On the day that followed the occurrence of the above exciting events,
Nicholls and Simpson being still too weak to be fit for the somewhat
laborious work of the dockyard, Leslie determined to pay a visit to his
treasure-cave, being anxious to ascertain whether the earthquake had
materially interfered with the configuration of the country in that
direction, and, if so, to what extent. Upon learning his determination
Flora announced her decision to accompany him; and accordingly, having
packed a luncheon-basket, the pair set off together soon after
breakfast, leaving Nicholls and the boatswain in charge of the camp.
The day was magnificently fine, but the temperature was somewhat higher
than usual, the trade wind having softened down to a quite moderate
breeze; so Dick and his companion proceeded on their way in a very
leisurely manner, intending to take the whole day for their task of
exploration. No very marked or important changes in the aspect of the
landscape were noticeable until they reached the ridge or spur of the
mountain that terminated in the headland that Dick had named Cape Flora;
but as soon as this ridge, was crossed they saw that, for some
unexplainable reason, the earthquake action had been much more violent
on the northerly than on the southward side of it; so great indeed were
the changes wrought that in many places the features of the landscape
were scarcely recognisable, and Leslie had the utmost difficulty in
finding his way.
At length, however, they arrived in the neighbourhood of the spot where
they believed the cave to be situated, and here the changes had been so
great that for some time Leslie was utterly at a loss. The surface was
so twisted and torn, so utterly disfigured by landslides and upheavals
of rock, that they might have been in another island altogether, so far
as recognition of the original features was concerned. This was far
worse than the worst Dick had anticipated, and for a time he was in a
state of utter despair, fearing that his treasure had been swallowed up
beyond recovery. Still, he felt convinced that he was in the immediate
neighbourhood of the spot where the cave had been, and, bidding Flora to
sit down and rest while he further investigated, he began to grope about
here and there among the confused mass of rocks, studying them intently
as he did so. For upwards of two hours Leslie searched and toiled in
vain; but at length he came upon a piece of rock face that seemed
familiar to him, and upon removing a number of blocks of splintered rock
he disclosed a small hole, creeping into which he found himself once
more, to his infinite joy, in the treasure-cave, with the treasure safe
within it. He stayed but long enough to satisfy himself that everything
was as he had left it, and then, emerging once more into the open
daylight, he carefully masked the entrance again by placing the blocks
very much as he had found them.
Pretty thoroughly fatigued by this time, he made his way to the spot
where Flora was seated, and acquainted her with his success, while she
unpacked the luncheon and spread it out invitingly upon the surface of
the rock. This rock upon which they were seated occupied a somewhat
commanding position, from the summit of which a fairly extended view of
the surrounding country was to be obtained; and it was while the pair
were leisurely eating their midday meal that Dick's eye suddenly caught
the glint of water at no great distance. Now, he knew that when he was
last on the spot there was no water anywhere nearer than the open ocean;
yet this, as he saw it through the interlacing boughs and trunks of the
trees, flickered with the suggestion of a surface agitated by an
incoming swell. As soon, therefore, as they had finished their lunch,
the pair made their way in the direction of this appearance of water;
and after about ten minutes of easy walking found themselves standing
upon the brink of a kind of "sink" or basin about a quarter of a mile in
diameter, having a narrow opening communicating with the open sea. It
was a strange-looking place, presenting an appearance suggestive of a
vast hollow under the coast-line having fallen in and swallowed up a
circular piece of the island, leaving two rocky headlands standing, the
southern headland slightly overlapping the northern one and thus
completely masking the basin or cove from the sea. The surrounding
cliffs were about a hundred feet high, composed entirely of rock, and
presenting an almost vertical face; but so rough and broken was this
face, and so numerous were the projections, that not only Dick but Flora
also found it perfectly safe and easy to descend by means of them right
down to the water's edge, into which the cliffs dropped sheer, with a
depth of water alongside so great that Dick could not discern the
bottom, although the water was crystal-clear. And so narrow was the
opening that what small amount of swell found its way into the cove was
practically dissipated ere it reached the rocky walls, alongside which
the water rose and fell so gently that its movement was scarcely
perceptible. It was, in fact, an ideal harbour for such a craft as the
cutter, and Dick at once determined to bring her round to this spot as
soon as she was ready, in order to ship the treasure on board her.
Upon their return to camp that evening Dick found that Nicholls and
Simpson were making such rapid strides toward recovery that they were
not only able to walk about with something like an approach to their
former strength, but that they also expressed their conviction that they
would be perfectly able to begin work on the morrow. It appeared that
they had been amusing themselves by prowling about the camp and
investigating the condition of affairs generally. It was only natural
that their chief interest should centre in the cutter, and the probable
amount of work that lay before them all ere she would be completed and
ready for sea. As has already been mentioned, her condition at this
time was that of a completed skeleton, her keel, stem, and stern-posts
having been joined up, the whole of her frames erected in position and
properly connected to the keel, and all her wales and stringers
bolted-to; she was therefore so far advanced that the next thing in
order was to lay her planking. This planking, it may be mentioned, was
of oak throughout, arranged to be laid on in two thicknesses, each plank
of the outer skin overlaying a joint between two planks in the skin
beneath it; and every plank had already been roughly cut to shape and
carefully marked. All, therefore, that was now required was to complete
the trimming of each plank and fix it in position. The inner layer of
planking was much the thicker of the two, the intention of the designer
evidently being that this inner skin should be attached to the steel
frames by steel screws not quite long enough to completely penetrate the
plank, the outer skin being attached to the inner by gun-metal screws
carefully spaced in such a manner that there was always a distance of at
least six inches between the steel and gun-metal screws, thus avoiding
all possibility of even the smallest approach to galvanic action being
set up between the two. And it was, of course, to the outer skin that
the copper sheathing was to be attached.
Now the planking--even the comparatively thin outer skin--was much too
stout and tough to be got into position without steaming; and this fact
had occurred to Simpson while prowling about the dockyard that day. He
had mentioned the matter to Nicholls, and the pair had at once looked
about them to see whether Leslie had made any provision for the steaming
of the planks; and, finding none, they had profitably amused themselves
by sorting out, from the deck and other planking brought ashore from the
brig, a sufficient quantity of stuff suitable for the construction of a
steaming-trunk, and laying it aside ready for Leslie's inspection upon
his return. They had not quite completed their self-imposed task when
Dick got back to the camp, and, seeing them apparently busy, sauntered
down to the spot where they were at work.
"Well, lads," said he, with a smile, "so you are getting yourselves into
training, eh? I am glad to see that you are making such rapid advances
toward recovery."
"Thank you, sir; yes, we're pulling round again all right," replied
Nicholls. "We've been amusing ourselves to-day by taking a general look
round, and so far as we can see, your cutter--a most remarkable fine
little boat she is going to be--is just about ready to start
planking-up. But we see no signs of a steaming-trunk anywhere about,
Mr Leslie; so Bob and I have been putting in our time on the job of
sorting out from among that raffle, there, enough stuff to make a trunk
out of; and here it is, sir, if you don't happen to want it for anything
else."
"No," said Leslie, "I do not require it for anything in particular; and
as we shall certainly require a trunk we may as well work it up into
one. That, I think, will have to be our next job."
"Yes, sir," agreed Nicholls; "it looks like it. But what about a
boiler, sir, in which to generate the steam? I don't see anything
knocking about ashore, here, that'll do for one."
"No," said Leslie; "and I am rather afraid we may have a hard job to
find one. There is only one thing that I can think of, and that is one
of the brig's water tanks. I had intended to bring one ashore for that
especial purpose; but now that those rascally savages have burnt the
craft we may find that her tanks have been destroyed by the fire."
"I should think not, sir," dissented Nicholls. "They will have been
stowed right down in the bottom of her, perhaps; and if that's the case
the fire won't have had a chance to get at 'em."
"I really do not know whether they were stowed in her bottom or not,"
answered Leslie; "but we will go off to-morrow, and have a look at the
wreck. One thing is quite certain: we _must_ have a boiler of some
sort, or we shall never be able to get those planks into position--
especially those about the head of the stern-post--without splitting
them. And I would take a good deal of trouble to avoid such a
misfortune as that."
The following day found Nicholls and Simpson so far recovered that they
both declared themselves quite strong enough to turn-to, and accordingly
Leslie--who, since the raid of the savages, was more feverishly eager
than ever to get away from the island--took the catamaran; and the three
men went off together to the wreck of the brig.
They found her burnt practically down to the water's edge, and
everything not of metal that was in her also consumed down to that
level. Below the surface, however, everything was of course untouched.
But all the gear--sheer-legs, tackles, and the rest of it--that had been
of such immense value to Dick in getting the various matters out of the
brig, had been destroyed with her; and if any very serious amount of
turning over of the cargo under water should prove to be necessary, he
would be obliged to provide and rig up a complete fresh set of
apparatus. Moreover, there was no longer the convenient platform of the
deck to work from, instead of which they had to wade about on a confused
mass of cargo beneath the surface of the water, affording them a most
awkward and irregular platform with, in some spots, only a few inches of
water over it, while elsewhere there was a depth of as many feet. A
careful examination of the whole of the visible cargo failed to reveal
the whereabouts of the water tanks, or of anything else that would serve
the purpose of a boiler; and at length they were reluctantly driven to
the conclusion that before the search could be further prosecuted it
would be necessary to procure and rig up another set of sheer-legs, and
to replace the lost gear with such blocks, etcetera, as they could find
among the heterogeneous collection of stuff already salved from the
brig.
To be obliged to expend so much time and labour all over again was
decidedly disheartening; but, as Leslie said, it was quite useless to
worry over it; it _had_ to be done, and the sooner they set about it the
better. So they returned to the shore, and while Nicholls and Simpson,
armed with axes, went off into the woods in search of a couple of spars
suitable for sheers, Dick proceeded to overhaul the mass of raffle
brought ashore from the brig, and at length secured enough blocks and
rope to furnish a fairly effective set of tackle wherewith to equip
them. There was a tremendous amount of long-splicing to be done in
order to work up the various odds and ends of rope into suitable lengths
for the several tackles required; but four days of assiduous labour
found the vexatious task completed and everything ready for the
resumption of work. Then ensued an arduous and wearisome turning over
of cargo--much of it consisting of heavy castings and other parts of
machinery; but at length they got down to one of the tanks, which they
hoisted out, emptied, and floated ashore.
Then came the building of the steam-trunk, which they erected close
alongside the cutter and right down at the water's edge, for convenience
in supplying the boiler with water; and this done, they were at length
able to turn-to upon the important task of planking-up the hull of their
little ship. And now it was that Leslie was able for the first time to
appreciate the inestimable value of the carefully prepared and figured
diagram of the planking that the builders had so thoughtfully included
among the various matters appertaining to the construction of the
cutter. For with it in his hand, all that was necessary was for Leslie
to go over the pile of planking, noting the letters and numbers on each
plank, and stack the whole in such a manner that the planks first
required should be found on top of the stack, while those last wanted
would lie at the bottom. And now, too, he found how great an advantage
the possession of two able and intelligent workers was to him; for not
only were the three men able to do thrice the amount of work possible to
one man in a given time, but they were able to do considerably more when
it came to such matters as lifting heavy weights, twisting refractory
planks into position, and other matters of a similar kind where mere
brute strength was required. Moreover, their steaming apparatus acted
to perfection; and after the first two days--during which they were
acquiring the knack of working together, and generally "getting the hang
of things," as Nicholls expressed it--everything went like clock-work.
They averaged six complete strakes of planking--three on either side of
the hull--sawn, trimmed, steamed, and fixed, per diem; and as there
happened to be thirty strakes up to the covering-board it cost them just
ten days of strenuous labour to get the inner skin laid; and the laying
of the outer skin consumed a similar period. Then there was the
caulking and paying of the seams in the inner and outer skins--which was
a task that needed the most careful doing and was not to be hurried--as
well as the protection of the inner skin by a coat of good thick
white-lead laid on immediately under each plank of the outer skin and
applied the last thing before screwing each plank down; all this ran
away with time; so that it took them a full month to complete the
planking-up and advance the craft to the stage at which she would be
ready for the laying of the decks. But before this was undertaken they
painted her three coats of zinc white, and, as soon as this was dry,
laid on her copper sheathing and hung her rudder.
The laying, caulking, and paying of the cutter's deck kept them busy for
a fortnight; and she was then in condition for the fitting up of her
interior. This, according to the original design, was divided up into a
forecastle with accommodation for four men, abaft of which came a small
galley on the port side, and an equally small steward's pantry on the
starboard side. Then, abaft these again, came a tiny saloon, and
finally, abaft this again, two little state rooms on one side, with a
little bathroom, lavatory, and sail-room on the other. The saloon was
entered by way of a short companion ladder leading from a small
self-emptying cockpit, some five feet wide by six feet long, this
cockpit being the only open space in the boat, the rest of her hull
being completely decked over. The saloon was lighted by a small
skylight and six scuttles--three of a side--fixed in the planking of the
little craft. The staterooms, although very small, were still
sufficient in size to enable an adult to sleep in them comfortably, and
their interior arrangement was a perfect marvel of ingenuity, each being
fitted with a small chest of drawers under the bunk, and a folding
washstand and dressing-table. This was the arrangement set out in the
plans and provided for in the materials for her construction; and as it
happened to suit Leslie's requirements exceedingly well, he very wisely
determined not to alter it. The work of putting together the bulkheads,
lining the saloon, fitting up the staterooms, and generally completing
her interior arrangements, was not laborious, but there was a great deal
of it, and some of it came very awkwardly to their hands, due, no doubt,
to a great extent, to the unaccustomed character of the work in the
first place, and, in the second, to the confined spaces in which much of
it was necessarily to be done; but at length there came a day when,
after a most careful inspection of the craft, inside and out, Dick
pronounced her hull complete and ready for launching. But at the last
moment he decided that it would be more convenient to step her
lower-mast ere she left the stocks; and, one thing leading naturally to
another, an additional day was devoted to the job of stepping this
important spar, getting the bowsprit into position, setting up all the
rigging connected with these two spars, and getting the main-boom and
gaff into their places. Then, with the remainder of her spars and all
her sails aboard, they knocked off work for the night, with the
understanding that the little craft was to be consigned to "her native
element" on the morrow.
The dawn of that morrow promised as fair a day as heart could wish for
so important a ceremony; and the three men were early astir and busy
upon the final preparations. The most important of these was the
greasing of the launching ways; and as Dick had foreseen this necessity
from the very outset, he had not only adopted the precaution of bringing
ashore from the brig every ounce of tallow and grease of every
description that he had been able to find aboard her, but had rigorously
saved every morsel that had resulted from their cooking during the whole
period of their sojourn upon the island. Thus it happened that, when it
came to the point, he found that he had what, with judicious and strict
economy, might prove sufficient for the purpose. But he intended that
there should be no room for doubt in so important a matter as this, and
he therefore ruthlessly sacrificed almost the whole of a big case of
toilet soap, with which he and the other two men went diligently over
the ways, rubbing the soap on dry until a film of it covered the ways
throughout their whole length. Then, upon the top of this, they
plastered on their tallow and other grease until it was all expended; at
which stage of the proceedings Dick declared himself satisfied, and
marched off to rid himself of the traces of his somewhat dirty work.
And by this time breakfast was ready. Then, upon the conclusion of the
meal, all hands adjourned once more to the yard, Flora being attired for
the occasion in a complete suit of dainty white, topped off with a
broad-brimmed flower-bedecked hat that, under other circumstances, would
doubtless have graced some Valparaiso belle. Dick carried two bottles
of champagne--the last of their scanty stock--in his hand, one of them
being devoted to the christening ceremony, while the other was to be
consumed in drinking success to the little boat.
Arrived alongside, Nicholls nipped up the ladder that gave access to the
little craft's deck, and attached the bottle of champagne to the
stem-head by a line long enough to reach down to within about six inches
of her keel. Then he went aft and lashed the tiller amidships, which
done, he announced that all was ready. Upon hearing this Dick placed
the bottle of wine in Flora's hand, and, telling her when to act and
what to say, stationed himself, with a heavy sledge-hammer in his hand,
at one of the spur-shores, Simpson, similarly provided, going to the
other. Then--
"Are you all ready?" shouted Dick.
"Ay, ay, sir, all ready!" answered Simpson, swaying up the heavy hammer
over his shoulder.
"Then _strike_!" yelled Dick; and crash fell the two hammers
simultaneously; down dropped the spur-shores, and a tremor appeared to
thrill the little craft throughout her entire fabric.
For a single moment she seemed to hang--to Dick's unmitigated
consternation, but the next second he saw her begin to move with an
almost imperceptible gliding motion toward the water. Flora saw it too,
and raising the bottle of wine in her hand, dashed it against the little
craft's bows, shattering the glass to pieces and causing the wine to
cream over the brightly burnished copper as she cried--
"God bless the _Flora_ and grant her success!"
The speed of the handsome little clipper rapidly increased, and
presently she entered the water with a headlong rush, curtseying as
gracefully as though she had learned the trick from her namesake, ere
she recovered herself and floated lightly as a soap-bubble on the water.
(For although Dick had found an entire outfit of lead ballast for her,
already cast to the shape of her hull, he had only put part of it aboard
her, leaving out about six tons, in place of which he intended to stow
the gold from the treasure-cave.) The little craft held her way for
quite an extraordinary distance--showing thereby in the most practical
of all ways the excellence and beauty of her lines--and when at length
she came to rest Nicholls let go her anchor and waved his hand by way of
a signal that all was well. Whereupon Dick and Simpson jumped into the
canoe and paddled off to fetch him ashore.
The moment had now arrived when it became necessary for Leslie to come
to some definite conclusion as to how far he would take these two men
into his confidence. He had watched them both with the utmost keenness
from the first moment of his connection with them, and everything that
he had seen in their speech and behaviour had led him to the conviction
that they were absolutely honest, loyal, and trustworthy. On the other
hand, he had heard of cases wherein men even as trustworthy as he
believed these two to be had succumbed to the influence of some sudden,
over-powering temptation; and there could be no question that a treasure
of such enormous value as that lying hidden in the cave constituted a
temptation sufficient to strain to its utmost limit the honesty of any
but the most thoroughly conscientious man. He therefore finally settled
the matter with himself by determining upon a compromise; he would take
Nicholls and Simpson into his confidence just so far as was absolutely
necessary, and no farther.
Therefore, when they all landed on the beach, after taking Nicholls off
the cutter, Leslie invited the two men to accompany him to the tent,
there to empty their last bottle of champagne in drinking to the success
of the new craft. And when this ceremony had been duly performed,
Leslie turned to the two men, and said--
"And now, lads, the cutter having been successfully got into the water,
I find myself in the position of being able to make to you both a
certain proposal and offer that has long been in my mind. When I took
you two men off your raft, and brought you ashore here in a dying
condition, that tiny craft that floats so jauntily out there on the
smooth waters of the lagoon was only in frame--a mere skeleton. But you
saw of what that skeleton was composed; you saw that it was made of
tough steel firmly and substantially put together with stout bolts and
rivets. And since then you have assisted me to bring forward the little
craft from what she then was to what she is to-day; you have seen and
handled the materials that have been worked into her, and nobody knows
better than yourselves what careful and faithful labour and workmanship
has been bestowed upon the putting of her together. Now, I want you to
give me your honest opinion, as sailors, of that little craft. You know
that she was built for the sole purpose of carrying us all away from
this island--which, I may tell you, lies well in the heart of the
Pacific; I want you, as sailors of experience, to say whether you will
feel any hesitation in trusting your lives to her."
Nicholls laughed heartily at the question; and Simpson grinned
corroboratively.
"Why," exclaimed the former, "men have gone more than halfway round the
world in craft that aren't to be mentioned on the same day as that dandy
little packet! The last time that I was in Sydney--which was last
year--there was a Yankee chap there that had made the voyage from
America in a dug-out canoe that he had decked over and rigged as a
three-masted schooner--he and another chap--and they intended to go on
and complete the trip round the world. I don't mind saying that I
shouldn't have altogether cared about making such a voyage myself in
such a craft; but yonder little beauty's quite a different story. I'd
be as willing to ship in her as in anything else--provided that it was
made worth my while. What say you, bo'sun?"
"Same here," answered Simpson, the man of brevities.
"You really mean it? You are both speaking in serious earnest?"
demanded Leslie.
"_I_ am, most certainly," answered Nicholls; "in proof of which I intend
to sail with you when you leave the island--if you'll take me, Mr
Leslie; and I don't think you are the man to refuse two poor castaways a
passage, especially as you've got plenty of room aboard there for us
both, and we can make ourselves useful enough to pay for our passages."
"Very well, then," said Leslie. "Now, this is the proposal that I have
to make to you both. I have here, on this island, snugly stowed away in
a cave, certain valuables that I am most anxious to personally convey to
England; and for certain reasons with which I need not trouble you, I am
equally anxious to get them home without bringing them under the notice
of the authorities, and the only way in which this can be done is to
take them home _in the cutter_. My plan is to make my way in the first
instance to Australia, where Miss Trevor will leave the _Flora_. At
Melbourne I shall revictual, and thence proceed to Capetown, where I
shall do the like, sailing thence to England, with a call, perhaps, at
some of the Canaries, if necessary. Now, if you have no fancy for such
a long trip as that which I have sketched out, in so small a craft as
the _Flora_, you will of course be perfectly free to leave her upon our
arrival at Melbourne. But if, on the other hand, you are willing to
ship with me for the whole voyage, I think I can make it quite worth
your while, for I shall require at least two men whom I can absolutely
trust, and I believe you two to be those men. Now, what amount would
you consider to be adequate remuneration for the run home from here?"
"How long do you reckon the trip is going to take, sir?" inquired
Nicholls.
"Um, let me see," considered Leslie, making a mental calculation. "We
ought to do it comfortably in about one hundred and eighty days--six
months; call it seven months, if you like."