A Boy Crusoe; or, The Golden Treasure of the Virgin Islands
Page 22
*CHAPTER XXII.*
_*Boat Building; a Startling Sound*_*.*
Out first work of magnitude was the construction of a great shed inwhich to build the boat, sheltered from the weather. This occupied usmany days; for it was of considerable size, twenty-five feet long andabout two thirds as wide. The method of construction was exactly thesame as in the other structures and need not be described again. It wasclosed all around except the end next to the beach. This was left opento afford both air and light.
House-building was varied by several trips to the stranded vessel whichremained on the reef precisely as we had left it. Our raft, too, was ina perfect state of repair.
Many of the deck planks we removed, as well as all the boarding of thedeck-house and the sheathing in the cabin. We were careful to saveevery nail, and we found a further supply in the fore-castle. These,though common "cut" nails, could readily be transformed into "clinch"nails by heating, in which form they would be available for fasteningthe boat together.
The heavy deck planking we proposed to use for the keel and frame of thecraft, as well as for oars and thole-pins. All the lumber and suchsmall rope as we believed would be of use to us, also quantities ofsail-cloth, were transported to the shore and piled inside the shed.
These duties were varied by occasional trips to the forest to hunt wildpigeons, fishing in the stream or jaunts to the pool for fruit. Thesewere holidays to us, during which work was forgotten and we all enteredinto the spirit of the occasion.
Day by day the clouds of the morning lingered longer and longer and wereless quickly dispelled by the sun's rays. They became more sombre asthe days went by, and sunset was preceded by fitful gusts of wind,indicating that the rainy season was coming on apace. So we abandonedfurther work on the boat and began to lay in a supply of cocoanuts andyams.
While returning from the pool one day, as we passed the bamboo thicketan idea occurred to me which I lost no time in communicating to Mr.Harborough.
It was this; to fasten bamboos, of good size, around our boat, outside,immediately below the gunwales, reaching from stem to stern. This wouldrender it more buoyant, for the bamboo, consisting as it does of hollowjoints, would have the same effect as air bags, or water-tightcompartments. Such a device would, I believed, make it impossible tocapsize the boat, thus making it doubly seaworthy and rendering ourescape from exile more certain.
"It is a capital idea," exclaimed Mr. Harborough. "And while we areabout it," I continued, "we may as well select a bamboo for a mast."
My companions fully approved of my ideas and we at once set to work tocut the bamboos and carry them to the boat-house.
This work occupied us a good many days, for it was slow and laborious,even with the aid of the axe; for the outer part of the bamboo isextremely hard.
We now proceeded to strengthen the outer part of the wall of the house,and to renew the thatch of the roofs, all of which required several daysof labor, cutting the grass and fastening it into place.
A large supply of wood was gathered and stored in the farther end of theboat-shed; in short we made every preparation for a comfortable rainyseason, protected from the wind and the rain. Hurricanes could not beguarded against, so we only hoped that they would give us a wide berth.
The first showers had set in ere we resumed work on the boat. From oneof the best planks we fashioned the keel, which was laid with someceremony, Marjorie constituting the audience; after which we set aboutgetting out the stern-post and the frame-pieces. While we were thusoccupied Marjorie performed the house-hold duties, and, at odd times,busied herself heating the nails white-hot, and dropping them intowater, which process transformed them into "clinch" nails.
She also made several bags from sail-cloth strongly sewed, for thereception of the gold. The bags were filled with the coins, securelysewed up and stored away in Marjorie's trunk, nearly filling it. Wedecided that this would be the safest way to dispose of it for thepresent.
Work on the boat went on apace, each day being much like itspredecessor. The daily showers became more frequent and copious and wesaw the sun less often.
At times we felt depressed and our isolation grew irksome.
One morning, having had breakfast, we started for the boat-house, whenwe were brought to a sudden stand-still.
A long-drawn sound like a trumpet blown at a distance echoed andreverberated through the trees. It continued several seconds, duringwhich we remained in a listening attitude.
Neither of us spoke.
It was repeated again; what could it mean, what could it be?
Surely it could not come from any wild animal for we had seen nonelarger than a pig.
Had we been believers in the existence of demons, we must have at oncedecided that a demon lurked in the forest behind us.