When they all rose up the next morning, the clouds had cleared off, and
the sun was shining bright. Ready and Juno were the first out of the
house--Ready with the telescope under his arm, which he always took with
him 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 make
kittle boil for breakfast, I really don't know--stick and cocoa-nut
trash all so wet."
"Before I went to bed last night, Juno, I covered up the embers with
ashes, put some stones over them, and then some cocoa-nut branches, so I
think you will find some fire there yet. I was going my morning's
round, 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 the
well very clear this morning; indeed, I doubt if you will see the well
at all. Here's some stuff which is not very wet."
"I got plenty of fire, too," replied Juno, who had removed the branches
and stones, and was now on her knees blowing up the embers.
"You'll do very well now, Juno," said Ready; "besides, William will be
out directly--so I'll leave you."
Ready whistled to the dogs, who came bounding out, and then set off on
his round of inspection. He first directed his steps to the well in the
ravine; 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 a
muddy torrent, rushing down the ravine, and the well was covered with
it, 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, as
he wished to examine the turtle-pond, which was on the other side of the
stream. Finding all right, he again crossed the water, where it was now
spread wide over the sandy beach, until he came to the other point where
he had moored his boat, both by the head and stern, with a rope, and a
heavy 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 among
these islands; but, still, as it was possible, he took the trouble; but
never except when he went out in the morning alone, as he was aware that
the very circumstance of his so doing would make Mr Seagrave melancholy
and unsettled. As usual, he dropped the telescope on his arm, after his
survey, saying to himself, "Little use doing that."
The gale having blown offshore, the boat had dragged her moorings, and
was 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 made
a line fast to the shore! I'll not trust myself to John Shark by
swimming to the boat."
"Let me see." Ready took the halyards and sheets belonging to the
boat's sails, which he had left on the beach, and bent one on to the
other until he had sufficient length of rope. He then made a piece of
wood, 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 him
to 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's
walk is over. Now, Romulus, now, Remus, boys, find them out," continued
he; and the dogs, who appeared to know what he was in search of, went
away in pursuit, and soon found the sheep and two of the goats, but the
third goat was not with them.
"Why, where can Black Nanny be?" muttered Ready, stopping a little
while; at last he heard a bleat, in a small copse of brushwood, to which
he directed his steps, followed by the dogs. "I thought as much," said
he, as he perceived Nanny lying down in the copse with two new-born kids
at her side. "Come, my little fellows, we must find some shelter for
you," said he, taking one up under each arm. "Come, Nanny."
Ready walked back to the house, and brought in the kids, followed by
Nanny. He found Mr and Mrs Seagrave and the children all dressed.
Caroline and Tommy gave a scream of delight when they saw the little
kids, and even little Albert clapped his hands. As soon as Ready put
them down on the ground, Tommy and Caroline had each their arms round
one.
"I've brought an addition to our family, Mrs Seagrave," said Ready: "we
must allow them to remain in the house until I can knock up a little
shelter for them. This is only a beginning; I expect we shall soon have
more."
As soon as the children could be persuaded to part with the kids, Nanny
was tied up in a corner, and was very content with fondling and nursing
her progeny. Juno and William brought in the breakfast, and as soon as
it was over, Mr Seagrave said, "Now, Ready, I think we must hold a
council, and make arrangements as to our allotted duties and employments
during the rainy season. We have a great deal to do, and must not be
idle."
"Yes, sir, we have a great deal to do, and, to get through our work, we
must have order and method in our doings. I've lived long enough to
know how much can be done by regularity and discipline. Why, sir, there
is more work got out of men in a well-conducted man-of-war than there
can in the merchant service in double the time. And why so? Because
everything is in its place, and there is a place for everything."
"I agree with you," said Mrs Seagrave; "method is everything. While
one careless little girl is looking for her thimble, another will have
finished her work."
"I assure you I never should have known what can be done by order and
arrangement, if I had not been pressed on board of a man-of-war. I
found 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 boatswain
piped, and in a few seconds every sail was set or taken in as was
required. It seemed to me at first like magic. And you observe, Mr
Seagrave, that when there is order and discipline, every man becomes of
individual importance. If I learnt nothing else on board of a
man-of-war, I learnt to make the most of time, and the most of the
strength which you could command."
"You are very right, Ready; you must teach us to do the same," replied
Mr Seagrave.
"We have so much to do, that I hardly know where to begin; yet, sir, we
must work at present how we can, and when we can, until we have got
things into a little better order. We have done well up to the
present."
"What do you think we ought to do first?"
"Well, sir, our first job will be to haul up the boat and secure her
from harm; we will half-dock her in the sand, and cover her over, for I
do not think it will be safe to go in her now to the other side of the
island, 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 them
down, and as soon as they are dry, stow them away, for we may want them
by and by; then, sir, we must build a large outhouse for our stores and
provisions, with a thatched roof, and a floor raised about four feet
from the ground; and then, under the floor, the sheep and goats will
have a protection from the weather. Then there is the fish-pond to
make, and also a salt-pan to cut out of the rock. Then we have two more
long jobs. One is, to go through the woods and examine the stores we
have left on the other side of the island, sort and arrange them all
ready for bringing here after the rains are over; and we must also
explore the island a little, and find out what it produces; for at
present we know nothing of it: we may find a great many things useful to
us, a great many trees and fruits, and I hope and trust we may be able
to find some more grass for our live stock."
"I agree with you in all you say, Ready," replied Mr Seagrave; "now how
shall we divide our strength?"
"We will not divide at present, sir, if you please. Juno has plenty to
do indoors with Mrs Seagrave; William, and you, and I, will first
secure the boat and stow away the tents and gear; after that, we will
set about the outbuilding, and work at it when we can. If Juno has any
time to spare, she had better collect the cocoa-nut leaves, and pile
them up for fuel; and Tommy will, I dare say, go with her, and show her
how 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 spare
her to go with you. Come, sir, a few hours of weather like this is not
to be lost," continued Ready; "we shall have more rain before the day is
over, I expect. I will first go to the tent for the shovels; then I
will haul the boat round to the beach and meet you there. You and
William 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."