The Wreck of the Red Bird: A Story of the Carolina Coast

by George Cary Eggleston

  CHAPTER X.

  PLANS AND DEVICES.

  To say that the boys were shocked and distressed by their new mishap, isvery feebly to express their state of mind. There was consternation inthe camp, from which Jack alone partially escaped. Jack had anuncommonly cool head. In ordinary circumstances there was nothingwhatever to distinguish him from other boys. He rushed into difficultiesas recklessly as anybody--as he did on the first day when he tried touse the cast net,--and joined in all sports and boyish enterprises withas little thought as boys usually show. But in real difficulty JackFarnsworth was seen in a new light. He was calm, thoughtful, resolute,and full of resource. Ned had his first hint of this during that lastvoyage of the _Red Bird_, and as their difficulties multiplied both Nedand Charley learned to look upon Jack as their leader. They turned tohim now precisely as if he had been much older than themselves, andasked:

  "What on earth are we to do, Jack?"

  "First of all," Jack replied, "we are to keep perfectly cool. Excitementwill not only keep us from doing the best that we can, but it willweaken us and unfit us for work, even if it doesn't bring on actualsickness, which it may do. Care killed a cat, you know. We positivelymust not get excited. After all, what occasion for uneasiness is there?We are pretty genuine Crusoes now, but we can stand that. We areliterally wrecked upon a deserted island. We have lost our boat and ourboots, our hats, our gun and our supply of provisions, and so we are notquite so well situated as Robinson Crusoe was; but on the other handwe're not going to stay here year after year as he did, and besidesthere are three of us to keep each other company."

  "Well, company's good, of course," said Charley Black, "but I'm not sosure on the other points."

  "How do you mean?" asked Ned.

  "I'm not so sure about our getting away sooner than Crusoe did. I don'tsee how we're to get away at all for that matter, but may be somebodywill rescue us after twenty-eight years or so."

  "Well, if they do," said Ned, "won't it be jolly fun to go back toschool then, with long whiskers, and make old Bingham take us throughthe rest of Caesar!"

  Ned was naturally buoyant in spirits, and the spice of difficulty anddanger in their situation had now begun to stimulate his gayety insteadof depressing him. He was of too hopeful a nature to believe that theirenforced stay upon the island was likely to be very greatly prolonged,although, if put to the proof, he had no more notion than Charley Blackhad, of a possible means of escape.

  "Yes," answered Jack Farnsworth, "and after that length of time we'llhave a lot of things to learn besides Latin. We'll have to studygeography all over again to find out how many States there are in theUnion, and whether France has swallowed Germany, or Russia has conqueredEngland and moved her capital to London. Then, again, Ned, your sciencewill be out of date, and you won't dare to mention oxygen even, for fearthat somebody has found long ago that there isn't any such thing asoxygen. We'll be regular Rip Van Winkles. Who knows? Perhaps we shallfind the United States turned into an empire, and steam-enginesforgotten, and electricity, or something that we've never heard of,doing the world's work. On the whole, I think if we stay heretwenty-eight years, it will be better not to leave the island at all."

  The banter between Ned and Jack was kept up in this way for some time,Ned talking for fun merely, while Jack talked for the purpose ofovercoming poor Charley's evident depression of spirits. Finally Jacksaid:

  "But we're not going to be Rip Van Winkles or even Crusoes very long.We'll have our lark out and then go back home in time for school--sayabout three weeks or a month hence, keeping Ned's appointment with MaumSally."

  "But how on earth are we to get back?" asked Charley.

  "In a boat, to be sure; we can't walk twelve miles on the water,"answered Jack, "particularly now that we're barefooted. We'd get ourfeet wet, without a doubt."

  "Where are we to get a boat?"

  "Well, that is what I've been thinking about," said Jack, "and I thinkI've worked the problem out."

  "All right, what's the answer?" asked Ned.

  "Why, that we must rebuild the _Red Bird_."

  "How can we? She is mashed into kindling wood," said Charley.

  "No, not quite," answered Jack. "She is badly mashed, certainly, butit's simply mashing. I have been to look at her. She lies there as flatas if a steam-ship had sat down upon her, but I have carefully examinedevery stick of her timber, and while the _Red Bird_ is no more a boatthan a lumber pile is a house, still she is a pretty good pile oflumber. Comparatively few of her planks are badly split or broken, whileher ribs seem to be broken only in one or two places each. Afterexamining her very carefully I am satisfied that her timbers willfurnish us enough material for a new boat. We must build a smaller boatout of her bones--particularly a shorter boat. She was twenty-four feetlong, and by shortening her in the middle--that is, by leaving out themiddle ribs--we shall have enough planking to make a new boat. Patchingup the ribs will be the most difficult job, but I think we can manageit. Most of the planks are broken in two, but we can join the ends onribs, and, if we are patient, we can make a pretty good boat. Patienceis the one thing needful, especially for inexperienced workmen with ascanty supply of tools. We must make good joints if we have to work aweek over the joining of two boards."

  "What are we to do for nails?" asked Ned; "we haven't more than a poundor two here."

  "We haven't a single nail," said Jack; "the wild animal, whatever itwas, that robbed us, seems to have had a very miscellaneous appetite. Itnot only took our flour and bacon, our salt and our coffee and sugar; itseems to have had an appetite for nails and blankets too. At any rate,it stole them all, but luckily it didn't find the tools, because you hadthe hatchet with you, and I had the axe."

  "The mischief!" exclaimed Ned.

  "Yes, it's mischief enough for that matter, but it might have beenworse. I suppose some rascals landed here while we were away and robbedus. Of course it couldn't have been an animal, although that was myfirst thought when I found the provisions gone. Whoever it was he isn'tlikely to come again, but we must watch our camp now, and particularlywe must take care of our tools."

  "But you haven't answered my question about nails," said Ned.

  "We must make them of the _Red Bird's_ copper bolts," answered Jack;"and if we run short we can use wooden pins; but I think there is anabundance of the copper. Luckily the anchor came ashore entangled in thewreck, and that will serve us for an anvil. We can hammer the bolts intonails, using the hatchet for a hammer. It will be slow work, becausewhile the hatchet is in use making nails we can't use it in building theboat."

  "I'll tell you what," said Charley, whose spirits began now to revive;"we'll work hard of nights making nails, and have them ready for thenext day."

  "Yes, and we shan't want any nails for a day or two, while we're makingpreparations to begin, and so we can get a good supply in advance."

  "That's so," said Ned; "but do you know we're wasting precious time? Itis nearly sundown, and we have a lot to do before we go to bed. Wehaven't thought of dinner yet, and we can't now till after our work isdone. We must bring the wreck around here to-night. The fellow thatrobbed our camp was probably some negro squatter from some of theislands around us, and if he got sight of the wreck on his way back, heis sure to come over and carry away all that is valuable of the _RedBird's_ bones to-night. We must get ahead of him, and bring the wreckaround to the camp the first thing we do."

  This suggestion commended itself to Ned's companions, and the boys setoff at once, taking the axe and hatchet with them.

  When they arrived at the wreck the tide was very nearly full, so thatthere was not much difficulty in getting the remains of the _Red Bird_afloat. It was a mere raft of plank and timbers, of course, which mustbe dragged through the water along the shore by means of the anchor ropeand some wild vines cut in the woods. For a time the still incoming tidewas in their favor, and they travelled the first half mile prettyrapidly. When the tide turned, however, the labor became very severe,and it was ten
o'clock at night when the wreck of the _Red Bird_ wassafely landed at the camp. The boys were exhausted with work, and veryhungry. Ned stirred up the fire and put on a kettle of salt water, intowhich, as soon as it boiled, he poured a quart or two of shrimps.

  "We'll make a shrimp dinner to-night," he said, "and that will leave usthe mullets and wild grapes for breakfast."

  "All right," answered Jack; "I'm hungry enough not to care for varietyto-night; speed is the word just now."

  Dinner over, the boys had still to collect a large mass of the long graymoss to serve instead of the stolen blankets, so that it was quitemidnight when they finally got to sleep.