When Tommy was questioned on the following morning as to his inducement
to get into the boat, to their great surprise he replied, that he wanted
to go round to the tents again, to see if the bananas were ripe; that he
intended to eat some of them and be back before dinner-time, that he
might not be found out.
"I suspect, Tommy, you would have been very hungry before you ate any
bananas if we had not perceived you," said Ready.
"I won't go into the boat any more," said Tommy.
"I rather think you will keep to that resolution, Tommy," replied Mr
Seagrave; "however, I must leave your mother to point out to you the
danger you were in yourself, and in which you placed others by your
folly."
The stockade was now almost finished; the door was the occasion of a
good deal of consultation; at last, it was agreed that it would be
better to have a door of stout oak plank, but with second door-posts
inside, about a foot apart from the door, between which could be
inserted short poles one above the other, so as to barricade it within
when required. This would make the door as strong as any other portion
of the stockade. As soon as this was all complete, the storehouse was
to be altered for a dwelling-house, by taking away the wattles of
cocoa-nut boughs on the sides, and filling them up with logs of
cocoa-nut trees.
Before the week was ended the stockade and door were complete, and they
now began to fell trees, to form the sides of the house. This was rapid
work; and while Mr Seagrave, William, and Juno felled the trees, and
brought them on the wheels to the side of the stockade, all ready cut to
their proper lengths, Ready was employed in flooring the house with a
part of the deal planks which they had brought round from the cove. But
this week they were obliged to break off for two days, to collect all
their crops from the garden.
A fortnight more passed away in continual hard work, but the house was
at last finished, and very complete, compared to the one they were
residing in. It was much larger, and divided into three rooms by the
deal planking: the middle room which the door opened into was the
sitting and eating room, with a window behind; the two side rooms were
sleeping-rooms, one for Mrs Seagrave and the children, and the other
for the male portion of the family.
"See, William," said Ready, when they were alone, "what we have been
able to do by means of those deal planks; why, to have floored this
house, and run up the partitions, would have taken us half a year if we
had had to saw the wood."
"Yes; and what a comfort it is to have so many shelves about. When
shall we shift into this house?"
"The sooner the better. We have plenty of work still to do, but we can
work outside of the stockade."
"And what do you propose to do with the old house?" said William.
"We had better put some of our stores of least value in it for the
present, until we can fit up another storehouse inside the stockade."
"Then we'll put those casks in, for they take up a great deal of room."
"All but that large one, William; we shall want that. I shall fix it up
in a corner."
"What for, Ready?"
"To put water in."
"But we are closer to the spring than we were at the other house."
"I know that; but, perhaps, we may not be able to go out of the
stockade, and then we shall want water."
"I understand, Ready; how thoughtful you are!"
"If at my age I did not think a little, William, it would be very odd.
You don't know how anxious I am to see them all inside of this defence."
"But why should we not come in, Ready?"
"Why, sir, as there is still plenty of work, I do not like to press the
matter, lest your mamma should be fidgeted, and think there was danger;
but danger there is; I have a kind of forewarning of it. I wish you
would propose that they should come in at once; the standing-bed places
are all ready, except the canvas, and I shall nail on new by to-night."
In consequence of this conversation, William proposed at dinnertime that
the next day they should go into the new house, as it was so much more
handy to work there and live there at the same time. Mr Seagrave was
of the same opinion, but Mrs Seagrave thought it better that everything
should be tidy first.
"Why, ma'am," said Ready, "the only way to get things tidy is to go
yourself and make them so. Nothing will ever be in its place unless you
are there to put it in."
"Well, Ready," said Mrs Seagrave, "since you are against me as well as
all the rest, I give it up, and if you please we will shift over
to-morrow."
"Indeed, ma'am, I think it will be better; this is the last month of
fine weather, and we shall have plenty to do."
"Be it so, Ready; you are the best judge; to-morrow we will take up our
quarters in the stockade."
"Thank God!" muttered Ready very softly.
The next day was fully employed in changing their residence, and
shifting over the bedding and utensils; and that night they slept within
the stockade. Ready had run up a very neat little outhouse of plank, as
a kitchen for Juno, and another week was fully employed as follows: the
stores were divided; those of least consequence, and the salt
provisions, flour, and the garden produce, etcetera, were put into the
old house; the casks of powder and most of the cartridges were also put
there for security; but a cask of beef, of pork, and flour, all the
iron-work and nails, canvas, etcetera, were stowed away for the present
under the new house, which had, when built as a storehouse, been raised
four feet from the ground to make a shelter for the stock. This was
very spacious, and, of course, quite dry, and contained all they wished
to put in. Ready also took care, by degrees, to fill the large
water-butt full of water, and had fixed into the bottom a spigot for
drawing the water off.
"Well, Mr Seagrave," said Ready on the Saturday, "we have done a good
many hard weeks' work lately, but this is the last of them. We are now
comfortably settled in our new house: our stores are all under cover,
and safe from the weather, and so we may now take things a little
easier. William and I must repair the boat, so that we may take a trip
round to examine how the stock and yams get on."
"And the bananas and the guavas," said Tommy.
"Why, we have quite forgotten all about them," observed Mrs Seagrave.
"Yes, ma'am; we have been so busy, that it is no wonder; however, there
may be some left yet, and I will go round as soon as the boat is able to
swim, and bring all I can find."
"We must put our seeds and potatoes in before the rainy season, Ready."
"It will be better, sir, if we can find time, as we shall not have much
more fine weather now; at all events, we can get them in at intervals
when the weather is fine. Now I shall go my rounds for turtle.
Good-night, ma'am,--good-night, sir. Come, William."
William and Ready succeeded in turning six more turtles to add to their
stock, and having taken a careful survey with the telescope, they came
back, fastened the door of the stockade, and went to bed.