and it seemed to me steeper than I had thought it to be when I came the
other way; but I paid little heed to this, because a hill always seems
steeper when you ascend than when you descend. But all of a sudden I
felt that the inclination was downward, and I was trying to recollect
if I had gone up and then down as I came from the cavern, when I felt
something cold about my feet, and, taking a step forward, splashed in
water. Instantly I turned about and rushed back, stumbling and
falling, and in a great dismay, for I knew now that I had lost my
bearings. There had been no water in the passage when I came; either
water had rushed into it suddenly, though how that could be I knew not,
or else I had come into another passage. Whichever it might be, my
situation was exceeding serious, for I might be drowned, or I might
wander for hours and never come to the cavern. I picked myself up when
I fell in my haste, and as I leant against the wall to recover myself,
something scurried past my feet, which made me shiver until I thought
that it could not be more than a rat or some other small beast. But
being now so confused that I knew not whether I had come from right or
left, I lifted up my voice and shouted the seaman's call "Ahoy!" for if
I was anywhere near the cavern, Billy might hear me, and that familiar
word would bring him, I did not doubt, to my help. I was startled by
what ensued upon my shout, for the whole space about me was filled with
noise, which at first I did not know to be the reverberation of my own
voice. The noise, the like of which I suppose had never been heard in
that place before, terrified all the denizens of it, and I felt several
small animals brush against my legs as they scurried past. When the
sounds had rolled away, I listened very intently for some answering
cry, but there was none, even though I shouted again, and I could not
but conclude that the din, great as it was, had failed to reach Billy's
ears. And since it now seemed plain that I must depend on myself
alone, and to stay still where I was would not help me a jot, I began
in sheer desperation to grope my way along the passage, not knowing in
the least whether I was going right or wrong. But supposing that I had
overshot the entrance to the passage leading back to the cavern, and
that I was now retracing my steps, I crept along by the wall on my left
hand, every now and again stopping to shout and listen, but always in
vain. And it came into my mind presently that while the sound of my
voice might carry a good way along the portion of the tunnel in which I
then was, yet it would not penetrate far along the passage that ran
back at a very sharp angle from it, so that I would do better to save
my breath until I arrived at the fork, and I went on again, holding my
peace.
The tunnel seemed to me now to be full of strange whispers and little
silent noises which I had not perceived when I travelled along with my
torch. I have not a doubt it was my imagination playing tricks upon
me, helped very much by the darkness; but I did not think of this at
the time, and my skin crept, and broke out into a cold sweat, at the
rustlings and echoes that I heard, or thought I heard. I stopped two
or three times to listen more intently, and then heard nothing but the
beating of my heart, and so on again, until I thought I must surely
have come to the fork of the two passages. Halting, I groped with my
hands to discover if the passage was wider, and then I felt sure I
heard a rustling, and another sound, as of an animal breathing heavily,
and at that moment something cold and clammy touched my outstretched
hand. Instantly I drew back, and scarce knowing what I did let forth a
great shout, which rang, I doubt not, with the very accent of fear, and
immediately it was answered by a shout, which I took at first to be the
echo of it, for the hollow tunnel prolonged the sounds so that nothing
was clear. But in a moment I heard, quite near to me, that ill word
which had wont to be on Billy's lips, but which, since I reproved him
for it, he had never used. I cried his name in a burst of joy, and he
called back, "Is that you, master?" and the next moment we were
together, and I confess I threw my arms about Billy, and would not let
him go until he asked me in a quavering voice what I was afraid of.
[Sidenote: Found]
He told me that, being uneasy at my long absence, when he had expressly
charged me not to be long, he had let himself down by the rope ladder
into the cavern, and came with a torch in search of me, and it was his
hand that had so scared me. "But there you are!" says he. "First I
knocked my head against the roof, and then my funny-bone against the
wall, and then I tumbled head-first over a rock that some one had put
in the very middle of the way; over I went, and my torch was knocked
out of my hand, and the flame was put out. I hadn't got flint and
steel on me, course not; and so I couldn't light the torch again
without going back all the way, and I couldn't find the torch at first,
and when I did find it, things had got so mixed up that I didn't know
no more than Moses which was for'ard and which was aft. But I set a
course straight ahead, and here we are."
"But where are we?" I said.
Billy of course could not tell me this, having lost his bearings just
as completely as I had done. All that we knew was that the cavern was
not reached by the passage along which I had been going, for neither
Billy nor I had encountered water in our outward journey. It seemed to
me that we had both wandered into the passage which I had observed to
run into the other from the right hand, and if this was so, we had but
to go in the same direction as I had been going when Billy met me, and
to cling to the wall on the left side, and we should by and by find
ourselves at the fork of the two passages. And, indeed, we had not
gone above a dozen paces when Billy, who was in front, cried that the
wall turned a corner, and when we reached it we wheeled round in the
same direction, and in due time came to the cavern, which, though it
had seemed dark to me before, was now light by comparison with the
blackness of the tunnel we had left. I asked Billy whether he had
lengthened the ladder, and when he confessed that he had not, I
wondered how we were to ascend to our hut again, for the bottom of the
ladder was out of my reach. But Billy solved this difficulty by
getting on to my shoulders and then grasping the ladder, by which he
very nimbly climbed to the surface. There being no room in the shaft
for him to bend down and assist me, I had to wait until he had
lengthened the ladder, which he did very quickly, blaming himself for
not having done it before. Thus we came safely to our hut again, and
both having had enough of underground passages for that day, we
determined to go on another expedition later, indeed, very soon, for
Billy was eager to explore the tunnel to its end, when I had told him
of the largeness of it, and of the shells on its floor.
I did not tell him my tale at once, for the moment we came up into our
hut we were aware that it had been visited in our absence. Having made
our discovery of the cavern by accident, and gone down into it without
premeditation, we had not thought to shut the door of the hut, which,
being open, those rascally dogs of which I have spoken more than once
had made an irruption. By great good luck there was nothing that they
could destroy, but they had thrown down a pile of cocoa-nuts we had in
one corner, and these lay scattered all about as if they had played
ball with them. I doubt not they would have made an attempt, as they
did afterwards, to plunder our poultry-run, but it would appear that
they had not discovered our absence for some time, and had been
startled away by the sound of us returning. We determined, when we
should descend again into the cavern, to close our door very firmly.
The discovery of the cavern made us alter our plan of bringing water to
the hut. We had intended to make a reservoir just below the pipe, into
which we might let water from the lake whenever we needed it; but we
contented ourselves now with putting a plug into the end of the pipe,
with a small hole in the middle of it, which we could stop or un-stop
at will, so that by removing the stopping we should have a small
trickle of water which we could collect in one of our vessels, and draw
up into the hut. Having fixed these plugs, we went to the lake and
filled in with our spades the excavation we had made in the side,
heaping rocks about the ground that had been disturbed, so that there
should be nothing to betray our device to any one who might chance to
come. We then removed our V-shaped dam, and hastened back to the hut
to see whether the plan answered our expectations. We found when we
took out the stopping that there was a continual drip of water, which
pleased us very much, for we now knew that, however long we might be
shut up in the hut, we should never lack for water, and so we might be
quite easy in mind.
[Sidenote: Exploring]
When we had finished our work in this matter of the water supply, which
was a day or two after our adventure in the tunnel, we set off again,
both together, to make a further exploration, only this time you may be
sure we took several torches of a large size, so that the same trouble
of darkness and bewilderment should not overtake us. This time also we
took the precaution to close and fasten the door, for though there was
little or nothing in the hut to which the dogs could do serious hurt,
we preferred their room to their company, as the saying is.
We went through the tunnel together, and came to the spot where my
torch had gone out, and had not gone very far from thence when we found
our way blocked by water, which came right into the tunnel, and which
we knew by its salt taste to be the sea. It was quite plain from this
that there was an outlet to the shore, but we could not tell how far it
was from us, the place being exceeding dark, so that the flames of two
torches held together scarce seemed to penetrate the blackness. Billy
was greatly disappointed at finding our further progress thus checked,
and asked me whether he should swim through the water until he came to
the opening on the shore; but this I would by no means consent to, for
I could have given him no light, and we could not tell what perils of
sunken rocks or other things we might encounter in the darkness. And
it was a mercy that Billy paid heed to my words, and was not obstinate,
for if he had done what he proposed, and entered the water, I doubt not
I should never have seen him again.
[Sidenote: The Dogs Again]
When we came back to our hut we heard a mighty cackling from the
fowl-house, which, as I have said before, was the smaller hut we had
used while the larger was a-building, and stood some little distance
from the latter on the edge of the level space. Our fowls being in the
main quiet birds, we suspected that something was amiss; indeed, Billy
declared at once that he was sure 'twas the dogs at their old tricks,
and was for opening the door and sallying out upon them at once. But I
bethought myself of a better way, and moreover one that would help us
to prove in some measure the efficacy of our defences; so I took out
the plug from one of the loopholes we had made in the wall facing the
fowl-house, and peeping through I saw nigh a dozen dogs assembled about
it, and some scratching diligently at the earth below the palisade.
They had never molested our creatures since the time when they were so
sore discomfited at the piggery, and I was not a little amazed at their
coming now, for none of them had seen us descending into the cavern.
But I suppose it was as Billy said, that they were cunning beasts with
the second sight; indeed, he said he had heard of witches, and
sometimes fair princesses, being turned into the shape of dogs, but he
knew these villainous rogues were not princesses. However, they did
certainly seem to have discovered that we were no longer on the surface
of the island, and were, as I say, striving to gain an entrance to our
poultry-run.
I whispered to Billy, so as not to disturb them, to take the plug out
of another loophole, and then to shoot an arrow through when I gave the
word. This he did, and our arrows flying forth almost at the same
moment, by great good fortune (and perhaps some little skill) struck
two of the dogs, which fell writhing. I expected to see the rest of
the pack take warning and flee instantly, but this they did not do,
which shows that there is a limit to their reason; for seeing no enemy
they did not connect the fate of the two with any external cause, but
immediately set upon them, tearing them in pieces with horrible
yellings and snarlings. While they were at this cannibal business
Billy and I sent more arrows among them, and six dogs in all had fallen
to our weapons before the rest came to any understanding and sought
safety.
"We could hit savages better," said Billy, as we sallied out, "because
they are bigger than dogs."
"I hope we shall never have the need," I said, taking a long shot at
the rearmost of the dogs as they disappeared in the bushes.
When we came to the poultry-run, we found that the dogs had already
scratched a good-sized hole beneath the palings, and within a little
they would have been able to scramble through and work havoc among our
fowls. We set about recovering our arrows, and soon had them all but
the one I had shot last, which, when I came to the place where I
expected it to be, was not there, nor could we find it, though we
searched for some time.
"You must have hit the villain, master," says Billy.
I could hardly believe this, for the range was long, and the dog was
moving; but on looking closely upon the ground I saw a trace of blood,
and suspected that I had in fact hit the dog, which had, however, run
on with the arrow in him. Being curious on this matter, I determined
to follow up the track, and sent Billy back to the hut for a spear or
an axe, as well to defend myself if the animal should turn upon me as
to put it out of torment if its wound should be grave. The track was
sometimes faint, but mostly clear, and ran in almost a straight line,
so that I followed it with ease, where it led me through the wood
eastward of the hut, bearing to the right round the base of the hill.
But I did not see the dog for some time, until all of a sudden I caught
a glimpse of it limping into the undergrowth some way ahead of me. I
made speed to overtake it, and the animal turned, snarling very
fiercely upon me, and standing as if to dispute my advance; but I
perceived that the creature was already far spent, for it tottered, and
recovered itself with great difficulty, so that I was very glad when
Billy came up, and with one thrust of the spear ended the poor beast's
life.
"There you are, you villain!" cried Billy with a kind of savage joy as
he dealt the stroke; but I own I felt in a manner sorry for the
creature, and thought it a pity that we should have to wage war against
them, though I saw it was a necessity, they being, in their wild state,
as fierce and dangerous to us as wolves. Maybe my softness was partly
due to my recollection of a terrier we had at home, and I was
contemplating the beast Billy had slain, striving to make out some
likeness between her (for 'twas a bitch) and my uncle's terrier, when
Billy cried, "What's that?" and I was aware of a faint yelping near by.
Penetrating a little further into the undergrowth, I saw three little
puppies, their eyes just open, but they were not yet able to crawl.
"They are very pretty when they're young, Billy," I said.
"Pretty!" says he. "I'll show 'em. They shan't never grow up to
plague us;" and he was on the point of piercing one of them with his
spear when I stayed his hand.
"But why and what for?" says he, looking at me in amazement. "They'll
only starve, or be eaten by the other rascals when they find 'em.
Better kill 'em now and have done with it."
[Sidenote: Our Pets]
But I had been thinking that we were two lone creatures on this island,
and we might perchance find some solace and amusement in keeping pets,
which we could not do with pigs or poultry, the former being too
swinish and the latter too silly. And I confess the little things
looked so pretty that I had not the heart to kill them, and so I
proposed that we should carry them back to the hut and do our best to
bring them up.
"What's the good?" says Billy. "They won't live. I had some rabbits
once, and they died; and some guinea-pigs, and my mother drownded
them--she wasn't my real mother; and they may be pretty now, though I
can't see it, but when they grow up, bless you, they'll be as fierce as
those other villains, and we may as well kill 'em first as last."
"Billy," I said, "my aunt Susan used to say, 'Never climb up to the
chimney-pots to meet the rain'----"
"No one would but a fool," says Billy, interrupting, and when I tried
to explain what my aunt meant he said that was all very well, but where
did the chimney-pots come in? However, to shorten the story, he gave
in to my wish, and we carried the puppies to our hut, and made them up
a bed of grass and leaves in one of our large pans. We were hard put
to it to know how to feed them, and indeed, the food we gave
them--bread-fruit made into pap, and scraps of chicken, and the like,
as well as broth sometimes--did not agree with them very well, because
they were so young, so that I doubted whether we should succeed in
rearing them. One died in three days, but the others survived, and I
ought to say that Billy was fully as diligent as myself in tending
them, and showed a marvellous ingenuity in the preparation of their
meals. As they grew up, we used to watch them anxiously, expecting
that one fine day they would leave us and join themselves to their own
kindred in the wilds, and Billy said he hoped his dog would not leave
us the first, for he would never forgive it. But we saw with great
satisfaction that they showed no inclination towards the society of
their kind; indeed, it was the contrary; they shunned them, and showed
every mark of enmity if they approached, so that we saw they would
prove to be very good watchdogs when fully grown. Billy called his dog
Robin, which he said was a good name for a dog but not for a man, and I
called mine Little John to match; and they soon learnt to answer to
their names.
[1] Probably the fissure had at one time extended to the surface, but
had been gradually filled up with soil brought to the spot by drainage
from the high ground.--H.S.
CHAPTER THE TWELFTH
OF A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION BETWEEN BILLY AND THE NARRATOR--OF AN
ENCOUNTER WITH A SHARK, AND THE BUILDING OF A CANOE
We now began to consider ourselves as the possessors of considerable
wealth, compared with our condition when we first came to the island.
We had a fair estate, with none to dispute our title, at least, none
had yet done so; a substantial and commodious house, by no means a
mansion, and very plainly furnished, but having the necessary things,
to which we could add the others, and did. We had food, both of the
animal and vegetable kind, of our own breeding and growing, so that we
were always sure of its freshness. We looked abroad on our little
domain with a great deal of honest satisfaction, seeing our own
handiwork in it, and being ever urged on to other achievements by what
we had already done. This summer, for an instance, finding that our
yam plantation throve exceedingly, and needed hoeing because of the
very fertility of the soil, we made ourselves rakes and hoes, the
former of wood and bits of bone (these took us a long time), the latter
of scallop shells bound with cords about crutched sticks. Then, when
the yams were ripe, and we had to bring them to our house from the
plantation, which was at some distance, we thought of making a
wheelbarrow, which also employed us for a good time, and was indeed one
of the most difficult jobs we took in hand, the want of nails being a
great hindrance. The body of it was made of wicker-work closely
plaited, and the wheel a disc of pottery, which answered very well
until it broke in going over rocky ground, and then we had to carve out
a wooden one, which was a very tiresome job. We made also a sort of
bench-table out of the stump of a tree, which we split down the middle
by driving in flint wedges, and when we had split it we took one half
and planed the inside of it with scrapers, also of flint, and then
scoured it with sand, not being content until it was as smooth as a
sawyer's plank. It was on this that I drew the map I have mentioned
before, using a mixture of charcoal and oil pressed from candle-nuts,
and Billy was very proud when he saw BOBBIN'S BAY marked on it in
pretty neat, big characters. We made also some rough stools and
chairs, using always strong cords of cocoa-nut fibre in the place of
nails. Billy and I had a little difference about the stools, he
preferring them to be of three legs, and I of four, my reason being
that the four-legged sort were the more stable, while his reason was
nothing but a contrariness of temper that sometimes seized him; in
which frame of mind if I said I should like pork for dinner he would
immediately declare for chicken.
[Illustration: Rake Head and Scallop-shell Hoe]
[Illustration: Our Wheelbarrow]
[Illustration: Our Table]
[Sidenote: A Difference of Opinion]
It was this that brought about the fight between us, which I think I
mentioned before. We had just finished making our first stools, his
being three-legged, and he sang a trifle loud because he was finished
first, he being always more handy with his fingers than I was, except
in delicate work and the making of pottery. He taunted me about my
slowness, asking what was the good of bothering about four legs when
three would do quite as well, and saying that he supposed I must have
one more than he, because he was only the son of a poor blacksmith of
Limehouse; and more to the same effect. Now this, I thought, was very
unjust, for I had never stood upon any difference in rank there might
be between us; nor indeed did Billy as a rule allude to it, much less
express any discontentment, but called me "master" very simply and
naturally. What came over him this day I know not, but he sat on his
three-legged stool with a very gloomy face, grumbling and growling
until I could endure it no longer.
[Illustration: My Chair; Billy's Stool]
"For goodness' sake, Billy," I said, "leave me to my work. Go and get
the dinner ready, or something."
"I won't," says he. "Why should I get your dinner? I ain't your
servant, though I ain't got a mad uncle what's got more money than
wits. Money! what's the good of money when you ain't got no sense for
the spending of it? Why, if it hadn't been for your uncle I'd 'a been
rich by this time, working for decent wages in London, instead of
sweating for nothing."
"You're an ass," said I, as pleasantly as you please.
"I may be an ass," says Billy, "but I'm blowed if I'm a silly ass, and
that's what _you_ are."
[Sidenote: A Fight]
And then I own I clean lost my temper, and, leaving my work, I went to
him and dealt him a blow that sent him and his stool to the ground.
Whereupon he sprang to his feet, and came at me tooth and nail, as you
may say, butting me with his head, and grappling me, seeking to throw
me by main force. He was very muscular, as I have said, and he came
very near to effecting his purpose with me; but I shook him off, and
being longer in the arms than he, and possessor of a little more
science, I contrived to ward off his blows until he was pretty tired,
and then dealt him a stroke which fairly knocked the wind out of him.
He sat on the ground for some time looking about him in a dazed and
stupid way, and presently, when he was somewhat collected, he said,
"You give me a rare good 'un that time, master," and went on
cheerfully: "You do look comical with your nose a-swelling."
I was already aware that something was amiss with that very prominent
feature, and I might have felt aggrieved at this allusion to it but for
the good-tempered manner in which Billy spoke. It was plain that he
had quite lost his ill-humour, and bore me no malice for the beating I
had given him; indeed, he appeared to think of me all the more highly
because of it. But I was exceeding vexed with myself for losing my
temper over such a trifle, and when we were sitting together by and by,
bathing our wounds, I spoke very solemnly about it, saying that it was
nothing less than sinful, after the mercies that had been vouchsafed to
us, our preservation from manifold dangers by land and sea, to give way
to our angry passions and fight each other with hate in our hearts.
Billy heard me patiently for a while, and subdued his naturally jocund
countenance to a decent solemnity; but presently he burst forth with a
laugh, and said, "Lor, master, how you do talk! What's a round of
fisticuffs and a black eye or two? I got a walloping and deserved it,
and you and me will be all the better friends," which I believe we were.
[Illustration: Our Fish-hooks]
[Illustration: Our Gaff and Landing-net]
[Sidenote: Fishing]