The Coral Island by Robert Michael Ballantyne (top rated books of all time .txt) 📕

not the rudder been torn away. Within the lagoon were several

pretty, low coral islands, just opposite our encampment; and,

immediately beyond these, out at sea, lay about a dozen other

islands, at various distances, from half a mile to ten miles; all

of them, as far as we could discern, smaller than ours and

apparently uninhabited. They seemed to be low coral islands,

raised but little above the sea, yet covered with cocoa-nut trees.

All this we noted, and a great deal more, while we sat on the top

of the mountain. After we had satisfied ourselves we prepared to

return; but here again we discovered traces of the presence of man.

These were a pole or staff and one or two pieces of wood which had

been squared with an axe. All of these were, however, very much

decayed, and they had evidently not been touched for many years.

Full of these discoveries we returned to our encampment. On the

way we fell in with the traces of some four-footed animal, but

whether old or of recent date none of us were able to guess. This

also tended to raise our hopes of obtaining some animal food on the

island, so we reached home in good spirits, quite prepared for

supper, and highly satisfied with our excursion.

After much discussion, in which Peterkin took the lead, we came to

the conclusion that the island was uninhabited, and went to bed.

CHAPTER VII.

Jack’s ingenuity - We get into difficulties about fishing, and get

out of them by a method which gives us a cold bath - Horrible

encounter with a shark.

FOR several days after the excursion related in the last chapter we

did not wander far from our encampment, but gave ourselves up to

forming plans for the future and making our present abode

comfortable.

There were various causes that induced this state of comparative

inaction. In the first place, although everything around us was so

delightful, and we could without difficulty obtain all that we

required for our bodily comfort, we did not quite like the idea of

settling down here for the rest of our lives, far away from our

friends and our native land. To set energetically about

preparations for a permanent residence seemed so like making up our

minds to saying adieu to home and friends for ever, that we tacitly

shrank from it and put off our preparations, for one reason and

another, as long as we could. Then there was a little uncertainty

still as to there being natives on the island, and we entertained a

kind of faint hope that a ship might come and take us off. But as

day after day passed, and neither savages nor ships appeared, we

gave up all hope of an early deliverance and set diligently to work

at our homestead.

During this time, however, we had not been altogether idle. We

made several experiments in cooking the cocoa-nut, most of which

did not improve it. Then we removed our goods, and took up our

abode in the cave, but found the change so bad that we returned

gladly to the bower. Besides this we bathed very frequently, and

talked a great deal; at least Jack and Peterkin did, - I listened.

Among other useful things, Jack, who was ever the most active and

diligent, converted about three inches of the hoop-iron into an

excellent knife. First he beat it quite flat with the axe. Then

he made a rude handle, and tied the hoop-iron to it with our piece

of whip-cord, and ground it to an edge on a piece of sandstone.

When it was finished he used it to shape a better handle, to which

he fixed it with a strip of his cotton handkerchief; - in which

operation he had, as Peterkin pointed out, torn off one of Lord

Nelson’s noses. However, the whip-cord, thus set free, was used by

Peterkin as a fishing line. He merely tied a piece of oyster to

the end of it. This the fish were allowed to swallow, and then

they were pulled quickly ashore. But as the line was very short

and we had no boat, the fish we caught were exceedingly small.

One day Peterkin came up from the beach, where he had been angling,

and said in a very cross tone, “I’ll tell you what, Jack, I’m not

going to be humbugged with catching such contemptible things any

longer. I want you to swim out with me on your back, and let me

fish in deep water!”

“Dear me, Peterkin,” replied Jack, “I had no idea you were taking

the thing so much to heart, else I would have got you out of that

difficulty long ago. Let me see,” - and Jack looked down at a

piece of timber on which he had been labouring, with a peculiar

gaze of abstraction, which he always assumed when trying to invent

or discover anything.

“What say you to building a boat?” he inquired, looking up hastily.

“Take far too long,” was the reply; “can’t be bothered waiting. I

want to begin at once!”

Again Jack considered. “I have it!” he cried. “We’ll fell a large

tree and launch the trunk of it in the water, so that when you want

to fish you’ve nothing to do but to swim out to it.”

“Would not a small raft do better?” said I.

“Much better; but we have no ropes to bind it together with.

Perhaps we may find something hereafter that will do as well, but,

in the meantime, let us try the tree.”

This was agreed on, so we started off to a spot not far distant,

where we knew of a tree that would suit us, which grew near the

water’s edge. As soon as we reached it Jack threw off his coat,

and, wielding the axe with his sturdy arms, hacked and hewed at it

for a quarter of an hour without stopping. Then he paused, and,

while he sat down to rest, I continued the work. Then Peterkin

made a vigorous attack on it, so that when Jack renewed his

powerful blows, a few minutes cutting brought it down with a

terrible crash.

“Hurrah! now for it,” cried Jack; “let us off with its head.”

So saying he began to cut through the stem again, at about six

yards from the thick end. This done, he cut three strong, short

poles or levers from the stout branches, with which to roll the log

down the beach into the sea; for, as it was nearly two feet thick

at the large end, we could not move it without such helps. With

the levers, however, we rolled it slowly into the sea.

Having been thus successful in launching our vessel, we next shaped

the levers into rude oars or paddles, and then attempted to embark.

This was easy enough to do; but, after seating ourselves astride

the log, it was with the utmost difficulty we kept it from rolling

round and plunging us into the water. Not that we minded that

much; but we preferred, if possible, to fish in dry clothes. To be

sure, our trousers were necessarily wet, as our legs were dangling

in the water on each side of the log; but, as they could be easily

dried, we did not care. After half an hour’s practice, we became

expert enough to keep our balance pretty steadily. Then Peterkin

laid down his paddle, and having baited his line with a whole

oyster, dropt it into deep water.

“Now, then, Jack,” said he, “be cautious; steer clear o’ that sea-weed. There; that’s it; gently, now, gently. I see a fellow at

least a foot long down there, coming to - ha! that’s it! Oh!

bother, he’s off.”

“Did he bite?” said Jack, urging the log onwards a little with his

paddle.

“Bite? ay! He took it into his mouth, but the moment I began to

haul he opened his jaws and let it out again.”

“Let him swallow it next time,” said Jack, laughing at the

melancholy expression of Peterkin’s visage.

“There he’s again,” cried Peterkin, his eyes flashing with

excitement. “Look out! Now then! No! Yes! No! Why, the brute

WON’T swallow it!”

“Try to haul him up by the mouth, then,” cried Jack. “Do it

gently.”

A heavy sigh and a look of blank despair showed that poor Peterkin

had tried and failed again.

“Never mind, lad,” said Jack, in a voice of sympathy; “we’ll move

on, and offer it to some other fish.” So saying, Jack plied his

paddle; but scarcely had he moved from the spot, when a fish with

an enormous head and a little body darted from under a rock and

swallowed the bait at once.

“Got him this time, - that’s a fact!” cried Peterkin, hauling in

the line. “He’s swallowed the bait right down to his tail, I

declare. Oh what a thumper!”

As the fish came struggling to the surface, we leaned forward to

see it, and overbalanced the log. Peterkin threw his arms round

the fish’s neck; and, in another instant, we were all floundering

in the water!

A shout of laughter burst from us as we rose to the surface like

three drowned rats, and seized hold of the log. We soon recovered

our position, and sat more warily, while Peterkin secured the fish,

which had well-nigh escaped in the midst of our struggles. It was

little worth having, however; but, as Peterkin remarked, it was

better than the smouts he had been catching for the last two or

three days; so we laid it on the log before us, and having re-baited the line, dropt it in again for another.

Now, while we were thus intent upon our sport, our attention was

suddenly attracted by a ripple on the sea, just a few yards away

from us. Peterkin shouted to us to paddle in that direction, as he

thought it was a big fish, and we might have a chance of catching

it. But Jack, instead of complying, said, in a deep, earnest tone

of voice, which I never before heard him use, -

“Haul up your line, Peterkin; seize your paddle; quick, - it’s a

shark!”

The horror with which we heard this may well be imagined, for it

must be remembered that our legs were hanging down in the water,

and we could not venture to pull them up without upsetting the log.

Peterkin instantly hauled up the line; and, grasping his paddle,

exerted himself to the utmost, while we also did our best to make

for shore. But we were a good way off, and the log being, as I

have before said, very heavy, moved but slowly through the water.

We now saw the shark quite distinctly swimming round and round us,

its sharp fin every now and then protruding above the water. From

its active and unsteady motions, Jack knew it was making up its

mind to attack us, so he urged us vehemently to paddle for our

lives, while he himself set us the example. Suddenly he shouted

“Look out! - there he comes!” and in a second we saw the monstrous

fish dive close under us, and turn half over on his side. But we

all made a great commotion with our paddles, which no doubt

frightened it away for that time, as we saw it immediately after

circling round us as before.

“Throw the fish to him,” cried Jack, in a quick, suppressed voice;

“we’ll make the shore in time yet if we can keep him off for a few

minutes.”

Peterkin stopped one instant to obey the