water, but the white streak on her gunwale could beclearly seen. He told Mark.
"I hope the governor won't get her up yet," said Mark. "Lucky he's sobusy--"
"Why?"
"Don't you see," said shrewd Mark, "while the punt's at the bottomnobody can come to our island to see what we're at."
"Ah!" said Bevis. "What a jolly good thing I was shipwrecked."
As they went southwards they passed several small islands or sandbanks,and every now and then a summer snipe flew up and circled round them,just above the water, returning to the same spot.
"Those are the Coral Isles," said Bevis. "They're only just above thesurface."
"Tornadoes would sweep right over them," said Mark. "That's why thereare no cocoa-nut trees."
Another sandbank some way on the left they named Grey Crow Island,because a grey or hooded crow rose from it.
"Do you see any weeds?" said Mark presently
. "You know that's a sign ofland."
"Some," said Bevis, looking over the side into the ripples. "They arebrown and under water; I suppose it's too deep for them to come to thetop."
The light breeze carried them along pleasantly, though slowly.
"Swallows," said Bevis; "I can see some swallows, high up, there.That's another sign of land."
"Heave the lead," said Mark.
"We've forgotten it; how stupid! Mind you remember it next time."
New Formosa was a long way in the rear now.
"That's Pearl Island," said Mark, pointing to a larger sandbank. "Can'tyou see the shells
Bevis: The Story of a Boy Page 54