Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER THIRTY.

  When they all rose up the next morning, the clouds had cleared off, andthe sun was shining bright. Ready and Juno were the first out of thehouse--Ready with the telescope under his arm, which he always took withhim when he went his rounds, as he termed it, in the morning.

  "Well, Juno," said Ready, "this is a fine morning after the rain."

  "Yes, Massa Ready, very fine morning; but how I get fire light, and makekittle boil for breakfast, I really don't know--stick and cocoa-nuttrash all so wet."

  "Before I went to bed last night, Juno, I covered up the embers withashes, put some stones over them, and then some cocoa-nut branches, so Ithink you will find some fire there yet. I was going my morning'sround, but I will stay a little and help you."

  "Tank you, Massa Ready; plenty rain fell last night."

  "Yes, not a little, Juno; you must not expect to find the water at thewell very clear this morning; indeed, I doubt if you will see the wellat all. Here's some stuff which is not very wet."

  "I got plenty of fire, too," replied Juno, who had removed the branchesand stones, and was now on her knees blowing up the embers.

  "You'll do very well now, Juno," said Ready; "besides, William will beout directly--so I'll leave you."

  Ready whistled to the dogs, who came bounding out, and then set off onhis round of inspection. He first directed his steps to the well in theravine; but, instead of the gushing spring and the limpid clear water,with which the cask sunk for a well had been filled, there was now amuddy torrent, rushing down the ravine, and the well was covered withit, and not to be distinguished.

  "I thought as much," said Ready, musing over the impetuous stream;"well, better too much water than too little." Ready waded through, ashe wished to examine the turtle-pond, which was on the other side of thestream. Finding all right, he again crossed the water, where it was nowspread wide over the sandy beach, until he came to the other point wherehe had moored his boat, both by the head and stern, with a rope, and aheavy stone made fast to it, as an anchor.

  From this point, as usual, he surveyed the horizon with his telescope;not that he thought that there was a chance of a vessel arriving amongthese islands; but, still, as it was possible, he took the trouble; butnever except when he went out in the morning alone, as he was aware thatthe very circumstance of his so doing would make Mr Seagrave melancholyand unsettled. As usual, he dropped the telescope on his arm, after hissurvey, saying to himself, "Little use doing that."

  The gale having blown offshore, the boat had dragged her moorings, andwas so far out that Ready could not get at her.

  "Here's a puzzle," said the old man; "how foolish of me not to have madea line fast to the shore! I'll not trust myself to John Shark byswimming to the boat."

  "Let me see." Ready took the halyards and sheets belonging to theboat's sails, which he had left on the beach, and bent one on to theother until he had sufficient length of rope. He then made a piece ofwood, about two feet long, fast by the middle to the end of the rope,and, after one or two attempts, contrived to throw it into the boat.The piece of wood caught under one of the thwarts, and this enabled himto draw the boat to the shore.

  Having baled out the water which had fallen into her during the storm,he then landed again and examined the garden.

  "Now to find the sheep and goats," said Ready, "and then my morning'swalk is over. Now, Romulus, now, Remus, boys, find them out," continuedhe; and the dogs, who appeared to know what he was in search of, wentaway in pursuit, and soon found the sheep and two of the goats, but thethird goat was not with them.

  "Why, where can Black Nanny be?" muttered Ready, stopping a littlewhile; at last he heard a bleat, in a small copse of brushwood, to whichhe directed his steps, followed by the dogs. "I thought as much," saidhe, as he perceived Nanny lying down in the copse with two new-born kidsat her side. "Come, my little fellows, we must find some shelter foryou," said he, taking one up under each arm. "Come, Nanny."

  Ready walked back to the house, and brought in the kids, followed byNanny. He found Mr and Mrs Seagrave and the children all dressed.Caroline and Tommy gave a scream of delight when they saw the littlekids, and even little Albert clapped his hands. As soon as Ready putthem down on the ground, Tommy and Caroline had each their arms roundone.

  "I've brought an addition to our family, Mrs Seagrave," said Ready: "wemust allow them to remain in the house until I can knock up a littleshelter for them. This is only a beginning; I expect we shall soon havemore."

  As soon as the children could be persuaded to part with the kids, Nannywas tied up in a corner, and was very content with fondling and nursingher progeny. Juno and William brought in the breakfast, and as soon asit was over, Mr Seagrave said, "Now, Ready, I think we must hold acouncil, and make arrangements as to our allotted duties and employmentsduring the rainy season. We have a great deal to do, and must not beidle."

  "Yes, sir, we have a great deal to do, and, to get through our work, wemust have order and method in our doings. I've lived long enough toknow how much can be done by regularity and discipline. Why, sir, thereis more work got out of men in a well-conducted man-of-war than therecan in the merchant service in double the time. And why so? Becauseeverything is in its place, and there is a place for everything."

  "I agree with you," said Mrs Seagrave; "method is everything. Whileone careless little girl is looking for her thimble, another will havefinished her work."

  "I assure you I never should have known what can be done by order andarrangement, if I had not been pressed on board of a man-of-war. Ifound that everything was done in silence. Every man was to his post;everyone had a rope to haul upon, or a rope to let go; the boatswainpiped, and in a few seconds every sail was set or taken in as wasrequired. It seemed to me at first like magic. And you observe, MrSeagrave, that when there is order and discipline, every man becomes ofindividual importance. If I learnt nothing else on board of aman-of-war, I learnt to make the most of time, and the most of thestrength which you could command."

  "You are very right, Ready; you must teach us to do the same," repliedMr Seagrave.

  "We have so much to do, that I hardly know where to begin; yet, sir, wemust work at present how we can, and when we can, until we have gotthings into a little better order. We have done well up to thepresent."

  "What do you think we ought to do first?"

  "Well, sir, our first job will be to haul up the boat and secure herfrom harm; we will half-dock her in the sand, and cover her over, for Ido not think it will be safe to go in her now to the other side of theisland, where the sea will always be rough."

  "There I perfectly agree with you. Now what is the next?"

  "Why, sir, we must not leave the tents where they are, but take themdown, and as soon as they are dry, stow them away, for we may want themby and by; then, sir, we must build a large outhouse for our stores andprovisions, with a thatched roof, and a floor raised about four feetfrom the ground; and then, under the floor, the sheep and goats willhave a protection from the weather. Then there is the fish-pond tomake, and also a salt-pan to cut out of the rock. Then we have two morelong jobs. One is, to go through the woods and examine the stores wehave left on the other side of the island, sort and arrange them allready for bringing here after the rains are over; and we must alsoexplore the island a little, and find out what it produces; for atpresent we know nothing of it: we may find a great many things useful tous, a great many trees and fruits, and I hope and trust we may be ableto find some more grass for our live stock."

  "I agree with you in all you say, Ready," replied Mr Seagrave; "now howshall we divide our strength?"

  "We will not divide at present, sir, if you please. Juno has plenty todo indoors with Mrs Seagrave; William, and you, and I, will firstsecure the boat and stow away the tents and gear; after that, we willset about the outbuilding, and work at it when we can. If Juno has anytime to spare, she had better collect the cocoa-nut leaves, and pilethem up for fuel;
and Tommy will, I dare say, go with her, and show herhow to draw them along."

  "Yes, I'll show her," said Tommy, getting on his feet.

  "Not just now, Tommy," said Ready, "but as soon as your mamma can spareher to go with you. Come, sir, a few hours of weather like this is notto be lost," continued Ready; "we shall have more rain before the day isover, I expect. I will first go to the tent for the shovels; then Iwill haul the boat round to the beach and meet you there. You andWilliam can take some cord, tie up a large bundle of cocoa-nut boughs,sling it to the wheels, and draw it down to the beach and meet me."