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CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT 
 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PS 1584.E2W94 
 
 The wreck of the Red Blrdia story of the 
 
 3 1924 021 981 091 
 

Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021981091 
 
THE "bones" of the RED BIRD 
 
THE WRECK 
 
 THE RED BIRD 
 
 A STORY OF THE CAROLINA COAST 
 
 GEORGE GARY EGGLESTON 
 
 Author of " The Big Brother," " Captain Sam'' " The Signal Boys,' 
 
 etc., etc. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 G. P- I'D T NAM'S SONS 
 
 27 & 2y WEST 23D STREET 
 1882 
 
 |l5 ' N 
 
COPYRIGHT BV 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 1882 
 
 ^n^idf^ 
 
 IS 
 
 s 
 
 Press of 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
 New York 
 
I INTENDED to dedicate this book to my son, 
 Guilford Dudley Eggleston, to whom it 
 belonged in a peculiar sense. He was only nine 
 years old, but he was my tenderly loved com- 
 panion, and was in no small degree the creator of 
 this story. He gave it the title it bears ; he dis- 
 cussed with me every incident in it ; and every page 
 was written with reference to his wishes and his 
 pleasure. There is not a paragraph here which does 
 not hold for me some reminder of the noblest, man- 
 liest, most unselfish boy I have ever known. Ah, 
 woe is me ! He who was my companion is my dear 
 dead boy now, and I am sure that I only act for him 
 as he would wish, in inscribing the story that was so 
 peculiarly his to the boy whom he loved best, and 
 who loved him as a brother might have done. It is 
 in memory of Guilford that I dedicate "The Wreck 
 of the Red Bird " to Charles Pelton Hutchins. 
 
 G. C. E. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Maum Sally's Manners i 
 
 CHAPTER ir. 
 
 On the Joggling Boards lo 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Afloat ' 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Plans and Preparations ...... 28 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Sailing of the " Red Bird " . . . -35 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Odd Fish 40 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 An Enemy in the Camp 52 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Beginning and End of a Voyage : . .59 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Situation 68 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Plans and Devices 79 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 rAGB 
 
 SoMK OF Ned's Science 88 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Jack's Discovery loi 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 An Anxious Night 109 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 In the Gray of the Morning , . . ■ . .120 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Charley Black's Adventures 125 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 On Guard 134 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 A New Danger 147 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 A Camp-factory 155 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A Night of Adventure 166 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A Calculation of Profit and Loss. . . .177 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Charley's Secret Expediton 184 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Launch of the "Aphrodite" .... 193 
 
 CHAPTER XXin. 
 
 The Voyage of the "Aphrodite" . . . .201 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Maum Sally 213 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The "Bones" of the Red Bird .... Frontispiece. 
 " Look Out ! Hold that Fellow Away from You !" . .23 
 The Eloquent Language of Gesture . ... 128 
 
 " Give Him a Volley and then Charge ! " . . . 150 
 
 The End of Charley's Adventure rgo 
 
 "Hi! Maum Sally" 214 
 
The Wreck of the Red Bird 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MAUM sally's manners. 
 
 " T3RESS my heart, honey, wha' 'd you come 
 
 13 from?" 
 
 It was old " Maum " Sally who uttered this ex- 
 clamation as she came out of her kitchen, drying 
 her hands on her apron, and warmly greeting one 
 of the three boys who stood just outside the door. 
 
 " Is you done come to visit de folks ? Well, I 
 do declar' ! " 
 
 " Now, Maum Sally," replied Ned Cooke, " stop 
 ' declaring ' and stop asking me questions till you 
 answer mine. Or, no, you won't do that, so I '11 
 answer yours first. Where did I come from ? Why 
 from Aiken, by way of Charleston and Hardeeville. 
 Did I come to visit the folks ? Well, no, not ex- 
 actly that. You see, I did n't set out to come here 
 at alL I have spent part of the summer up at Aiken 
 
2 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 with these two school-mates of mine, and they were , 
 to spend the rest of it with me in Savannah. We 
 were on our way down there when I got a despatch 
 from father, saying that as yellow fever has broken 
 out there I must n't come home, but must come 
 down here to Bluffton and stay with Uncle Edward 
 till frost or school time. So we got off the "train, 
 hired a man with an ox-cart to bring our trunks 
 down, and walked the eighteen miles. The man 
 with the trunks will get here sometime, I suppose. 
 There! I 've made a Idng speech at you. Now, 
 answer my questions, please. Where is Uncle Ed- 
 ward? and where is Aunt Helen? and why is the 
 house shut up ? and when will they be back again ? 
 and can't you give us something to eat, for we 're 
 nearly starved ? " 
 
 Ned laughed as he delivered this volley of ques- 
 tions, but Maum Sally remained perfectly solemn, 
 as she always did. When he finished, she said : 
 
 " Yaller fever ! Bress my heart! It'll be heah 
 nex' thing we knows. Walked all de way from 
 Hardeeville ! an' dis heah hot day too ! e'en a'most 
 starved ! Well, I reckon ye is, an' I '11 jes mosey 
 roun' heah an' git you some supper." 
 
MAUM SALLY'S MANNERS. 3 
 
 It must be explained that Maum Sally, although 
 she lived on the coast of South Carolina, and was 
 called " Maum " instead of " Aunt," was born and 
 " raised," as she would have said, in "Ole Firginny," 
 and her dialect was therefore somewhat as repre- 
 sented here. The negroes of the coast speak a 
 peculiar jargon, which would be wholly unintelligible 
 to other than South Carolinian readers, even if I 
 could render it faithfully by phonetic spelling. 
 
 As Maum Sally ceased speaking, she turned to go 
 into her kitchen, which, as is usual in the South, was 
 a detached building, standing some distance from the 
 main house. 
 
 "But wait, Maum Sally," cried Ned, seizing her 
 hand ; "I 'm not going to let you off that way. You 
 have n't answered my questions yet." 
 
 " Now, look heah, young Ned," she said, with 
 great solemnity, " does you s'pose Ole Sally was 
 bawn and raised .in Ole Firginny for nothin' ? I aint 
 forgot my manners nor hospitality, ef I is lived nigh 
 onto twenty-five years in dis heah heathen coast 
 country whah de niggas talks monkey language. 
 I 'se a gwine to git you 'n your fr'en's — ef you '11 
 interduce 'em — some supper, fust an' foremost. Den 
 
4 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 I '11 answer all de questions you 're a mind to ax, ef 
 you don't git to conundrumin'." 
 
 Ned acknowledged Maum Sally's rebuke promptly. 
 
 " I did forget my manners," he said, " but you 
 see I was badly flustered. This is my friend Jack 
 Farnsworth, Maum Sally, and this," turning to the 
 other boy, " is Charley Black. Boys, let me make 
 you acquainted with Maum Sally, the best cook in 
 South Carolina, or anywhere else, and the best 
 Maum Sally in the world. She used to give me all 
 sorts of good things to eat out here when I did n't 
 get up to breakfast, and was expected to get on till 
 dinner with a cold bite frohi the store-room. I '11 
 ibet she '11 cook us a supper that will make your 
 ro.puths water, and have it ready by the time we get 
 itlne dust out of our eyes." 
 
 " Git de dus' out 'n de all over you, more like. 
 Hetsih ""s de key to de bath-house. You jes run 
 dowfi an' take a dip in de salt water, an' den git 
 inter yer clp'es as fas' as you kin, an' when you 's 
 done dat, you 'll fin' somethin' to eat awaitin' for 
 you in de piaz?:a,. Git, now, quick. Ef I 'se got to 
 plan somethin' for supper, I 'se got to hab my wits 
 about me an' doi^' waqt no talkin' boys aroun'." 
 
MAUM SALLY'S MANNERS. 5 
 
 " It 's of no use, boys," said Ned. " I know Maum 
 Sally, and we 're not going to get a word more out of 
 her till supper is ready, so come on, let 's have a 
 plunge. It 's all right, anyhow. My uncle and 
 aunt have gone away for the day somewhere, I sup- 
 pose, and will be back sometime to-night. If they 
 don't come, I '11 find a way to break into the house. 
 It 's my father's, you know, and one of my homes. 
 In fact, I was born here. Uncle Edward lives here 
 a good part of the time, because he likes it, and. 
 father lives in Savannah a good part of the year, be- 
 cause he does n't like it here. Come, let 's get a 
 bath." 
 
 With that Ned conducted his guests to a pretty 
 little bath-house which stood out over the water, 
 and was approached by a green bridge. Bluffton 
 abounds in these well-appointed, private bathing- 
 houses, which, with their ornamental approaches, 
 add not a little to the beauty of the singular town, 
 which is scarcely a town at all in the ordinary sense 
 of the word, as Ned explained to his companions 
 while they were dressing after their bath. 
 
 "This coast country," he said, "is plagued with 
 country fever." 
 
6 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " What 's country fever ? " asked Jack Farns- 
 worth. 
 
 " It 's a very severe and fatal form of bilious fever, 
 which one night's exposure — or even a few hours' 
 exposure after sunset — brings on." 
 
 " Then why did you bring us here ? " asked Charley. 
 "Are we to find ourselves down with country fever 
 to-morrow morning? " 
 
 " No, not at all," replied Ned. " Country fever 
 stays strictly at home.. It never goes to town ; it 
 never visits high ground where there are pines, 
 white sand, and no moss ; and it never comes to 
 Bluffton. That 's why there is any Bluffton. All 
 along the coast the planters have their winter resi- 
 dences on their plantations, but in the summer they 
 go off to little summer villages in the pines to es- 
 cape the - fever. In the region just around us, 
 it is so much easier and pleasanter to live here in 
 Bluffton that they build permanent residences here 
 and live here all the year around. There is no trade 
 here, no shops — except a blacksmith shop out on 
 the road — no stores, no any thing except private 
 houses, and the private houses are all built pretty 
 nearly alike. Each stands alone in a large plot of 
 
MA UM SALL Y 'S MANNERS. 7 
 
 ground, which is filled with trees and shrubs just as 
 all the streets are. Each house has a piazza running 
 all the way around it, or pretty nearly that, and each 
 has two or three joggling boards." 
 
 " What in the world is a joggling board? " asked 
 Charley. 
 
 "I 11 introduce you when we get back to the 
 house," said Ned. 
 
 When the boys returned to the house, Ned's pre- 
 diction was abundantly fulfilled. Maum Sally had 
 spread a tempting, if somewhat incongruous supper 
 in the piazza. There was a piece of cold ham, some 
 fried fresh fish, a dish of shrimps stewed with toma- 
 toes, a great platter of rice cooked in the South 
 Carolinian way, and intended for use in lieu of 
 bread, some boiled okra, roast sweet potatoes, and a 
 pot of steaming coffee. It was a miscellaneous sort 
 of meal, compounded of breakfast, dinner, and sup- 
 per in about equal proportions, but it was such a 
 meal as three healthy boys, who had walked eigh- 
 teen miles and had then taken a sea bath, were not 
 in the least disposed to quarrel with. 
 
 " Now, Maum Sally," said Ned, after he had com- 
 plimented the supper and taken his seat at the table. 
 
8 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 "tell me where Uncle Edward and Aunt Helen are, 
 and when they will get back ? " 
 
 " Ain't ye got no manners at all, young Ned ? " 
 asked Sally, with an air of profound surprise ; she al- 
 ways called the boy " Young Ned " when she wished 
 to put him in awe of her ; " ain't ye got no manners 
 at all, or is you forgot 'em all sence I seed you last ? 
 Don' you know your frien's is a starvin' ? and here 
 you is a plaguin' me with questions insti'd o' helpin' 
 on 'em. Mind yer manners, young gentleman, an' 
 then I '11 answer yer questions." 
 
 " All right, Maum Sally," said Ned ; " Charley, 
 let me give you some cold ham. Jack, help your- 
 self to some fish. There are the shrimps, boys, be- 
 tween you. Maum Sally, pour out some coffee, 
 please. Jack, you '11 find the okra good ; here, 
 Charley, let me help you to rice." 
 
 Maum Sally, meanwhile, was pouring coffee and 
 filling plates ; when supper was well under way, she 
 stood back a little way, placed her hands on her 
 hips, her arms akimbo, and said with the utmost 
 solemnity : 
 
 " Seems 's if somebody axed me somethin' or 
 other 'bput de folks when I was too busy to ten' to 
 
MAUM SALLY'S MANNERS. g 
 
 'em. Ef you '11 ax me agin now, I '11 be obleeged." 
 
 " Yes, upon reflection," said Ned, " I am inclined 
 to think that I ventured to make some inquiry con- 
 cerning my uncle and aunt. If I remember correct- 
 ly, I asked where they are, and at what time they 
 are likely to return." 
 
 " Whah is dey ? Well, I don' rightly know, an' I 
 can't say adzac'ly when dey '11 be back agin. But I 
 specs deys somewhah out on de sea, an' I s'pose 
 dey '11 be back about nex' November." 
 
 " What ! " cried Ned, in surprise, suspending his 
 attention to supper, and forgetting to maintain his 
 pretence of dignified indifference. " What do you 
 mean, Maum Sally ? " 
 
 " Well, what I mean is dis heah, Yo' uncle an' 
 aunt lef here three days ago to go north. Dey said 
 dey was a gwine to de centenimental expedition, an' 
 to Newport an' somewhahs else — I reckon it was to 
 some sort o' mountains — White Mountains, mebbe, 
 an dey said dey 'd be back agin in November, ef 
 dey did n't make up dere minds to stay longer, or 
 come back afore dat time. So now you knows as 
 much about it as I does." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE JOGGLING BOARDS. 
 
 TO say that Ned was surprised is to describe his 
 feeling very mildly. Knowing his uncle's easy, 
 indolent mode of life, his contentment with home, 
 his lazy love of books and pipes and ease generally, 
 Ned would as soon have expected to hear that the 
 organ in the little church had gone off summering, 
 as to learn that his uncle and aunt were travelling. 
 
 The other boys were in consternation. 
 
 " What on earth shall we do ? " asked Jack Farns- 
 worth. 
 
 " Better eat supper, fust an' fo'most," replied 
 Maum Sally, whose theory of life consisted of a pro- 
 found conviction that the important thing to be done 
 was to eat an abundance of good food, well- 
 cooked. 
 
 " That 's so," said Ned. " We can't bring my. 
 
ON THE JOGGLING BOARDS. n 
 
 uncle back by neglecting our supper, but we can let 
 the coffee get cold, and that would be a pity. Let s 
 eat now while the things are hot." 
 
 " Yes," replied Charley Black, "that's all right, 
 but after that?" 
 
 " Why, after that we '11 try the joggling boards." 
 " But, Ned," remonstrated Charley, " this won't 
 do. Your uncle has gone away, and the house is 
 shut up and so we can't stay here. Now, I move 
 that you go back to Aiken with us." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," answered Ned. " I 've visited 
 at your house and at Jack's, and now you 're my 
 guests. Do you think I 've ' forgot my manners,' 
 as Mauni Sally says ? " 
 
 " But, Ned," said Jack, " you see the situation has 
 changed since we started to go home with you. You 
 can't go home, and now you can't stay here." 
 
 "Can't I though ? " asked Ned; " and why not? 
 I know a way into the house, and if you '11 stay 
 where you are for five minutes, I '11 have the big 
 doors unbarred and invite you in." 
 
 With that Ned stepped upon the piazza railing, 
 caught a timber above, and easily swung himself up 
 to the roof of the porch. Thence he made his way 
 
12 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 quickly to a round window in the garret — the house 
 was only one story high, with a high garret story 
 for the protection of the rooms from the heat of 
 the sun. Pushing open this round window he 
 sprang in, descended the stairs, and a moment later 
 the boys heard him taking down the wooden bar 
 which kept the great double doors fast. Then draw- 
 ing the bolts at top and bottom, he swung the doors 
 open without difficulty. 
 
 " Come in, boys," he cried. " I '11 open the doors 
 at the other side, and we '11 have a breeze through 
 the hall." 
 
 " But I say, old fellow," said Charley, " I don't like 
 this. What will your uncle think of us for making 
 free with his house in this way ? " 
 
 " What, Uncle Edward ? Why, he would n't ask 
 how we got in if he were to get home now. He 
 never troubles himself, and he 's the best uncle in 
 the world ; so is Aunt Helen, or, I should say, she 
 is the best aunt. And, besides, I tell you, this is n't 
 Uncle Edward's house. It 's my father's, and all the 
 furniture is his too. Uncle Edward lives here just 
 because he likes it here, and because father likes to 
 have him here. But the house is ours, and some- 
 
ON THE JOGGLING BOARDS. 13 
 
 times we all come here without warning, and stay 
 for months. It don't make any difference, except 
 that more plates are put on the table. Every thing 
 goes on just the same, and if Uncle Edward were 
 to come in now he would hardly remember that we 
 were n't here when he went away. So make your- 
 selves easy. You 're in my home just as much as 
 if we were in Savannah, and there 's nobody here to 
 be bothered by our fun. We '11 stay here and fish 
 and row and bathe, and have a jolly time. The ser- 
 vants have all gone away, I suppose, except Maum 
 Sally, but she '11 take good care of us. You see, 
 I'm her special pet. She has thought it her duty to 
 coddle me and scold me and regulate me generally 
 ever since I was born, and she likes nothing better. 
 So come on out here and I '11 introduce you unfortu- 
 nate up-country boys to that greatest of human in- 
 ventions, a joggling board. There are four or five of 
 them on the front piazza." 
 
 This hospitable harangue satisfied the scruples of 
 the boys, and the house was so pleasant, with its 
 large, high rooms, wide hall, and broad piazzas — one 
 of which looked out over the water, — the grounds 
 were so tasteful, the trees so large and fine, and the 
 
14 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 whole aspect of Bluffton was so quiet and restful, that 
 they were glad to settle themselves contentedly after 
 their long tramp from the railroad at Hardeeville. 
 
 " The best way to get acquainted with a joggling 
 board," said Ned, approaching a queer-looking 
 structure on the piazza, " is to get on it. Try it and 
 see, Charley. Don't be afraid. It won't turn over, 
 and it can't break down. There," as Charley seated 
 himself upon the board, " lie down now, and move 
 almost any muscle you please the least bit in the 
 world, and you '11 understand what the thing is for." 
 
 "Oh! is n't it jolly!" exclaimed Charley, as the 
 board began to sway, gently under him and the 
 breeze from the sea fanned him. 
 
 " It is all of that," replied Ned. "I '11 get some 
 pillows as soon as I get Jack to risk his precious 
 neck on a board, and then we '11 all be comfortable, 
 like clams at high-tide. Jump up. Jack ; it won't 
 tip over. Now swing your legs up and lie down. 
 There, how 's that ? " 
 
 Jack gave a sigh of satisfaction, while Ned ran 
 into the house for sofa pillows. The three. boys, 
 tired as they were, soon ceased to^talk, and fell 
 asleep to the gentle swaying of the joggling boards. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 AFLOAT. 
 
 /^NCE asleep on the cool, breeze-swept piazza., 
 ^-^ the three tired boys were not inclined to wake 
 easily. The sun went down, but still they slept. 
 Finally the teamster from Hardeeville arrived with 
 the trunks on an ox-cart, and his loud cries to 
 his oxen aroused Charley, who sprang up sud- 
 denly. Forgetting that his couch was a joggling 
 board more than three feet high he undertook to 
 step upon the floor as if he had been sleeping on 
 an ordinary sofa. The result was that his feet, fail- 
 ing to reach the floor at the expected distance, were 
 thrown backward under the board by the forward 
 motion of the upper part of the body, and Master 
 Charles Black, of Aiken, fell sprawling on the floor, 
 waking both the other boys in alarm. 
 
 " What 's up ? " cried Ned. 
 
 .15 
 
1 6 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Nothing. I 'm down," replied Charley. " I 
 thought you said the thing would n't turn over." 
 
 " Well, it has n't," said Ned. " Look and see. It 's 
 you that turned over. Are you hurt, old fellow ? " 
 
 Charley was by this time on his feet again, and 
 declared himself wholly free from hurt of any kind. 
 The trunks were brought in, the driver turned over 
 to Maum Sally's hospitality, and Ned declared it to 
 be time for bed. 
 
 " Whew ! how cold it is ! " exclaimed Jack. " Do 
 you have such changes of weather often, down here 
 on the coast ? " 
 
 " Only twice in twenty-four hours at this season," 
 answered Ned, as they went into the house. 
 
 " Twice in twenty-four hours ! What do you 
 mean ? " 
 
 " I mean once in twelve hours," answered Ned. 
 
 " How is that ? I don't understand." 
 
 " Well, you see our late summer dews have be- 
 gun to fall. If you were to go out now, you would 
 find the water actually dripping from the trees. 
 From this time on it will be chilly at night, almost 
 cold, in fact, but hot as the tropic of Cancer in 
 the daytime. So we have a sudden change of 
 
AFLOAT. I J 
 
 temperature twice a day — once from cold to hot, 
 and once from hot to cold." 
 
 The boys were too sleepy to talk long, and the 
 sun was shining in at the east windows when Maum 
 Sally waked them the next morning for a breakfast 
 as miscellaneous as the supper had been; sliced 
 tomatoes and figs, still wet with the dew, being 
 prominent features of the meal. 
 
 After breakfast Ned looked up a great variety of 
 fishing tackle and got it in order. 
 
 " Where are your fish poles ? " asked one of the 
 boys. 
 
 " Fish poles ! we don't use them in salt water. 
 We fish with tight lines." 
 
 " What are they ? " 
 
 " Why, long lines with a sinker at the end and 
 no poles." 
 
 " Do you just hold the line in your hand ? " 
 
 " Certainly. And another thing that we don't 
 use is a float. We just fish right down in the deep 
 water — or the shallow water rather, for the best fish- 
 ing is on bars where the water is n't more than 
 twenty feet deep ; but deep or shallow, the fish are 
 at the bottom, except skip-jacks ; they swim on top, 
 
1 8 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 and sometimes we troll for them. They call them 
 blue fish up North, I believe, but we call them skip- 
 jacks or jack mackerel." 
 
 " What 's that ? " asked Jack, as Ned spread out a 
 round net for inspection. 
 
 " A cast net." 
 
 "What 'sit for?" 
 
 " Shrimps." 
 
 " But I thought we were going fishing." 
 
 " So we are. But we must go shrimping first. 
 We must have some bait." 
 
 " Oh, we are to use shrimps for bait, are we ? " 
 
 " Very much so indeed," answered Ned. " They 
 are capital bait — the best we have, unless we want to 
 catch sheephead ; then we use fiddlers." 
 
 "What are fiddlers?" 
 
 " Little black crabs that run about by millions 
 over the sand. They have hard shells that whiting 
 and croakers can't crack, while the sheephead, hav- 
 ing good teeth, crush them easily. So when we 
 want to catch sheephead, and don't want to be both- 
 ered with other fish, we bait with fiddlers." 
 
 " Then I understand that fish are so plentiful here 
 and so easily caught that they bother you when you 
 
AFLOA r. 
 
 19 
 
 want to catch particular kinds ? " said Jack, incredu- 
 lously. 
 
 " If you mean that for a question," answered Ned 
 " I '11 let you answer it for yourself after you 've had 
 a little experience." 
 
 " Well, if we don't get any shrimps," said Charley, 
 " we 11 fish for sheephead with musicians." 
 
 " Musicians ? oh, you mean fiddlers," said Ned. 
 " But we '11 get shrimps enough." 
 
 " Do they bother you, too, with their abundance ? " 
 asked Jack, still inclined to joke his friend. 
 
 " Come on and see," said Ned, who had now pre- 
 pared himself for wading. 
 
 Taking the cast net in his hand, and giving a pail 
 to Jack, he led the way to the sea. Wading into 
 the mouth of a little inlet he cast the net, which was 
 simply a circular piece of netting, with a string of 
 leaden balls around the edge. From this lead line 
 cords extended on the under side of the net to and 
 through a ring in the centre where they were fast- 
 ened to a long cord which was held in Ned's hand. 
 A peculiar motion in casting caused the net to 
 spread itself out flat and to fall in that way on the 
 water. The leaden balls caused it to sink at once to 
 
20 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 the bottom, the edges reaching bottom first, of 
 course, and imprisoning whatever happened to be 
 under the net in its passage. After a moment's 
 pause, to give time for the lead line to sink com- 
 pletely, Ned jerked the cord and began to draw in. 
 Of course this drew the lead line along the bottom 
 to the centre ring, and made a complete pocket of the 
 net, securely holding whatever was caught in it. 
 
 It came up ^after this first cast with about a hun- 
 dred shrimps — of the large kind called prawn in the 
 North — in it. The boys opened their eyes in sur- 
 prise, and Ned cast again, bringing up this time 
 about twice as many as before. 
 
 " They have hardly begun to come in yet," said 
 Ned. " The tide is too young." 
 
 " Hardly begun to come in? " said Jack, " why, 
 the water 's alive with them. Let me throw the 
 net." 
 
 " Certamly," said Ned, " if you know how." 
 
 " Know how ? Why, there 's no knack in that ; 
 anybody can do it." 
 
 With this confident boast Jack took the net and 
 gave a violent cast. Neglecting to relax the rope at 
 the right moment, however, the confident young 
 
AFLOAT. 21 
 
 gentleman made trouble for himself. The lead line 
 swung around rapidly, the net wrapped itself around 
 Jack, and the leaden balls struck him with sufficient 
 violence to hurt. He lost his balance at the same 
 instant, and, his legs being held close together by 
 the wet net, he could not step out to recover him- 
 self. The result was that he fell sprawling into the 
 water and was fished out in a very wet condition 
 by his companions. 
 
 Jack was a boy capable of seeing the fun even 
 in an accident of which he was the victim. He 
 stood still while the net was unwound, and for a mo- 
 ment afterward. Then, seeing that the other boys 
 were too considerate to laugh at him while in trouble, 
 he quietly said : 
 
 " I told you I could do it." 
 
 " Well, you caught more in the net than I did," 
 said Ned, " Now take hold again and I '11 show you 
 how to manage it. Your wet clothes won't hurt 
 you. Sea- water does n't give one cold." 
 
 A few lessons made Jack fairly expert in casting, 
 but Charley had no mind to court mishaps, and 
 would not try his skill. The pail was soon well filled 
 with shrimps, and the boys returned to the boat 
 
22 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 house, where Jack changed his wet clothes for dry 
 ones. 
 
 Then all haste was made to get the boat out, in 
 order that they might fish while the tide was right. 
 The boat was a large launch named Red Bird ; a 
 boat twenty- four feet long, very broad in the beam, 
 and very stoutly built. It was provided with a mast 
 and sail, but these were of no use now as there was 
 no wind, and the bars on which Ned meant to fish 
 were only a few hundred yards distant. 
 
 No sooner was the anchor cast than the lines were 
 out, and the fish began accepting the polite invita- 
 tion extended to them. 
 
 " What sort of fish are these, Ned?" asked Char- 
 ley, as he took one from his hook. 
 
 " That," said Ned, looking round, " is a whiting — 
 so called, I believe, because it is brown, and yellow, 
 and occasionally pink and purple, with changeable 
 silk stripes over it. That 's the only reason I can 
 think of for calling it a whiting. It is never white. 
 It is n't properly a whiting for that matter. It is n't 
 at all the same as the whiting of the North, at any 
 rate." 
 
 " Why, they 're changing color," exclaimed Jack. 
 
5 
 s 
 
 « 
 
 s 
 
 o 
 
 X 
 
 U 
 O 
 
 O 
 O 
 
AFLOA T. 23 
 
 " Look ! they actually change color under your very 
 eyes." 
 
 " Yes, it 's a way whiting have," said Ned. "And 
 some other fish do the same thing, I believe." 
 
 " Dolphins do," said Charley. 
 
 " Yes, but the whiting is n't even a second cousin 
 to the dolphin. That 's a croaker you 've got. Jack ; 
 spot on his tail — splendid fish to eat — and he croaks. 
 Listen ! " 
 
 The fish did begin to utter a curious croaking 
 sound, which surprised the boys. Other croakers 
 were soon in the boat, and the company of them set 
 up a croaking of which the inhabitants of a frog pond 
 might not have been ashamed. 
 
 " They call croakers ' spot ' in Virginia," said Ned, 
 because of the spot near the tail. Look at it. Is 
 n't it pretty ? and is n't the fish itself a beauty ? " 
 
 " But the whiting is prettier," said Charley ; " at 
 least in colors. I say, Ned, do you know if whiting 
 ever dine on kaleidoscopes ? " 
 
 " Look out! hold that fellow away from you ! hold 
 the line at arm's length and don't let the brute strike 
 you with his tail for your life ! " exclaimed Ned, ex- 
 citedly, as Charley drew a curious-looking creature up. 
 
24 2"-^^ WJRECK OF THE RED BIRD. ' 
 
 " What is the thing? " asked both the up-country 
 boys in a breath. 
 
 "A stingaree," replied Ned, "and as ugly as a 
 rattlesnake. See how viciously he strikes with his 
 tail ! Let him down slowly till his tail touches the 
 bottom of the boat. There ! Now wait till he stops 
 striking for a moment .and then clap your foot on his 
 tail. Ah ! now you 've got him. Now cut the tail 
 off close to the body and the fellow 's harmless." 
 
 " What is the creature anyhow ? " asked Jack, 
 who had suspended his fishing operations to observe 
 the monster. " What did you call it ? " 
 
 " Well, the gentleman belongs to a large and dis- 
 tinguished family. To speak broadly, he is a plagios- 
 trome chondropterygian, of the sub-order raiics, 
 commonly called skates. To define him more par- 
 ticularly, he is a member of the trygonids family, 
 familiarly known as sting rays, and called by negroes 
 and fishermen, and nearly every body else on the 
 coast, stingarees." 
 
 " Where on earth did you get that jargon from ? " 
 asked Charley. 
 
 " It is n't jargon, and I got it from my uncle. He 
 told me one day not to call these things stingarees, 
 
AFLOAT. 25 
 
 but stinor rays, and tben for fun ratded off a lot of 
 scientific talk at me, which I made him repeat until 
 I knew it by heart. WTiat I know about sting rays 
 is this : there are a good many kinds of them in dif- 
 ferent quarters of the worid- In the North they 
 have lie American sting ray. which is much larger 
 than ours down here, diongfa we sometimes catch 
 them two or three feet wide. Ours is the European 
 sting ray; I believe ; at any rale, it is n't the Ameri- 
 can. They are all of them closel)' alike. They are 
 iM-own on top and white beneath. You see the 
 shape — not nnlike that of a turtle, but with some- 
 thing like wings at the sides, and with a skin instead 
 of a shell, ar. i no l^s. The most interesting things 
 about them are their long, slender tails. See." 
 picking up the amputated tail and turning it over ; 
 " see the gentleiaan s weapons. Those bony shakes, 
 with their barbed sides, make verj' ugly wounds 
 whenever the sting ra^r gets a good shot at a 1^ or 
 an arm. The n^rroes say the barbs are pOKonoiis, 
 like a rattlesnake's &ng5 ; but the scientific folk dis- 
 pute diat. Howevo" t j:at may be. a man was laid up 
 kx three months ri^t here in Blufiton, during the 
 war. with a foot so bad that the surgeons thought 
 
26 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 they would have to cut it off, and all from a very 
 slight wound by a sting ray." 
 
 " Ugh I " cried Jack. " It is n't necessary to sup- 
 pose poison ; to have one of those horrible bones 
 driven into your flesh and then drawn out with the 
 notches all turned the wrong way, is enough to 
 make any amount of trouble, without adding poison." 
 
 " Perhaps that accounts for the stories told of 
 the Indians- shooting poisoned arrows," said Ned. 
 "They used sting-ray stings for arrow-heads at any 
 rate." 
 
 "And very capital arrow-heads they would make," 
 said Charley, examining the spikes, which were about 
 the size of a large lead-pencil, about three or four 
 inches long, and barbed all along the sides, so thatthey 
 looked not unlike rye beards under a microscope. 
 These spikes are placed not at the end of the tail, 
 but near the middle. 
 
 " Arc sting rays good to eat ?" asked Jack, exam- 
 ining the slimy, flabby creature. 
 
 " It all depends upon the taste of the eater," re- 
 plied Ned. " The negroes sometimes eat the flaps 
 or wings, and most white people on the coast have 
 curiosity enough to taste them. They always say 
 
there 's nothing bad about the taste, but I never knew 
 anybody to take to sting rays as a delicacy. Some 
 people say that alligator steaks are good, and a 
 good many people eat sharks now and then. For 
 my part good fish are too plentiful here for me to 
 experiment with bad ones." 
 
 The fishing was resumed now, and it was not long 
 before Jack confessed that the fish were beginning to 
 " bother " him by their abundance and eagerness. 
 
 " Ned," he said, " I apologize. If you 've any 
 fiddlers about your clothes, I believe I '11 confine my 
 attention to sheephead ; I 'm tired of pulling fish in." 
 
 " Well, let 's go ashore, then," said Ned, laughing, 
 " and have dinner." 
 
 " Do fish bite in that way generally down here ? " 
 asked Charley. 
 
 " Yes, when the tide is n't too full. Fishing really 
 gets to be a bore here, it is so easy to fill a boat ; 
 anybody can do that as easily as throw a cast net." 
 
 " Now hush that," said Charley. " Jack has owned 
 up and apologized, and agreed that he knows more 
 than he did this morning." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PLANS AND PREPARATIONS. 
 
 AFTER dinner the boys lolled upon the piazza, 
 and Ned answered his companions' questions 
 concerning Bluffton and region round about. 
 
 " The water here is called South May River," he 
 said, " but why, I don't know. It certainly is n't a 
 river. This whole coast is a ragged edge of land with 
 all sorts of inlets running up into it, and with islands, 
 big and little, dotted about off the mainland. Yonder 
 is Hilton Head away over near the horizon. Hunt- 
 ing Island lies off to the left, and Bear's Island further 
 away yet. The little marsh islands have no names. 
 They are simply bars of mud on which a kind of 
 rank grass, call salt marsh, grows. Some of them 
 are covered by every tide ; others only by spring- 
 tides, while others are covered by all except neap- 
 tides." 
 
 28 
 
■^' PLANS AND PREPARATIONS. 29 
 
 " Is there any land over that way, to the right of 
 Hilton Head? " Charley asked. 
 
 " Good idea! " exclaimed Ned. " I say, let 's go 
 buffalo-hunting and crusoeing and yachting all at 
 once." 
 
 " What sort of answer is that nonsense to my 
 question ? " asked Charley, with mock dignity and 
 real doubt as to his friend's meaning. 
 
 " Well, I jumped a little, that 's all," said Ned. 
 " Your question suggested my answer. Bee Island 
 lies over there, out of sight. It 's my uncle's land. 
 It used to be a sea-island plantation, but was aban- 
 doned during the war and has never been occupied 
 since. It has grown up and is as wild as if it had 
 never been cultivated at all. The cattle were left 
 on it when the place was abandoned, and they went 
 completely wild. During the war parties of soldiers 
 from both sides used to go over there to hunt the 
 wild cattle. Sometimes they met each other and 
 hunted each other instead of the cattle. Now it just 
 occurred to me that we might have jolly fun by fitting 
 out an expedition, sailing over there in the Red Bird 
 — you see these land-locked waters are never very 
 rough or dangerous — and camping there as long as 
 
30 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 we like. When we are in the boat, we will be 
 yachtsmen of the ' swellest ' sort ; when we 're on 
 the desert island — or deserted, rather, for it is desert 
 only in the past tense — we '11 be Robinson Crusoes ; 
 and when we want beef we '11 kill a wild cow, if 
 there are any left, and be buffalo hunters, for what 's 
 a buffalo but a sort of wild cow? " 
 
 " Is the fishing good over there ? " asked Jack, 
 " for I 'm not so much bothered by the fish yet that 
 I want to quit catching them." 
 
 " As good as here." 
 
 " All right, let 's go," said Jack. 
 
 " So say I," responded Charley. " When shall 
 we start ? "■ 
 
 " To-morrow morning. It will take all this after- 
 noon to get ready," said Ned. 
 
 With that they set to work collecting necessary 
 materials. 
 
 " We must have all sorts of things," said Ned. 
 
 " Yes," answered Jack, ' particularly in our charac- 
 ters as Robinson Crusoes." 
 
 " How 's that ? " asked Charley. " He had noth- 
 ing. He was shipwrecked, you know." 
 
 " Yes, I know. But did you never notice what 
 
PLAXS A-VD PREPAJIATIOXS. 3^ 
 
 extraordinary luck he had ? Absolutely even- thing 
 that T^'as indispensable to him came ashore or was 
 brousfht ashore finom that accommodatingr wreck. 
 WTiy, he even got gunpowder enough to last him. 
 and whatever the ship did n't yield the island did. I 
 alwaj-s suspected that Robinson Crusoe loaded that 
 ship himself with special reference to his needs on 
 the island, and picked out the right island, and then 
 ran the ship on the rocks purposely." 
 
 This interpretation of Robinson Crusoe's character 
 and life was a novel one to Jack's companions ; but 
 their plan for their expedition did not include any 
 purpose to deny themselves needed conveniences. 
 
 The large duck gun was taken down jfrom its 
 hooks in the hall, and a good supply of ammunition 
 was put into the shot pouches and powder flask. 
 This included one pouch of buckshot and one of 
 smaller shot for fowls. The fishing tackle was al- 
 ready in the boat house, as we know. An axe, a 
 hatxiet, a piece of bacon, to be used in flying fish, a 
 small bag of rice, another of flour, and another of 
 sweet potatoes, a box of salt, another of sugar — ^both 
 water-tight, — and some coffee, completed the list of 
 stores as planned by the boys. Maum Sally con- 
 
32 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 templated the collection, after the boys had declared 
 it to be complete, and exclaimed • 
 
 " Well, I 'clar now ! " 
 
 " What 's the matter, Maum Sally ? " asked Ned: 
 
 " Nothin', on'y it 's jis zacly like a passel o' boys, 
 dat is." 
 
 " What is ? " 
 
 " W'y wot for is youa takin' things to eat ? " asked 
 Sally. 
 
 " Because we '11 want to eat them," said Ned. 
 
 " Raw ? " asked Sally. 
 
 " That's so," said Ned, with a look of confusion. 
 " Boys, we have n't put in a single cooking utensil ! " 
 
 Laughing at their blunder, the boys set about 
 cjaoosing from Maum Sally's stores what they 
 thought was most imperatively needed. Two skil- 
 lets, one to be used for frying and the other for baking 
 bread ; a kettle, to be used in boiling rice, in heating 
 water for coffee, and as a bread pan in which to mix 
 corn bread ; a coffee pot ; some tin cups ; three 
 forks and three plates, constituted their outfit. 
 
 Each boy had his pocket knife, of course, and Ned 
 had put into the boat a large hunting knife from the 
 house. 
 
PLANS AND PREPARATIONS. 33 
 
 When all was stored ready for the morning's de- 
 parture, the boys ate their supper and betook -them- 
 selves to the piazza. 
 
 " I hope there '11 be a fair breeze in the morning," 
 said Ned, " for it will be a frightful job to row that 
 big boat to Bee Island if there is n't wind enough to' 
 sail." 
 
 " How far is it? " asked Jack. 
 
 " About a dozen miles. But there is nearly always, 
 breeze enough to sail, after we get away from the' 
 bluffs here ; but the tide will be against us." 
 
 " How do you know ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " Why it will begin running up about eight o'clock 
 to-morrow, and of course it won't turn till about 
 two." 
 
 " How do yon know it will begin running up 
 about eight o'clock .'' " 
 
 " Why, because it began running up a little after 
 seven this morning." 
 
 " Well, what has that got to do with it ? Don't it 
 all depend on the wind ? " 
 
 " What a landlubber you are ! " exclaimed Ned^- 
 " No, it don't depend on the wind. It depends on 
 the moon and the sun. I '11 try to explain." 
 
34 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " No, don't," said Jack ; " let him read about it in 
 his geography, or explain it to him some other time. 
 Tell us about something else now. Is n't the country 
 fever likely to bother us over there on the island ? " 
 
 " No, not if we select a good place to camp in. 
 We must get on pretty high ground near the salt 
 water. I know the look of healthy and unhealthy 
 places pretty well, and we '11 be safe enough." 
 
 " All right. When we get into camp you can de- 
 liver that lecture on tides if you want to, but just 
 now we would n't attend to it. We 're apt to be a 
 trifle cross in the evenings over there if we get tired. 
 Tired people in camp are always cross, and it will be 
 just as well to save whatever you have to say .till we 
 need something to talk about. Then you can tell us 
 all about it." 
 
 " Well, now, I 've something interesting to tell 
 you without waiting," said Ned ; ^' something very 
 interesting." 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " That it is after nine o'clock ; that we want to get 
 up early ; and that we 'd better go to bed." 
 
 " Agreed," said his companions. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SAILING OF THE " RED BIRD." 
 
 THE boys were out of bed not long after day- 
 light the next morning. The sky was clear, 
 but there was not a particle of breeze, and even be- 
 fore the sun rose the air was hot and stifling to a de- 
 gree never before experienced by either of Ned's 
 visitors. 
 
 " I say, Ned, this is a frightful morning," said Jack. 
 " I feel myself melting as I stand here in my clothes. 
 I 'm already as weak as a pound of butter looks in 
 the sun. How we 're going to breathe when the 
 sun comes up, I 'm at a loss to determine. Whew ! " 
 and with that Jack sat down exhausted. 
 
 " A nice time we '11 have rowing," said Charley. 
 " I move we swim and push the boat. It '11 be 
 cooler, and not much harder work. Does it ever 
 rain here ? because if it does I 'm waiting for a show- 
 
 35 
 
36 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 er. I 'm wilted down, and nothing short of a 
 drenching will revive me." 
 
 " Well," said Ned, " come, let 's take a drenching. 
 I 'm going to take a header off the boat-house pier. 
 It 's low- water now, and there 's a clear jump of ten 
 feet! A plunge will wake us up, and by that time 
 breakfast will be ready, and what is more to the 
 point, the tide will turn. That 's a comfort." 
 
 " Why? " asked Charley. 
 
 " Because when it turns a sea-breeze will come 
 with it. This sort of heat is what we 'd have here 
 all summer long if it was n'tfor land- and sea-breezes. 
 As it is we never have it except at dead low water, 
 and it is always followed by a good stiff sea-breeze 
 when the tide turns. We '11 be able to sail instead 
 of swimming over to the island. But come, let 's 
 have our plunge now." 
 
 After breakfast the boys went to the boat house 
 to bestow their freight in the boat. The tide had 
 turned, and, as Ned had predicted, a cool, stimula- 
 ting breeze had begun to blow, so that the strength 
 returned to Jack's knees and Charley's resolution. 
 
 " It will be best to fill the boat's water kegs," said 
 Ned ; " partly because we '11 want water on the 
 
THE SAILING OF THE RED BIRD. 37 
 
 way, partly because we '11 want water on the island, 
 while we 're digging for a permanent supply." 
 
 " By the way," said Jack, " what are we going to 
 dig with? " 
 
 " Well, there 's another blunder," said Ned. " If 
 Robinson Crusoe had forgotten things in that way, 
 he- never would have lived through his island ex- 
 periences. We must have a shovel and a pick. I '11 
 run up to the house and look for them while you 
 boys fill the water kegs." 
 
 When Ned got back to the boat he was con- 
 fronted by Maum Sally with a big bundle. 
 
 " What is it, Maum Sally ? " 
 
 " Oh nothin', on'y I spose you young gentlemen is 
 a gwine to sleep jes a little now an' then o' nights, 
 an' so, as you has n't thought on it yerse'fs, I 's 
 done brung you some bedclo'es." 
 
 " Now look here, boys," said Ned ; " we '11 go off 
 without out heads yet We 've lost our heads 
 several times already, in fact. There 's nothing for 
 it except just to imagine ourselves at the island, and 
 run through a whole day and night in our minds to 
 see what we 're going to need." 
 
 " That 's a good idea," said Charley. " I '11 begin. 
 
38 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 I '11 need my mother the first thing, because here 's 
 a button off my collar." 
 
 The party laughed, of course, but there was force 
 in the suggestion. A few buttons, a needle or two, 
 and some stout thread were straightway added to 
 the ship's stores. 
 
 " Now let 's see," said Ned. " We '11 need to 
 build a shelter first thing, and we 've all the tools 
 necessary for that, because I 've thought it out care- 
 fully. Then we have our digging tools. Very well. 
 Now, for breakfast we need, let me see," and he ran 
 over the materials and utensils already enumerated. 
 Going on in this way through an imaginary day on 
 the island, the boys fpund their list of stores now 
 reasonably complete. From Maum Sally's bundle 
 they selected three blankets, which they rolled up 
 tight and bestowed behind the water keg at the 
 stern. Maum Sally had brought pillows, sheets, and 
 a large mattress, which she earnestly besought them 
 to take, but they declined to add to their cargo any 
 thing which could be dispensed with. At the very last 
 moment one of the boys thought of matches. It was 
 decided that three small boxes would be sufficient, as 
 they could keep fire by the exercise of a little caution. 
 
THE SAILING OF THE RED BIRD. 39 
 
 Thus equipped, they bade Maum Sally good-by, 
 and cast the boat loose. The sail filled, the Red 
 Bird lay a little over upon one side, with the wind 
 nearly abeam, and the boys settled themselves into 
 their places. 
 
 " I say, young Ned," called Maum Sally, " how 
 long 's ye mean to be gone ? " 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. May be a month," was the re- 
 ply. 
 
 " Well, not a day longer 'n dat, now mind." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ODD FISH. 
 
 THE sea-breeze was fresh and full, and it blew 
 from a favorable quarter. There were vari- 
 ous windings about among the small islands to be 
 made, and now and then the course for a brief dis- 
 tance was against the wind, and as this was the case 
 only where the channel was narrow, it was necessary 
 to make a series of very short " tacks," which gave Ned 
 an opportunity to instruct his companions in the art 
 of sailing a boat. In the main, however, there was 
 an abundance of sea-room, and Ned could lay his 
 course directly for Bee Island and keep the wind 
 on the quarter. It was barely eleven o'clock, there- 
 fore, when the Red Bird came to her moorings on 
 the island, and the boys went ashore. 
 
 " Now the first thing that Robinson Crusoe did 
 after he got his wits about him," said Jack, " was to 
 
 40 
 
ODD FISH. 41 
 
 build his residence. Let 's follow the example of 
 that experienced mariner, and choose our building- 
 site before we begin to bring away things from the 
 wreck ; I mean, before we unload our plunder." 
 
 " Yes, that 's our best plan," said Ned. " We 
 don't want to do any more carrying than we must. 
 Let me see. We 're on the north side of the island. 
 If I remember right, the negro quarters used to be to 
 the east of this spot, and the negroes must have got 
 water from somewhere, so we 'd better look for the 
 ruins of that African Troy, in search of the ancient 
 reservoirs." 
 
 " How far from the shore were the quarters ? " 
 asked Charley. 
 
 " I don't remember, if I ever knew ; but why ? " 
 
 " Well, it seems to me this island has grown up 
 somewhat as the hair on your head does, in a shock. 
 The large trees, as nearly as I can make out, think 
 six feet or so to be a proper interval between them- 
 selves, and the small trees have disposed themselves 
 to the best of their ability between the big ones ; 
 then all kinds of vines have grown up among the 
 big and little trees, as if to make a sort of shrimp-net 
 of the woods, and cane has grown up just to occupy 
 
42 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 any vacant spaces that might be left. It occurs to 
 me that if we 're to hunt anywhere except along 
 shore for the old quarters, we 'd best make up our 
 minds to clear the island as we go." 
 
 " I say, Charley," said Jack, " if you were obliged 
 to clear an acre of this growth with your own hands 
 what would you dd first ? " 
 
 " I 'd get a good axe, a grubbing hoe, some 
 matches, and kindling wood ; then I 'd take a good 
 look at the thicket ; and then I'd take a long, long 
 rest." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose you 'd need it. But that is n't 
 what I meant. Never mind that, however. Ned, I 
 don't see why this is n't as good a place as any for 
 our camp. There 's a sort of bluff here, and we can 
 clear away a place for our hut and get the hut built 
 with less labor than it would take to find traces 9f 
 negro, quarters that were destroyed twelve or fifteen 
 years ago." 
 
 " Yes, but how about water ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't think it likely that we 'd find any 
 visible remains of a well in the other place, and if we 
 did we 'd have to dig it all out again. Why not dig 
 here?" 
 
ODD FISH. 
 
 43 
 
 After some discussion, and the examination of the 
 shore for a short distance in each direction, this sug- 
 gestion was adopted. The building of a shelter was 
 easy work. It was necessary only to erect a frame- 
 work of poles, to cut bushes and place them against 
 the sides for walls, and to cover the whole with pal- 
 mete leaves — that is to say, with the leaves of a 
 species of dwarf palm which grows in that region in 
 abundance. These leaves are known to persons at 
 the North only in the form of palm-leaf fans. On the 
 coast of South Carolina they grow in all the swamps 
 and woodlands. 
 
 A little labor made a bunk for the boys to sleep 
 upon, and while Ned and Charley filled it with long 
 gray Spanish moss. Jack got dinner ready, first row- 
 ing out from shore and catching fish enough for that 
 meal while his companions finished the house. 
 
 " Now," said Jack, when dinner was over and the 
 boys had stretched themselves out for a rest, " it 's 
 nearly sunset, and we 're all tired. We 've got the 
 best part of two kegs of water left, so I move that 
 we don't begin digging our well till morning." 
 
 " Agreed," said the other boys, glad enough to 
 be idle. 
 
44 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Now, I ,'ve got something I want you to tell me 
 about," said Jack. " Two things, in fact." With 
 that, he went to the boat and looked about. Pres- 
 ently he came back and said : 
 
 " One of 'em 's dried up. Here 's the other." 
 
 He handed Ned a queer-looking fish, almost 
 black, about eight inches long, very slender, and 
 very singularly shaped. 
 
 "See," he said; " its jaw protrudes in so queer a 
 way that I can't make out which side of the creature 
 is top and which bottom. Turn either side you 
 please up, and it looks as if you ought to turn the 
 other up instead ; and then the thing has a sort of 
 match-lighter on top of his head, or on the bottom — 
 I don't know which it is. Look." 
 
 He pointed to the creature's head. There was a 
 flat, oval figure there, made by a ridge in the skin, 
 and the flat space enclosed within this oval line was 
 crossed diagonally by other ridges, arranged with 
 perfect regularity. The whole looked something 
 like the figure on the opposite page. 
 
 " Now, what I want to know," said Jack, " is what 
 sort of fish this is, which side of him belongs on top, 
 and what use he makes of this match-lighter." 
 
ODD FISH. 
 
 45 
 
 " I 'm afraid I can't help you much," said Ned, 
 " A year ago I would have told you at once that the 
 fish is a shark's pilot, so called because he follows 
 ships as sharks do, and the sailors think he acts as a 
 pilot for the sharks. But now I don't know what 
 to call it." 
 
 " Why not ? '' asked Charley. 
 
 " Because I don't know. I 've been reading up 
 in the cyclopaedias and natural histories and ichthy- 
 ologies about our fishes down here, and have found 
 out that whatever I know is n't so." 
 
 " Why, how 's that?" 
 
 " Well, take the whiting, for example. When I 
 
46 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 began reading up to see if there was any sort of 
 cousinship between him and the dolphin, I soon 
 found that the whiting is n't a whiting at all, but I 
 could n't find out any thing else about him. The 
 whiting described in the books is a sort of codfish's 
 cousin, and he lives only at the North. Neither the 
 pictures nor the descriptions of him at all resemble our 
 whiting, so I don't know what sort of fish our whiting 
 is. I only know that he is n't a whiting, and is n't 
 the remotest relation to the dolphin, because he is a 
 fish and has scales, while the dolphin is a cetacean." 
 
 " What 's a cetacean ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " A vertebrated, mammiferous marine animal." 
 
 " Well ; go on ; English all that." 
 
 ' Well, whales, dolphins narwhals, and porpoises 
 are the principal cetaceans. They are not fish, but 
 marine animals, and they suckle their young." 
 
 " Well, that 's news to me," said Charley. 
 
 " Now, then," said Jack, " if you two have fin- 
 ished your little side discussion, suppose we come 
 back to the subject in hand. What do you know, Ned, 
 about this fish that I have in my hand, and why 
 don't you call him a shark's pilot now, as you say 
 you did a year ago ? " 
 
ODD FISH. 47 
 
 " Why, because the books treat me the same 
 way in his case that they do in the whiting's. They 
 describe a shark's pilot which is as different from 
 this as a whale is from a heifer calf, and so I don't 
 know what to call this fellow. Did he make a fight 
 when you caught him ? " 
 
 " Indeed he did. I was sure I had a twenty- 
 pound something or other on my hook, and when I 
 pulled up this insignificant little creature, with the 
 mr.tch box on his head, I was disgusted. I looked 
 at him to see if he had n't a steam-engine some- 
 where about him,' because he pulled so hard, and 
 that 's what made me observe his match box and his 
 curious up-side-down-itiveness." 
 
 " I say, Ned," said Charley, " why is it that our 
 Southern fishes are so neglected in the books ? " 
 
 " Well, I 've asked myself that question, and the 
 only answer I can think of is this : in the first place, 
 there is no great commercial interest in fishing here 
 as there is at the North ; and then the natural his- 
 tory books and the cyclopaedias arc all written at the 
 North or in Europe, and so there are thousands of 
 curious fish down here which are not mentioned. 
 There 's the pin-cushion fish, for example. I can't 
 
48 ■ THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD, 
 
 find a trace of that curious creature in any of the 
 books." 
 
 " What sort of thing is a pin-cushion fish ? " asked 
 Jack. 
 
 "He 's simply a hollow sphere, a globular bag 
 about twice the size of a walnut, and as round as a 
 base ball." 
 
 " Half transparent,, is he? Red, shaded ofif into 
 white ? with water inside of him, and pimples, like 
 pin-heads, all over him, and eyes and mouth right on 
 his fair rotundity, making him look like a picture of 
 the full moon made into a human face ? " asked Jack 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Yes, that 's the pin-cushion fish." 
 
 " I thought so. That 's my other one," said Jack. 
 
 " What do you mean ?" asked Ned. 
 
 " Why, that 's the other thing I had to show you, 
 but could n't find. I caught him with the cast 
 net" 
 
 " And kept him to show to me? " asked Ned. 
 
 " Yes, but he disappeared," 
 
 " Of course he did. He spat himself away." 
 
 " How 's that ? " 
 
 " Why, it you take a pin-cushion fish out of the 
 
ODD FISH. 4g 
 
 water, and put him down on a board, he '11 sit there 
 looking like a judge for a little while ; then he '11 be- 
 gin to spit, and when he spits all the water out, 
 there 's nothing left of him except a small lump of 
 jelly. They 're very curious things, I wish we had 
 a good popular book about our Southern fishes and 
 the curious things that live in the water here on the 
 coast." 
 
 " Don't you suppose these things are represented 
 at all in scientific books ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I suppose that many of them are, but many of 
 them are not, and those that are described, are 
 described by names that we know nothing about, 
 and so only a naturalist could find the descrip- 
 tions or recognize them when found. With all 
 Northern fishes that are familiarly known, the 
 case is different. If a Northern boy wants to 
 find out more than he knows already about a 
 codfish, he looks for the information under the 
 familiar name ' Codfish,' and finds it there. He 
 does not need to know in advance that the cod is a 
 fish of the Gadus family, and the Morrhua vulgaris 
 species. So, when he wants to know about the 
 whiting that he is familiar with, he finds the informa- 
 
50 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 tion under the name whiting ; but the scientific men 
 who wrote the books, however much they may know 
 about the fish that we call whiting, do not know, I sup- 
 pose, that it is anywhere called whiting, and so they 
 don't put the information about it under that head. 
 They only come down South as far as New Jersey, 
 and tell about a species of fish which is there called 
 whiting, though it is n't the real whiting. If they 
 had known that still another and a very different 
 fish goes by that name down here, they would have 
 told us about that too, in the same way." 
 
 " What 's the remedy ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " For you, of Jack, or me," answered Ned, " to 
 study science, and to make a specialty of our South- 
 ern fishes. When we do that and give the world 
 all the information we can get by really intelligent 
 observation, all the scientific writers will welcome 
 the addition made to the general store of knowledge. 
 That is the Way it has all been found out." 
 
 " Why can't we begin now ? " 
 
 " Because we have n't learned how to observe. 
 We don't know enough of general principles to be 
 able to understand what we see. Let 's form habits 
 of observation, and let 's study science systemati- 
 
ODD FISH 51 
 
 cally ; after that we can observe intelligently, and 
 make a real contribution to knowledge." 
 
 " You 're not going to write your book on the 
 Marine Fauna of the Southern States to-night, are 
 you ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " No, certainly not," said Ned, with a laugh at his 
 own enthusiasm. 
 
 " Then let 's go to bed ; I 'm sleepy," said Jack. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AN ENEMY IN THE CAMP. 
 
 THE three tired boys went to sleep easily enough, 
 and the snoring inside their hut gave fair prom- 
 ise of a late waking the next day. But before long Jack 
 became restless in his sleep, and began to toss about 
 a good deal. Charley seemed, to catch his restless- 
 ness, and presently he sat up in the bunk and began 
 to slap himself. This thoroughly aroused him, and 
 as Jack and Ned were tossing about uneasily he 
 had no scruple in speaking to them. 
 
 " I say, fellows, we 're attacked." 
 
 "What 's the matter?" muttered Ned, at the 
 same time beginning to rub himself vigorously, first 
 on one part of the body, then on another. 
 
 " Mosquitoes," said Jack, violentiy rubbing his 
 scalp. 
 
 " Worse than mosquitoes," said Charley ; " they 
 
 52 
 
AN ENEMY IN THE CAMP. 53 
 
 feel more like yellow jackets or hornets, I should 
 say ; and they 're inside our clothes too." 
 
 " Whew ! " exclaimed Ned, leaping out of the 
 bunk, " I did n't think of that." 
 
 "What is it?" asked both the other boys in a 
 breath. 
 
 " A swarm of sand-flies." 
 
 " Sand-flies ! what are they ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Wait, and I '11 show you," replied Ned, going 
 out and stirring up the fire so as to make a light. 
 Meantime the boys rubbed and writhed and turned 
 themselves about in something like agony, for, 
 though they suffered no severe pain at any one spot, 
 their whole bodies seemed to be covered with red 
 pepper. Every inch of their skins was inflamed, 
 and the more they rubbed the worse the irritation 
 became. 
 
 When Ned had made a bright light, he showed 
 his companions wh'at their tormentors were. Jack 
 and Charley saw some very minute flying insects — 
 true flies indeed — not much larger than the points of 
 pins. There were millions of the creatures. The 
 whole air seemed full of them indeed, and wherever 
 one rested for a moment upon the skin of its victim, 
 
54 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 there was at once a pricking sensation, follswed by the 
 intolerable burning and irritation already mentioned. 
 
 Charley was at first incredulous. " You don't 
 mean to tell me," he said, " that those little gnats 
 have done all this." 
 
 " Yes, I do," answered Ned, " and more than 
 that, I have known them to kill a horse, tormenting 
 him to death in a few hours. They '11 get under a 
 horse's hair by millions and literally cover him, un- 
 til you can see the hair move with them. But they 
 are not gnats." 
 
 " But, see here, Ned," said Jack ; " when I barely 
 touch one of the creatures, it not only kills him but 
 distributes him pretty evenly over the surrounding 
 surface. They have n't strength enough to hang to- 
 gether." 
 
 " Yes, I know," replied Ned ; " what of that ? " 
 
 " Why, how can such things bite so ? and espe- 
 cially how can they force their ■ way through our 
 blankets and clothes ? I should think they 'd tear 
 themselves to pieces in the attempt." 
 
 " So should I, if I did n't know better; but as a 
 matter of fact they do manage to get through with- 
 out dulling their teeth, as we have proof." 
 
AN ENEMY IN THE CAMP. 55 
 
 " Have the creatures teeth ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " No, of course not ; but they have a sort of 
 rasping apparatus which is just as bad. They have 
 an acrid kind of saliva too, which they put into the 
 wounds they make, and that is what smarts so. But 
 come, this won't do. We must make .a good 
 smudge." 
 
 " What 's a smudge ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I '11 show you presently," answered Ned, while 
 he began to build a small fire immediately in front 
 of the tent. When it had burned a little, he smoth- 
 ered it with damp leaves and moss, so that it gave off 
 a dense cloud of smoke which quickly filled the hut. 
 
 " Now the tent will soon be clear of them," said 
 Ned. 
 
 " Sand-flies object to smoke, I suppose," said Jack. 
 
 " Very much indeed," answered Ned, " and it is 
 customary here on the coast to have a pair of 
 smudge boxes in front of every house." 
 
 " I don't blame them for objecting," grumbled 
 Charley, coughing and wiping his smoke-inflarned 
 eyes ; " I can't say that I find smoke the most de- 
 lightful atmosphere myself. But what is a ' smudge 
 box,' Ned ? " 
 
56 '-THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Simply a shallow box of earth set upon a post, 
 to build a smudge upon." 
 
 " I say, Ned," asked Jack, " what do you mean by 
 saying that sand-flies are n't gnats? " 
 I " Simply that they are n't," said Ned. 
 
 " What are they, then? " 
 
 " Flies." 
 
 " Well, what is a small fly but a gnat? " 
 
 " And what is a gnat but a small fly ? " added 
 Charley. 
 
 " The two are not at all the same thing," answered 
 Ned. ■ " That is a popular mistake. I have heard 
 people say they could stand mosquitoes, but could n't 
 endure gnats ; and yet the mosquito is a gnat, and 
 what these people call gnats are not gnats at all, but 
 simply small flies." 
 
 " What constitutes the exact difference ? " 
 
 " The shape of the body. All (lies are two- 
 winged insects, and gnats are flics in that sense, of 
 course ; but gnats are those flies that have long 
 bodies behind their wings, to balance themselves 
 with. Mosquitoes are our best example of them. 
 These sand flies, you see, have very short bodies." 
 
 " Yes, but very long bills, I fancy," said Charley. 
 
AN- ENEMY IN THE CAMP. t^j 
 
 " Well,' said Jack, " all that is news to me." 
 
 " I suppose it is. Most people think a whale is a 
 fish, too, but for all that it is nothing of the kind. 
 What are you doing, Charley ? " 
 
 " Tossing up heads or tails for it," answered 
 Charley, who had left the tent and gone to the large 
 fire. 
 
 " Tossing up for what ? " 
 
 " To determine the method and manner of my 
 death," answered Charley, with profound gravity, 
 " If I stay in the hut I shall die of suffocation in the 
 smoke, and if I stay out here the sand flies will kill 
 me. I can't quite make up my mind which death I 
 prefer, so I 'm tossing up for it." 
 
 "Good! there 's a breeze," said Ned; "if it 
 rises it '11 relieve you of the necessity of choos- 
 ing." 
 
 "How? By blowing the smoke away, and so 
 giving the sand flies a fair field ? " 
 
 " No ; by blowing the sandflies away ; they can't, 
 stand much of a breeze. It is coming up, too, and 
 we shall get some sleep after all." 
 
 The breeze did indeed rise after a time, but the 
 dawn was almost upon them before the boys really 
 
58 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 slept again, so severely were their skins irritated by 
 their small enemies. 
 
 They had learned a lesson, however, and during 
 the rest of their stay on the island they never neg- 
 lected to make a smudge in front of the hut before 
 attempting to sleep. It was not often that the sand 
 flies appeared in such numbers as on this night, and 
 hence it was not often necessary to fill the teiit too 
 full of smoke for comfort. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE BEGINNING AND END OF A VOYAGE. 
 
 THE first care of the boys the next morning was 
 to dig their well. This was a comparatively 
 trifling task, as they had only to dig four or five feet 
 through soft alluvial soil and sand. Instead of mak- 
 ing perpendicular sides to their well, they dug it out 
 in the shape of a bowl, so that they could walk down 
 to the water and dip it up as they needed it. 
 
 Having a hut to live in and a well from which to 
 get fresh water, they were now free to begin the 
 sport for which they had come to the island. They 
 went fishing first, of course, that being the obvious 
 thing to do, but after a few hours of this the tide be- 
 came too full, and the fish ° ceased to bite satisfac- 
 torily. 
 
 " Let 's crusoe a little," said Jack, winding up his 
 line. 
 
 59 
 
6o THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " In what particular way?" asked Ned. 
 
 " Why, let 's sail around our domain and see how 
 the island looks on its other sides. Perhaps we may 
 discover the savages, or find some game." 
 
 " A good idea ; but we must go back to camp 
 first, to leave our fish and get the gun and the sail ; 
 and while we 're there we 'd better get some din- 
 ner. 
 
 So said, so done. Dinner was very hastily dis- 
 patched, as the boys were anxious to get off, in order 
 that the circuit of the island might be completed be- 
 fore night. 
 
 " It looks like rain," said Ned, as he shook out 
 the sail, " but we don't mind a wetting." 
 
 There was a good breeze, and the boat bounded 
 away, rocking a good deal, for the wind l^ad been 
 blowing all day, and there was more sea on than 
 was usual in those quiet waters. Ned let the centre- 
 board down, which steadied the boat somewhat, 
 and enabled her to carry her sail without danger. 
 The plan was to coast along about half a mile off 
 shore in order that the island might be seen to 
 good advantage ; but as the eastern- shore was 
 reached the sea became heavier, and the roar of the 
 
THE BEGINNING AND END OF A VOYAGE. 6l ' 
 
 surf on shore warned Ned of broad sands upon that 
 side. 
 
 " I 've got to make more offing here," he said. 
 " What do you mean by that ? turn it into Eng- 
 glish," said Charley Black, who persistently refused 
 to understand any thing that sounded like a nautical 
 term, 
 
 " Well, I mean I Ve got to sail farther away from 
 the shore." 
 
 " 'Cause why ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Because of two things," replied Ned. " In the 
 first place the sea comes in between those two 
 islands over there, and has a fair sweep at about half 
 a mile of our island's coast, and so for the next half 
 mile we shall have some pretty rough water, and I 
 prefer to be well off shore." 
 
 " I should think you 'd prefer to be close inshore 
 if there 's danger. Then if any thing happens we 
 can land." 
 
 "That's all you know about it," said Ned. " I 
 don't think there 's the least danger, so long as we 
 keep off shore, because this boat, with her centre- 
 board down, is seaworthy ; but as she is n't beach- 
 worthy — and no vessel is that — I don't want to get 
 
62 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 her upon a beach. That brings me to my second 
 reason. I want to take a good offing, because by 
 the way the surf roars here, and by the look of it, I 
 judge that there 's a long sandy beach running out 
 from this part of the island, and I don't want to risk 
 getting into too shallow water." 
 
 " But why could n't we land if there were dan- 
 ger ? " asked Jack Farnsworth. " If I had the helm 
 that would be the first thing I 'd try to do." 
 
 " So should I if I had a harbor to run into," re- 
 plied Ned. " But don't you see that if we ran upon 
 a sandy beach when there was a sea on, we should 
 soon come to a place where there would n't be 
 water enough except as a wave came in ? Then 
 the boat would be lifted up by every wave, and sud- 
 denly dropped upon the hard sand, and I can tell 
 you she would n't stand much of that. Did you 
 never notice that nearly all shipwrecks occur along 
 shore ? " 
 
 " Yes, that 's true," repl*ed Jack. " Ships that 
 come to grief nearly always run on breakers or 
 something; but I never thought of it before." 
 
 By this time Ned had secured at least a mile of 
 offing but the sea grew every moment heavier. The 
 
THE BEGINNING AND END OF A VOYAGE. 63' 
 
 wind had risen to half a gale, and in spite of the 
 close reefing of the sail the boat lay far over and Ned 
 directed his companions to " trim ship " by sitting 
 upon the gunwale. 
 
 Jack Farnsworth soon discovered that Ned was 
 becoming anxious. He quietly said : 
 " You suspect danger, Ned ? " 
 " Oh, no," replied Ned, " at least I think not." 
 " Yes you do. I see it in your face. Now I want 
 to say at once that whatever the danger is, we can 
 only increase it by losing our wits. The important 
 thing is for you to keep perfectly cool, because you 
 know more than we do about sailing. Then you can 
 tell us what to do, if there 's any thing." 
 
 " Thank you," said Ned ; " the fact is this : I think 
 by the look of the horizon out there at sea, that we 
 are likely to have a squall — that is, a sudden and 
 very violent blow, added to the steadier wind that 
 blows now. If we can run across this open space 
 before it comes, we '11 Be all right under the lee of 
 that island over there, and if no squall comes we 're 
 safe enough even here, because the boat is sea- 
 worthy. But a knock-over squall might capsize us. It's 
 coming, too — let go the sheet — cut it — any thing ! " 
 
64 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 As he said, or rather shouted this, Ned tried to 
 head the boat to the wind, while Jack and Charley 
 let go the sheet, and thus set the sail free. If the 
 squall had struck the boat with the sheet fastened and 
 the sail thus held in position, the Red Bird would 
 have capsized instantly ; but with the sail swinging 
 freely, less resistance was offered, and Ned expected 
 in this way to avoid a catastrophe. He headed the 
 boat to the wind, which was the best thing to do. 
 
 The squall struck just as the sail swung free, but 
 before the Red Bird could be brought completely 
 around. 
 
 It seemed to the boys that the boat had been 
 struck violently by a solid ball of some kind, so 
 sharply did the squall come upon it. Having her head 
 almost to the wind, she reared like a horse, swung 
 around, and very nearly rolled over, but she did not 
 quite capsize. The mast, however, snapped short 
 off, and the sail fell over into the water, being held 
 fast to the boat only by the guys. 
 
 " Cut the guys. Jack," cried Ned, " or that sail 
 will swamp us ! There ! now all sit down in the 
 bottom of the boat ; no, no, Charley, not on the 
 thwart, but on the bottom ! " 
 
THE BEGINNING AND END OF A VOYAGE. 65 
 
 Ned had to shriek these orders to be heard above 
 the roar of the squall, which had not yet subsided. 
 He knew that the immediate danger now was that 
 the boat might turn over, and to prevent this, he 
 ordered his companions to sit upon the bottom, as 
 he himself did, in order that their weight might be 
 where it would best serve as ballast. 
 
 This brought the three very nearly together, so 
 that they could speak to each other without shouting 
 quite at the top of their voices. 
 
 " Well, Ned ? " said Charley Black. 
 
 " Well," replied Ned, " we shan't capsize now. 
 That danger is over ; but there 's another before us 
 that is just as bad." 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " And what shall we do toward meeting it ? " 
 asked Jack, whose superb calmness and manly reso- 
 lution to look things in the face and to niake fight 
 against danger won Ned's heart. 
 
 " We 're being driven at railroad speed upon the 
 beach," answered Ned, "and we '11 strike pretty soon. 
 We 've already lost the oars, and we could n't use 
 them if we had them in thissea ; so we have noth- 
 ing to do but wait. When we strike, the boat will 
 
66 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 be mashed into kindling wood. Every thing de- 
 pends then upon where we strike. If it is far from 
 shore the big waves will beat us to a jelly on the 
 sand. Our only chance will be, as soon as the boat 
 strikes, to catch the next wave, swimming with it 
 toward shore, taking care, when it recedes, to light 
 on our feet, and then run with all our might up the 
 sand. If we can get inside the break of the surf be- 
 fore the next wave catches us we 're safe ; but 
 that 's the only chance. Every thing depends now 
 on where we strike." 
 
 " Boots off," cried Jack ; " we may have to swim." 
 
 Ned and Charley accepted the suggestion. All 
 now anxiously scanned the shore, which seemed to 
 be coming toward them at a tremendous speed. 
 Suddenly Ned cried out : 
 
 " There 's a reef just ahead ; when we strike try 
 to cross it into the stiller water." 
 
 At that moment it seemed as if the sandy reef had 
 suddenly shot up from below, striking the bottom of. 
 the boat as a trip-hammer might, and shivering it 
 into fragments. What had really happened was this ; 
 the boat, driving forward on the crest of a wave, 
 had been carried to a point immediately over the 
 
THE BEGINNING AND END OF A VOYAGE. 67 
 
 sand ridge or reef, and there suddenly dropped by 
 the receding of the wave. It had struck the sandy 
 bottom with sufficient violence to crush its sides and 
 bottom into a shapeless mass. 
 
 The boys were wellnigh stunned by the blow, but 
 rallying quickly they ran forward in water only a few 
 inches deep, and before the next incoming wave 
 struck, they had crossed the narrow sand reef, and 
 plunged into the deep, but comparatively still water 
 that lay inside. The surf was broken, of course, 
 upon the reef, and although the waves passed com- 
 pletely over it, their force was expended. upon it, so 
 that inside the barrier the boys found the water dis- 
 turbed by nothing more than a swell. The distance 
 to the shore was small, and they soon 'swam it, pull- 
 ing themselves out on the sand, drenched, bare- 
 headed, bootless, and weary beyond expression, not 
 so much from exertion as from the strain through 
 which their brains and nerves had passed. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SITUATION. 
 
 THE first thing to be done was to rest. Utterly 
 exhausted,' the lads dragged themselves a 
 few feet from the water and threw themselves down 
 upon the sand, thinking of nothing and caring for 
 nothing except to lie still. The squall had passed 
 away as quickly as it had come, and although a stiff 
 breeze was still blowing the afternoon, sun beating 
 down upon thetn warmed as well as dried them 
 rapidly. Jack Farnsworth was the first to recover 
 his wits, 
 
 " I say, fellows, this won't do," he said, raising 
 himself to a sitting posture. " The day is waning and 
 we 've got to get back to our camp before night." 
 
 Ned and Charley tried to rise. Ned accom- 
 plished the fpat, but poor Charley found it im- 
 possible. 
 
 68 
 
THE SITUATION. 69 
 
 " Why, boys," he said, sinking back upon the 
 sand, " I 'm all of a tremble ; I don't know what 's 
 the matter." 
 
 " Reaction," said Ned. 
 
 " What 's that ? " 
 
 " Why, under all that excitement you kept your 
 strength up by a tremendous effort, and now you 're 
 paying the bill you owe your nerves." 
 
 " But I 'm sure I did n't tremble when we were in 
 danger." 
 
 " No, because you would n't give way then. Your 
 will was master. It ordered your nerves tp furnish 
 strength enough to keep still, and commanded your 
 muscles to do what was necessary to get you safe 
 ashore. They obeyed, and now your will is in their 
 debt. It took more than was due, and your nerves 
 and muscles have presented their bill. They are 
 bullying your will in return for the bullying it gave 
 them a little while ago. That 's the way my father 
 explained it to me once when I trembled after a big 
 scare. Only lie still awhile and you '11 come found. 
 I was as weak as water five minutes ago, but I 'm 
 getting my strength back again how." 
 
 " ' As weak as water,' " said Jack Farns worth medi- 
 
70 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 tatively. " I used to think that a good comparison, 
 but I 've altered my opinion. Water is the strong- 
 est thing I know." 
 
 " How is that? " asked Ned. 
 
 " Why, think how it picked the Red Bird up and 
 flung her down on the sand like an angry giant — 
 but with ten thousand times a giant's strength ! And 
 it picks great ships up in the same way and dashes 
 them to pieces as I might do with an egg-shell or a 
 China cup. Water is a giant, a demon of angry 
 strength. I shall never think of it again as a thing 
 of weakness. It means infinite power to me 
 now." 
 
 " Poor old Red Bird / " said Ned ; " there are her' 
 bones ! " 
 
 There indeed lay what was left of the boat, where 
 it had been drifted upon the sands by the swell. 
 The tide, which had now begun to run out, had left 
 the wreck " high and dry," and instinctively the boys 
 went to look at it, Charley managing now to stagger 
 forward slowly. 
 
 The wreck was a mass of timbers, ribs, and plank- 
 ing, looking like a boat that has been crushed flat 
 under some enormous weight. 
 
THE SITUATION. 7 1 
 
 •' What kept her from going all to bits ? " asked 
 Charley. 
 
 " Her copper bolts," answered Ned. " You see, 
 she was particularly well built. There was n't a nail 
 in her. From stem to stern all the fastenings were 
 of copper, and copper is so tough that no ordinary 
 wrenching will break it. It bends instead. But if 
 we had simply run upon a beach in that sea, even 
 copper bolts would n't have held the pieces together. 
 Every wave would have lifted the wreck up and 
 dashed it down on the sand until the planks and 
 ribs were beaten into bits. As it is, the Red Bird 
 struck only once. The next wave that came lifted- 
 her up and carried her clear across the reef into deep 
 water before it dropped her, and so she received 
 only that one blow. Once inside the reef, she drift- 
 ed with the swell toward shore. She is an utter 
 wreck though, and will never sail again." 
 
 There was a melancholy tone in the boy's voice 
 as he said this, for he had sailed in this boat many 
 and many a time, and had come to love her as if she 
 had been a live thing. 
 
 "I '11 tell you what, boys," said Jack; "we 've 
 got to start toward camp. It won't dd to be caught 
 
72 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 out to-night without supper or fire. Weary and 
 soaked as we are, we shall be sick if we don't get 
 something to eat and a fire to sleep by. Let 's get 
 a vine and tie the wreck here so that it can't drift 
 away with the next tide, and then be off at once. 
 It 's nearly sunset." 
 
 When the " bones " of the boat were well secureo, 
 the boys set out ; Charley having recovered his 
 strength somewhat, they walked at a good pace 
 along the shore, and reached camp just at dark. 
 Building a large fire they soon had a hearty supper, 
 with plenty of hot coffee, and when supper was done, 
 they gladly put themselves to bed, aching a good 
 deal from exhaustion, but really unharmed by their 
 adventure. 
 
 Jack was the first to wake the next morning, but 
 he did not get up immediately. He lay still, evi- 
 dently thinking. After a while he arose quietly and, 
 before dressing himself, made an examination of the 
 stores of food on hand. Finally he roused his com- 
 panions, and the three took a dip into the water. 
 
 " Now," said Jack, when all were seated at break- 
 fast, " I want you boys to help me think a little, and 
 you, Ned, to answer some questions," 
 
J THE SITUATION. 73 
 
 " All right," said Ned, " I 'm thinking already." 
 
 " What are you thinking ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " That these fish are n't as fresh as they might be ; 
 so I 'm going fishing before dinner." 
 
 " What in ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " That 's a fact," said Ned and Charley in a 
 breath. "We have n't a boat now." 
 
 " No," said Jack. "We have no boat, and that 's 
 what I want to think about. How far is it to Bluff- 
 ton, Ned ? " 
 
 "About twelve miles." 
 
 " Is that the nearest point on the mainland ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then we/ve got to stay here till we can build a 
 boat with such tools and materials as we have, if we 
 can do it at all," said Jack. 
 
 " We can't do it," said Ned, with a look of con- 
 sternation on his face ; "we lack nearly every thing. 
 We have n't even the plank ! " 
 
 " Now don't let 's become demoralized," said 
 Jack, who, ever since the accident of the day before, 
 had been the leading spirit of the party. " We 
 must keep our wits about us and lay our plans intel- 
 ligently. But first of all we must look the facts in 
 
74 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 the face. We are on a deserted island twelve miles 
 from the mainland, without a boat. We must stay 
 here until we can make arrangements of some kind 
 for getting away, and that will be a good deal 
 longer than we thought of staying when we came, 
 for I don't suppose you meant it, Ned, when you 
 told Maum Sally that we 'd be gone a month." 
 
 " No, I had n't a thought of staying more than a 
 few days, or a week at most. We did n't bring 
 enough provisions to last for more than a week." 
 
 " That is what I was coming to," said Jack. " I 've 
 been looking over our stores this morning. We 've 
 got to face the fact that we have n't nearly enough, 
 and we must use what we have judiciously, taking 
 great care to add other things as we can. Unluckily 
 we lost our best friend when the gun went down in 
 the wreck of the Red Bird. We can't hunt, but 
 must depend upon other sources of supply. I sup- 
 pose, Ned, there 's very little to be done fishing 
 from the shore ? " 
 
 " Nothing at all, I imagine," replied Ned ; " but I 
 may possibly catch a few mullets with the cast net. 
 You see mullets run up into little bays to feed, and 
 we sometimes go after them with the net, especially 
 
THE SITUATION. nt 
 
 at night. Then I can catch shrimps and some few 
 crabs, and I suppose we shall find an oyster bank 
 somewhere." 
 
 " Yes," said Jack, " I suppose we can manage 
 somehow to get enough food ; the trouble will be to 
 get variety enough. Shrimps and crabs and oys- 
 ters and fish are good food, but one does n't want 
 to make them an exclusive, diet. For health we 
 must have variety." 
 
 " That is true," said Ned, " and our greatest troub- 
 le will be about bread. We have n't flour or rice 
 or sweet potatoes enough to last more than a few 
 days." 
 
 " No," said Jack, " and we have nothing to substi- 
 tute for them. We must have every thing of the 
 vegetable kind that we can get. Now what is there ? 
 I don't know, and can't think of a thing." 
 
 " There are several things," said Ned, " such as 
 they are." 
 
 " Well, we '11 hunt for them. What are they? " 
 asked Jack. 
 
 " There may possibly be wild sweet potatoes 
 somewhere on the island, though that is doubtful. 
 The soft parts of most roots are edible ; there are 
 
76 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 plenty of wild grapes in the woods,' I suppose, and 
 for a good substantial vegetable, we can eat an occa- 
 sional dish of algae." 
 
 " What 's that ? " 
 
 " ' What are they,' you should say ; noun of the 
 first declension,^ — alga, algae, algae, algam, etc., — so 
 algae is the nominative plural." 
 
 " Oh, stop the declension — we have enough of that 
 at school — and tell us what algae are," said Charley. 
 
 " Sea- weeds. There are a great variety of them, 
 and many kinds are eaten in different parts of the 
 world. They are all harmless and more or less nu- 
 tritious. We can try the different sorts that come 
 ashore here and use the best that we can get." 
 
 " Shall we boil them ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I don't know. We '11 try that and see, at any 
 rate." 
 
 " All right. Now we must manage each day to 
 get as much food, of one kind and another, as we 
 eat ; it won't do to run short and trust to the future. 
 We must save our flour and bacon for special occa- 
 sions and as a reserve to fall back upon if at any time 
 the supplies of other food fail us. We must keep 
 our coffee, too, for use in case of sickness, or a bad 
 
THE SITUATION. 77 
 
 drenching in a cold rain. There may be times when 
 we shall need it badly, and so we must do without it 
 now. I think we shall get on pretty well for several 
 weeks, and by that time I hope we shall be ready to 
 leave the island." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " Well, I 've a plan, but I 'm not sure about it 
 yet. I thought of it yesterday, just after we came 
 ashore. You two see what you can do toward 
 getting some food, while I go off to inspect and lay 
 my plans. When I come back I '11 tell you about 
 them." 
 
 When Jack departed without telling his compan- 
 ions what he meant to do, Ned and Charley went 
 up the shore with the cast net, and managed, 
 within an hour or two, to secure a good supply of 
 shrimps, one or two mullets, and a few oysters, 
 though they discovered no oyster bed, as they had 
 expected to do. They hoped to accomplish this by 
 a longer journey along the shore, to be made on 
 some other day. Having enough fish and shrimps 
 for immediate use, they wished now to see what 
 could be done toward securing a supply of vegetable 
 food. They discovered no palmetto trees, but gave 
 
78 THE WRECK OF THE RED. BIRD 
 
 their attention to the wild grapes, of which there 
 were a good many in the woods. 
 
 It was well past midday when Ned and Charley, 
 loaded with their spoils of sea and land, returned to 
 the camp. There they found Jack, sitting on a log 
 meditating. 
 
 " Boys," he said, " the important thing is not to 
 let any thing discourage us. We must keep a stiff 
 upper lip, no matter what happens." 
 
 " Yes, certainly," said Charley, " but what 's the 
 special occasion of this lecture ? " 
 
 " You are sure that no matter what happens, 
 you '11 not give up, or grow scared, or get excited 
 in any way ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Well, I must say — " began Charley. 
 
 " Hush, Charley," said Ned ; "something 's wrong. 
 Let 's hear what Jack has to say." 
 
 " What is it. Jack ? Tell us quick." 
 
 " Well, only that we 're out of food." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, that some animal or other has robbed us 
 while we were all away from camp ! Every thing 's 
 gone, even to the box of salt and the coffee. We 
 have n't a thing to eat except what you 've brought 
 with you." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 PLANS AND DEVICES. 
 
 TO say that the boys were shocked and dis- 
 tressed by their new mishap, is very feebly to 
 express their state of mind. There was consterna- 
 tion in the camp, from which Jack alone partially 
 escaped. Jack had an uncommonly cool head. In 
 ordinary circumstances there was nothing whatever 
 to distinguish him from other boys. He rushed into 
 difficulties as recklessly as anybody — as he did on 
 the first day when he tried to use the cast net,^ — and 
 joined in all sports and boyish enterprises with as 
 little thought as boys usually show. But in real 
 difficulty Jack Farnsworth was seen in a new light. 
 He was calm, thoughtful, resolute, and full of re- 
 source. Ned had his first hint of this during that 
 last voyage of the Red Bird, and as their difficulties 
 multiplied both Ned and Charley learned to look 
 
 79 
 
8o THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 upon Jack as their leader. They turned to him now 
 precisely as if he had been much older than them- 
 selves, and asked : 
 
 " What on earth are we to do, Jack ? " 
 
 " First of all," Jack replied, "we are to keep per- 
 fectly cool. Excitement will not only keep us from 
 doing the best that we can, but it will weaken us 
 and unfit us for work, even if it does n't bring on 
 actual sickness, which it may do. Care killed a cat, 
 you know. We positively must not get excited. 
 After all, what occasion for uneasiness is there ? 
 We are pretty genuine Crusoes now, but we can 
 stand that. We are literally wrecked upon a de- 
 serted island. We have lost our boat and our boots, 
 our hats, our gun and our supply of provisions, and 
 so we are not quite so well situated as Robinson 
 Crusoe was ; but on the other hand we 're not going 
 to stay here year after year as he did, and besides 
 there are three of us to keep each other company." 
 
 " Well, company 's good, of course," said Charley 
 Black, "but I 'm not so sure on the other points." 
 
 " How do you mean? " asked Ned. 
 
 " I 'm not so sure about our getting away sooner 
 than Crusoe did. I don't see how we 're to get 
 
PLANS AND DEVICES. 8 1 
 
 away at all for that matter, but may be somebody 
 will rescue us after twenty-eight years or so." 
 
 "Well, If they do," said Ned, "won't it be jolly 
 fun to go back to school then, with long whiskers, 
 and make old Bingham take us through the rest of 
 Caesar ! " 
 
 Ned was naturally buoyant in spirits, and the 
 spice of difficulty and danger in their situation had 
 now begun to stimulate his gayety instead of de- 
 pressing hirh. He was of too hopeful a nature to 
 believe that their enforced stay upon the island was 
 likely to be very greatly prolonged, although, if put 
 to the proof, he had no more notion than Charley 
 Black had, of a possible means of escape. 
 
 " Yes," answered Jack Farnsworth, " and after 
 that length of time we '11 have, a lot of things to learn 
 besides Latin. We '11 have to study geography all 
 over again to find out how many States there are in 
 the Union, and whether France has swallowed Ger- 
 many, or Russia has conquered England and moved 
 her capital to London. Then,, again, Ned, your 
 science will be out of date, and you won't dare to 
 mention oxygen even, for fear that somebody has 
 found long ago that there is n't any such thing as 
 
82 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 oxygen. We '11 be regular Rip Van Winkles. Who 
 knows? Perhaps we shall find the United States 
 turned into an empire, and steam-engines forgotten, 
 and electricity, or something that we 've never heard 
 of, doing the world's work. On the whole, I think 
 if we stay here twenty- eight years, it wtll be better 
 not to leave the island at all." 
 
 The banter between Ned and Jack was kept up in 
 this way for some time, Ned talking for fun merely, 
 while Jack talked for the purpose of overcoming 
 poor Charley's evident depression of spirits. Finally 
 Jack said : 
 
 " But we 're not going to be Rip Van Winkles or 
 even Crusoes very long. We '11 have our lark out 
 and then go back home in time for school — ^say 
 about three weeks or a month hence, keeping. Ned's 
 appointment with Maum Sally." 
 
 " But how on earth are we to get back ? " asked 
 Charley. 
 
 " In a boat, to be sure ; we can't walk twelve miles 
 on the water," answered Jack, " particularly now that 
 we 're barefooted. We 'd get our feet wet, without 
 a doubt." 
 
 " Where are we to get a boat ? " 
 
PLANS AND DEVICES. 83 
 
 " Well, that is what I 've been thinking about," 
 said Jack, " and I think I 've worked the problem 
 out." 
 
 " All right, what 's the answer ? " asked Ned. 
 
 " Why, that we must rebuild the Red Bird." 
 
 " How can we ? She is mashed into kindling 
 wood," said Charley. 
 
 " No, not quite," answered Jack. " She is badly 
 mashed, certainly, but it 's simply mashing I have 
 been to look at her. She lies there as flat as if a steam - 
 - ship had sat down upon her, but I have carefully ex- 
 amined every stick of her timber, and while the Red 
 Bird is no more a boat than a lumber pile is a house, 
 still she is a pretty good pile of lumber. Compara- 
 tively few of her planks are badly split or broken, 
 while her ribs seem to be broken only in one or two 
 places each. After examining her very carefully I 
 am satisfied that her timbers will furnish us enough 
 material for a new boat. We must build a smaller 
 boat out of her bones — particularly a shorter boat. 
 She was twenty-four feet long, and by shortening 
 her in the middle — that is, by leaving out the middle 
 ribs — we shall have enough planking to make a new 
 boat. Patching up the ribs will be the most difficult 
 
84 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 job, but I think we can manage it. Most of the 
 planks are broken in two, but we can join the ends 
 on ribs, and, if we are patient, we can make a pretty 
 good boat. Patience is the one thing needful, es- 
 pecially for inexperienced workmen with a scanty 
 supply of tools. We must make good joints if we 
 have to work a week over the joining of two 
 boards." 
 
 " What are we to do for nails ? " asked Ned ; 
 " we have n't more than a pound or two here." 
 
 "We have n't a single nail," said Jack; "the wild 
 animal, whatever it was, that robbed us, seems to 
 have had a very miscellaneous appetite. It not only 
 took our flour and bacon, our salt and our coffee and 
 sugar ; it seems to have had an appetite for'nails and 
 blankets too. At any rate, it stole them all, but lucki- 
 ly it did n't find the tools, because you had the 
 hatchet with you, and I had the axe." 
 
 "The mischief! " exclaimed Ned. 
 
 " Yes, it 's mischief enough for that matter, but it 
 might have been worse. I suppose some rascals 
 landed here while we were away and robbed us. 
 Of course it could n't have been an animal, although 
 that was my first thought -when I found the provi- 
 
PLANS AND DEVICES. 8$ 
 
 sions gone. Whoever it was he is n't likely to come 
 again, but we must watch our camp now, and particu- 
 larly we must take care of our tools." 
 
 " But you have n't answered my question about 
 nails," said Ned. 
 
 " We must make them of the Red Bird's copper 
 bolts," answered Jack ; " and if we run short we can 
 use wooden pins ; but I think there is an abundance 
 of the copper. Luckily the anchor came ashore en- 
 tangled in the wreck, and that will serve us for an 
 anvil. We can hammer the bolts into nails, using 
 the hatchet for a hammer. It will be slow work, be- 
 cause while the hatchet is in use making nails we 
 can't use it in building the boat." 
 
 " I '11 tell you what," said Charley, whose spirits 
 began now to revive*; " we '11 work hard of nights 
 making nails, and have them ready for the next day." 
 
 " Yes, and we shan't want any nails for a day or 
 two, while we 're making preparations to begin, and 
 so we can get a good supply in advance." 
 
 " That 's so," said Ned; " but do you know we 're 
 wasting precious time ? It is nearly sundown, and 
 we have a lot to do before we go to bed. We 
 have n't thought of dinner. yet, and we can't now till 
 
86 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 after our work is done. We must bring the wreck 
 around here to-night. The fellow that robbed our 
 camp was probably some negro squatter from some 
 of the islands around us, and if he got sight of the 
 wreck on his way back, he is sure to come over and 
 carry away all that is valuable of the Red Bird 's 
 bones to-night. We must get ahead of him, and 
 bring the wreck around to the camp the first thing 
 we do." 
 
 This suggestion commended itself to Ned's com- 
 panions, and the boys set off at once, taking the axe 
 and hatchet with them. 
 
 When they arrived at the wreck the tide was very 
 nearly full, so that there was not much difficulty in 
 getting the remains of the Rad Bird afloat. It was 
 a mere raft of plank and timbers, of course, which 
 must be dragged through the water along the shore 
 by means of the anchor rope and some wild vines 
 cut in the woods. For a time the still incoming 
 tide was in their favor, and they travelled the first 
 half mile pretty rapidly. When the tide turned, 
 however, the labor became very severe, and it was 
 ten o'clock at night when the wreck of the Red 
 Bird was safely landed at the camp. The boys 
 
PLANS AND DEVICES. %-j 
 
 were exhausted with work, and very hungry. Ned 
 stirred up the fire and put on a kettle of salt water, 
 into which, as soon as it boiled, he poured a quart or 
 two of shrimps, 
 
 " We 'U make a shrimp dinner to-night," he said, 
 " and that will leave us the mullets and wild grapes 
 for breakfast." 
 
 " All right," answered Jack ; " I 'm hungry enough 
 not to care for variety to-night ; speed is the word 
 just now." 
 
 Dinner over, the boys had still to collect a large 
 mass of the long gray aioss to serve instead of the 
 stolen blankets, so that it was quite midnight when 
 they finally got to sleep. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 SOME OF NED S SCIENCE. 
 
 " T T OW shall we cook our fish, Ned ? " asked 
 -1- -■- Charley, the next morning. He had already 
 thrown wood upon the embers when Ned and Jack 
 came out of the hut. 
 
 "We must roast them," said Ned, " now that we 
 have no bacon to fry them with. We can broil 
 sometimes and roast sometimes, for variety. With- 
 out butter broiled fish are rather dry. I '11 be cook 
 this morning, and show you how to roast small 
 fish." 
 
 With that he went to the beach and walked along 
 the water's edge till he found a bunch of clean, wet 
 sea- weed. Returning to the fire, he carefully wrapped 
 the mullets in this, and placed them in the hot 
 ashes, covering them with live coals to a depth of 
 several inches. Half an hour later he took them 
 
 88 
 
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE. 89 
 
 carefully out of their wrappings, and placed them on 
 the log that did duty for a table. 
 
 The fish were beautifully done, and looked as 
 tempting as possible, but, upon tasting them, a look 
 of consternation came over Jack's countenance. 
 
 " I never thought of that," said Jack, " but we are 
 out of salt ! What shall we do ? We can't live al- 
 together on shrimps and oysters ; and fish without 
 salt is a difficult dish to eat." 
 
 " We must make some salt," said Ned. 
 
 " Out of the sea- water ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " Yes. It is slow work, and without clarifying 
 materials we '11 get a rather black product, but it will 
 be salt for all that." 
 
 " What will make it black ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Impurities. The sea- water is filled with various 
 things — common salt, mostly, of course, but there 
 are Glauber's salts, Epsom salts, magnesia, and many 
 other things, including salts of silver and iron. In 
 making salt out of sea-water, these impurities must 
 be got rid of, or the salt will be of a dirty brownish 
 color. We can't clarify it, but we can use it very 
 well for all our purposes. We '11 have to put up 
 with a poor breeikfast, but we '11 do better by night. 
 
go THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 I '11 Start our salt-works immediately after breakfast, 
 and then I '11 leave Charley in charge of the busi- 
 ness, because I have an idea of my own that I want 
 to carry out. We must devote ourselves to-day ex- 
 clusively to the business of getting food, I suppose." 
 
 " Yes, that is the first thing to be done. We are 
 at the starvation point and must get something -to 
 eat before we begin on the boat. What is the plan 
 that you speak of? " 
 
 , " I shan't tell you, because it may come to noth- 
 ing, though I 'm hopeful." 
 
 " All right, I hope it will turn out well. Meantime, 
 I '11 take the cast net and get some shrimps and pos- 
 sibly some fish, and then if I had any thing to bait 
 with, I would set some rabbit traps or something of 
 that sort. But I have n't, and so I can't. Charley 
 can carry on the salt-works while you do whatever 
 it is you mean to do." 
 
 The salt-works consisted of nothing more than the 
 kettle. Filling this with clear sea-water, Ned set it 
 to boil, saying : 
 
 " Now, Charley, as it boils down add more water, 
 and toward night we can stop adding water and let 
 the salt settle. It will begin to settle before that 
 
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE. gi 
 
 time, and when it does you can dip the wet salt up 
 from the bottom and spread it out on a plank to dry." 
 
 " All right. I 11 make a dipper out of a tin cup 
 by fastening a stick to it for a handle. But what 
 makes the salt settle ? " 
 
 " Why, don't you see ? You can only dissolve a 
 certain amount of salt in a certain amount of water ; 
 if you put more in it sinks to the bottom, being 
 heavier than water, and stays there. When a liquid 
 has as much of any thing dissolved in it as it can hold, 
 it is said to be saturated ; we call it a saturated solu- 
 tion. Now when you boil sea-water it evaporates, 
 and the quantity of water steadily decreases. After 
 awhile so much of the water is evaporated that we 
 have a saturated solution, and then if you evaporate 
 half a pint more of it the salt that a half pint of water 
 can hold in solution must settle to the bottom. It is 
 a curious fact that water which is saturated with one 
 substance, so that it can not hold any more of it, is 
 still capable of dissolving other substances and hold- 
 ing them in solution. Sometimes, in making salt, 
 men take advantage of that fact." 
 
 " How ? " asked Jack, who had become interested 
 in Ned's explanation. 
 
92 
 
 THE WRECK OF THE RED- BIRD. 
 
 " Why, by washing out the impurities of the salt 
 with salt water. Having a quantity of impure salt 
 they put it into a funnel-shaped vessel with a small 
 hole in the bottom ; then they take clear water and 
 pure salt and make a saturated solution of that ; this 
 water cannot dissolve any more salt, but it is still 
 capable of dissolving -the other substances which 
 constitute impurities ; so it is poured into the vessel 
 that contains the impure salt, and as it passes 
 through it dissolves and carries off the impurities, 
 but does n't dissolve any of the salt." 
 
 " Why can't we purify our salt in that way ? " 
 asked Charley. 
 
 " Because we have no pure salt with which to 
 make the solution." 
 
 " That 's so, but I did n't think of it. I wish I 
 knew as much as you do about such things." 
 
 " I don't know much," answered Ned. " I have 
 always been curious to know facts of the sort, and 
 my father has encouraged me to find them out. I 
 ask questions and read what books I can on such 
 subjects ; but I learn most by looking and thinking 
 for myself. Still I know very little about scientific 
 matters ; really I do. But we 're wasting time ; I 
 
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE. 53 
 
 must be off and so must you, Jack. Keep the salt 
 kettle boiling, Charley, and don't forget to add 
 water to it from time to time. When you pour cold 
 water in you can skim the scum off, and in that way 
 you '11 get rid of a good deal of 'impurity." 
 
 With that the boys separated. Jack went down 
 along the shore, with the cast-net in his hand ; while 
 Ned struck off into the woods with the coffee-pot, 
 which, now that the boys had no coffee, was no 
 longer in use at camp. 
 
 Jack returned about noon, bringing back a fine 
 lot of shrimps, half a dozen fish, a few crabs, and 
 sOme oysters, together with the news that he had 
 discovered a large oyster bank which could be 
 reached by wading at low tide. 
 
 Charley greeted him with a smiling face on which 
 there was a look of triumph. 
 
 " Look here. Jack," he said, going to a plank upon 
 which there were two or three little white heaps ; 
 " Ned is out in his science this time ; I 've got 
 beautifully white salt as you see, and not the dark, 
 impure stuff he said I would get ; but that is n't all ; 
 instead of settling to the bottom of the kettle, it rises 
 to the top to be skimmed off." 
 
94 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Yes, I could have told you that," said Ned, who 
 had arrived unobserved. " It 's a way that it has. 
 Taste your salt, Charley." 
 
 Charley did so, looked puzzled, and then turned 
 to Ned. 
 
 " What is it, old fellow ? " he asked. 
 
 " Why, beautifully white salt to be sure," answered 
 Ned ; " is n't that what you said it was ? " 
 
 "Yes, I said that," answered Charley, *'but now I 
 know better. It is tasteless." 
 
 " Magnesia usually is," said Ned. 
 
 " Is that magnesia ? " 
 
 " Yes, in the main. It is mixed a little with other 
 things perhaps, but it is mostly magnesia. That is 
 why I told you to skim it off. We don't want it in 
 the salt." 
 
 " But I have n't any salt," said Charley, " I 've 
 filled the kettle up every fifteen minutes but no salt 
 has settled yet." 
 
 " Your solution is n't saturated yet," said Ned. 
 " This water contains only about two per cent of 
 salt, or possibly in its impure state three per cent. 
 To make one kettleful of salt we must boil away from 
 thirty to fifty kettlefuls of water. The kettle holds 
 
SOMS OF NED'S SCIENCE. 
 
 95 
 
 two gallons, and so, in order to get a pint of salt we 
 must boil away two or three kettlefuls of water. 
 You have filled it up enough for to-day ; now keep 
 it boiling and we '11 get a pint or two of salt, before 
 night, and meantime we can pour a little of the 
 boiled-down water on our fish for dinner, for I 'm 
 hungry." 
 
 " By the way, Ned," said Jack, " what luck have 
 you had ? " 
 
 " Good. I 've brought back a coffee-pot half full, 
 and have made arrangements for more to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 " Well, I like puzzles and riddles and things of that 
 sort," said Jack, " but I hate to wait for ' our next 
 month's number ' for the answer. What is it you 've 
 got in the coffee-pot ? " 
 
 "Bread," answered Ned, "or a substitute for it. 
 I 've been gathering the seeds of grasses and 
 weeds." 
 
 " Seeds of grasses ! " exclaimed Charley ; " why, 
 who ever heard of anybody eating grass seeds ? " 
 
 " You 've turned sceptic, Charley, since your faith 
 in your beautiful white salt received such a shock," 
 said Ned ; " but still I think some grass seeds are 
 
^6 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 occasionally eaten by men, — wheat, for example, and 
 rice and corn." 
 
 " That 's so," said Charley, abashed ; " only I never 
 thought of wheat and rice, etc., as grasses. But are 
 wild grass seeds good to eat ? " 
 
 " Yes, of course. All ordinary grass seeds are 
 composed of substantially the same materials, and 
 they are all nutritious. I have gathered about a 
 quart, meaning to mash them up and make a sort^ 
 of bread out of them ; but there is n't time for that 
 now, so I mean to boil them for dinner. The im- 
 portant thing is to have some kind of grain food to 
 eat, and in that^way we '11 get it somewhat as if we 
 had rice." 
 
 " That 's a capital idea, Ned," said Jack. " Is there 
 plenty of seed to be had ? " 
 
 " Yes, now that I know where it is, though it is 
 very slow work gathering such seed. I have only 
 to gather it and winnow it. I can winnow a little 
 faster next time, because I shall take something 
 along to winnow upon, if it is only a clean handker- 
 chief. ' I 've thought of something else too." 
 
 " What is that ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " Acorns and other nuts. They are rather green 
 
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE. gj 
 
 yet, but they are nutritious, and we can beat them 
 into a palatable bread. Hogs grow fat on them, 
 and there is no reason why they should not prove 
 nutritious to us. I 'm going to find some edible 
 roots, too, if I can." 
 
 " What a splendid provider you are, Ned," said 
 Charley, " particularly as we have the oysters, shrimps, 
 etc., for a foundation to build upon." 
 
 " Well," replied Ned, " do you know I have been 
 thinking that we should not starve even if we had n't 
 the water for a source of supply ? " 
 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " In casting about for a variety of things to eat, 
 I have naturally tried to think of every thing that 
 could support life, and have been surprised to find 
 how many things there are that can be eaten in 
 extreme cases. If we were in real danger of 
 starving we could eat snails and earthworms for 
 meat " 
 
 " Ugh ! " exclaimed Charley. 
 
 " Well, snails and earthworms are both regarded 
 as delicacies by many people in France. They actu- , 
 ally have snail farms, where the creatures are fat- 
 tened for market." 
 
gS THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " As a business ? " 
 
 " Yes, as a business. There is a demand for snails 
 at high prices, because people who can pay well for 
 them are fond of them. Then we could kill a few 
 snakes and lizards here, I suppose. In fact, I killed 
 a snake this afternoon, and if I had n't been afraid 
 of disgusting you fellows, I should have brought it 
 home as a valuable contribution to our larder, for 
 snakes are uncommonly good eating." 
 
 " Did you ever eat cine ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Yes ; or at least a part of one. There is no rea- 
 son why snakes should not be eaten, except a 
 groundless prejudice. Their flesh is both good and 
 wholesome." 
 
 " Hurrah for our scientist ! " said Jack. " I begin 
 to see now, that our supplies are a good deal greater 
 than I supposed. For my part, I mean to have a 
 snake- breakfast some of these mornings just for 
 variety's sake. Why, we shall begin to live like 
 princes presently." 
 
 " Will you really lay aside prejudice, Jack, and eat 
 a well-cooked snake ? " asked Ned. 
 
 " Certainly I will," said Jack. 
 
 "And you, Charley?" 
 
SOME OF NED'S SCIENCE. gg 
 
 " I see no objection, now that I think of it," said 
 Charley. 
 
 " Very well ; then I '11 go for my snake. It is n't 
 a hundred yards away, and it will furnish us meat, 
 which is much more strengthening than an exclusive 
 diet offish and such things can be." 
 
 The snake — a large one — was brought to camp, 
 skinned, dressed, and broiled to a crisp brown on a 
 bed of coals. When done it was appetizing both in 
 appearance and in odor, and the boys, who, naturally, 
 were very hungry after their scanty breakfast and 
 diligent work, ate it with keen relish, eating with it 
 some boiled grass seeds. The only complaint mad^ 
 concerning the grass seeds was that there was nq^t 
 half enough of them. 
 
 The salt kettle had been filled more frequently 
 than Ned had supposed, and the yield for the day 
 was more nearly a quart than a pint, 
 
 " Now we are beginning to kqow how to live," 
 said Jack. " We have only to get a good start and 
 keep a fair supply of food ahead. But we must lay 
 in a good stock of seeds to-morrow. I '11 go with 
 you, Ned, and we '11 both work at that, while Charley 
 minds camp and makes salt." 
 
ICXD THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " To-morrow will be Sunday," said Charley. 
 
 " No it won't ; this is Friday," said Jack. 
 
 " Let 's see," said Ned. " We got to Bluffton on 
 Monday evening, did n't we ? Well, the next day 
 we went fishing ; that was Tuesday. The next day 
 we came over here ; that was Wednesday. The next 
 day, Thursday, the wreck of the Jied Bird occurred. 
 Friday we spent in getting food and bringing the 
 wreck around here to the camp. That was yester- 
 day, and so to-day is Saturday. Lucky that Charley 
 thought of it. We must n't work to-morrow, and so 
 we must catch a lot of shrimps and fish with the net 
 to-night." 
 
 The boys worked with the net until nearly midnight, 
 and slept late the next morning. They - observed 
 Sunday as a day of rest, and rest was a thing that 
 they greatly needed just at that time. It was agreed 
 that on Monday morning- Jack and Ned should go 
 after grass seed, while Charley should mind camp, 
 make salt, and use the net. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 jack's discovery. 
 
 THE harvest of seeds from which Ned and Jack 
 were to draw their supplies, was found in an 
 abandoned field, half a mile from the camp. Here 
 various wild grasses and weeds grew in rank pro- 
 fusion, and had already ripened in the sun. Some 
 yielded seeds so small and so few in number that it was 
 a waste of time to thresh them ; others were richer in 
 larger seeds ; while many of the weeds, particularly, 
 gave a profuse supply of seeds almost as large as 
 grains of wheat, but these were mostly worthless. 
 
 Ned was the recognized " scientist " of the party, 
 and upon him devolved the task and responsibility 
 of determining what kinds of seed to gather and 
 what to leave. He was familiar with the ordinary 
 plants of the country, and knew which of them were 
 poisonous. It remained only to determine whether 
 
102 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 or not a seed, known to be harmless, was of any 
 value as food, and Ned's method of doing this was 
 very simple. He bit the seed to discover what he 
 could about its flavor and general character in that 
 way ; then he split a seed and inspected it. If it 
 seemed to consist principally of starch, gluten, and 
 fruity matter, he accepted that kind of seed ; if it 
 appeared dry, hard, and black upon the inside, he 
 deemed it unworthy. 
 
 Passing the point at which he had gathered seeds 
 on the day before, Ned selected a good spot for a 
 threshing-floor, and said : 
 
 " Now, Jack, I '11 clear a space here and get ready 
 for threshing ; we '11 get on faster in that way. You 
 go off out there and gather grasses. Pretty soon 
 I '11 join you, and when we get a supply, we '11 thresh 
 awhile." 
 
 With this the boys separated. Ned worked dili- 
 gently at his clearing, and Jack brought in armfuls 
 of grass. 
 
 After awhile Ned finished his task and began to 
 wonder what had became of Jack, who had been 
 absent for a considerable time. He called, but Jack 
 did not answer. Thinking nothing of the matter he 
 
JACK'S DISCOVERY. IO3 
 
 went on with the work of gathering grass. Still 
 Jack did not return, and after an hour had passed 
 Ned became positively uneasy. He again called 
 aloud, and Jack answered, but his voice came from a 
 considerable distance. 
 
 , Continuing his work Ned waited, and after awhile 
 he heard Jack coming through a briar thicket, mut- 
 tering complaints of some sort with a good deal of 
 vigor. 
 
 " What 's the matter, old fellow? " he asked. 
 
 " Matter enough," answered Jack, from the depths 
 of the briar patch in which he was completely hid- 
 den ; " I 'm torn to pieces by the briars, and by the 
 time I get to you I shan't have enough skin left on 
 me to serve for patches." 
 
 "Nonsense!" said Ned; "shield your face with 
 your arm and break right through. Your clothes 
 are thick and stout." 
 
 " Yes," answered Jack, "so they are ; but I have 
 n't got them on." 
 
 Ned leaped to his feet, for he had been kneeling 
 to arrange the grass for threshing. He remembered 
 how rapidly he and his companions had been re- 
 duced in their possessions, until now they were 
 
104 I'HE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 boatless, bootless, hatless, and without regular sup- 
 plies of food ; and so when Jack declared that he had 
 no clothes on, Ned at once imagined that some new 
 calamity had befallen him. 
 
 "What!" he exclaimed. "No clothes! Why, 
 we '11 be naked savages before another week is 
 out. 
 
 " I did n't say I had no clothes," answered Jack, 
 still picking his way carefully through the briars. 
 " I only said I had no clothes on, or at least none to 
 speak of." 
 
 " Well, then, you must be out of your head," an- 
 swered Ned. " Why don't you put them on? " 
 
 " Because I can't till we get to camp," and with 
 that Jack made a final leap into the open space and 
 stood before his astonished companion. He pre- 
 sented a queer appearance. For clothing he had 
 on only his drawers and a thin undershirt. These 
 were torn and stained with blood from many 
 scratches. Jack's face, too, was a good deal 
 scratched, but there was a triumphant look in his 
 eyes which made Ned forget to look at the briar 
 wounds. Jack's trowsers, tied at bottom and 
 stuffed full of some heavy material, sat astride his 
 
JACK'S DISCOVERY. I05 
 
 neck, looking for all the world like the lower half of 
 a very fat boy. His shirt, also well filled, was 
 carried in one hand, while his coat, made into a 
 bundle and likewise filled, was held in the other. 
 
 " What in the name of common-sense have you 
 been stuffing your clothes with, Jack.-* " asked Ned 
 in astonishment. 
 
 " Grass seed," answered Jack, throwing his bur- 
 den on the ground. 
 
 " Not much," said Ned ; " why it would take both 
 of us a month to gather and thresh out that quanr 
 tity. 
 
 " I thought you scientific people always recog- 
 nized one fact as worth more than any number of 
 ' must be's ' ; here I have the facts — a trowsers-full, 
 a shirt-full, and a coat-full,- — and yet you argue about 
 what must be and what can't be." 
 
 " I admit the trowsers and the shirt and the coat, 
 and I see that they are full," said Ned ; " I only 
 doubt the character of their contents. I don't be- 
 lieve you could have gathered such a quantity of 
 grass seed within so short a time." 
 
 " Not of the kind that grows here, but mine are 
 not of that kind." 
 
I06 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Let me look at them," said Ned. 
 
 " Not till we get to camp ; I can't open the bags 
 without spilling a lot," 
 
 " Well, tell me about it then." 
 
 " Well, I was gathering grasses over there by those 
 tall trees, when I happened to look away toward the 
 south. There I saw, about half a mile away, what 
 looked like a patch of ripe wheat or oats. There 
 were two or three acres of it down in a sort of marsh, 
 so I went over there to see what it was. I found 
 the little marsh covered thickly with a tall grass 
 somewhat like oats, and all had gone to seed. The 
 seeds are about the size of grains of wheat, but 
 . rather longer, and each grain, when threshed out, is 
 covered with a brown husk that clings closely to the 
 body of the grain. The seeds themselves are starchy, 
 glutinous, and, if I am not mistaken, excellent food. 
 It was too far to call you, so I made up my mind I 
 would thresh some of the grass and bring away what 
 I could of the result, I filled my shirt, coat, and 
 trowsers, and I should have used my drawers in the 
 same way if I could have carried any more. As it 
 is, I 've a big load." 
 
 " I should say so," answered Ned, " and a mighty 
 good load, too, if I 'm not mistaken." 
 
JACK'S DISCOVERY. I07 
 
 "Why, what do you suppose it is ? " 
 
 " Grass, seed," answered Ned, "of the kind that 
 we call rice." 
 
 " But how did it come there ? " asked Jack. 
 " Does rice grow wild ? " 
 
 " Yes, sometin-.es. When a rice field is allowed 
 to stand too long before cutting, the grain drops out 
 of the heads, of course, and the next year a fair vol- 
 unteer crop comes up. In this case, I suppose, the 
 explanation is simple. When the island was aban- 
 doned during the war, there was probably a growing 
 crop of rice in that little swamp. If so, it went to 
 seed, and not being harvested, the seed fell to the 
 ground, coming up again the. next year only to re- 
 peat the process year after year. That 's my expla- 
 nation at any rate, and the only one I can think, of. 
 But come ! let 's go to camp. It is n't worth while 
 now to fool away time over this grass. Now that 
 you have found a rice field, we '11 eat rice instead, 
 and some day soon we '11 go there and bring back 
 enough to last us till we leave the island." 
 
 Upon their arrival at camp the contents of Jack's 
 clothes proved to be, as Ned had conjectured, rough 
 rice ; that is to say, rice from which the outer husks 
 
I08 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 have been removed, leaving only the closely cling- 
 ing inner husk on the grain. The amount secured 
 was sufficient to last the boys for a considerable 
 time, and in the absence of bread, it was a thing of 
 no little moment to them. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. 
 
 DINNER was cooked and eaten as soon as 
 possible after the return of Ned and Jack to 
 camp, because all three of the boys were eager to 
 make the long-deferred "beginning upon the new 
 boat. 
 
 " The Red Bird was wrecked last Thursday," said 
 Charley, " and. now it is Monday, and yet we have n't 
 even begun to get ready to prepare to commence 
 to build." 
 
 " Yes we have, Charley," said Jack. " We have 
 worked diligently at the most important part of the 
 task. We have made first-rate arrangements for 
 food, and that is a good beginning. But we '11 
 actually begin on the boat itself to-day. By the 
 way, Ned, you 're to be the master-builder." 
 
 " Well, I don't know about that," said Ned ; " you 
 
 109 
 
no THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 were bragging the other day about your mechanical 
 skill, and I 'm very modest in that direction. I 'm 
 actually a clumsy hand with tools." 
 
 " No, I did n't brag," said Jack ; " I only stated 
 facts. I believe I am a better workman with tools 
 than either of you fellows, and for that reason I 'm 
 willing to take the most difficult jobs on myself, 
 but you must be the superintendent." 
 
 " I don't see why," said Ned. 
 
 " Because, even if you are clumsy with tools, you 
 know more about a boat in a minute than Charley 
 and I do in a year, and it 's a good rule to put each 
 fellow at the thing he can do best." 
 
 " All right," said Charley ; " I 'm the best hand 
 you ever saw at sitting on a log and watching you 
 fellows work, so I '11 take that for my share." 
 
 " No, you won't," said Ned. " If I 'm to superin- 
 tend this job I '11 find something better than that for 
 you to do. But I say. Jack, it 's absurd for me to 
 try to tell you how to do things that you can do ten 
 times as well as I." 
 
 " I don't want you to tell me how to do, but what 
 to do ; then we '11 all do it. I '11 take the most diffi- 
 cult parts, and besides that I '11 give you and 
 
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. HI 
 
 Charley some hints about how to do your share, 
 perhaps." 
 
 " All right," said Ned, " I '11 be superintendent if 
 you wish." 
 
 " Very well," said Jack. " Now plan the boat, 
 determine the dimensions, and tell us how to begin." 
 
 " Well, let me see," said Ned. " The Red Bird 
 was twenty-four feet long in the keel — twenty-five 
 feet over all, — -and five feet wide amidships. We 
 must allow liberally for waste in trying to use the old 
 materials, so we '11 take off six feet of length, giving 
 the new boat a keel of eighteen feet, a total length 
 of nineteen feet, and let the beam width take care of 
 itself." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, we shorten amidships only ; that is to say 
 we omit the six or eight ribs that were in the middle 
 of the old boat, and bring the next ribs forward and 
 aft to the middle. Whatever width they give will 
 be the width of the boat amidships. In that way 
 we shall preserve the old proportions, while chang- 
 ing the old dimensions. The new boat will be, in 
 shape, precisely what the Red Bird would have 
 been if we had cut out six feet of her length amid- 
 
112 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 ships, and had then brought the two ends to- 
 gether." 
 
 " Yes, I see," said Charley. " What is the first 
 thing to be done ? " 
 
 "To lay a keel," said Ned. "The old keel is 
 broken, so we must have a new one. Besides, that 
 was double, for a centre-board, and we '11 have to 
 build without a centre-board." 
 
 " What are the dimensions of the keel ? " asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " Eighteen feet long, as nearly as we can guess, 
 and about three inches by six or seven." 
 
 " To be set on edge ? " 
 
 " YeSj and to project below the bottom. That 
 will give steadiness to the boat." 
 
 " What is the best timber for the keel ? " asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " White oak, if we had it, but we have n't. The 
 long-leaf yellow pine is very nearly as good, and for 
 our purposes it is really better, because we can work 
 it more easily. There 's a fine, small, straight tree 
 trunk just beyond the camp that will suit us precise- 
 ly. It has been lying for several years apparently, 
 and is well seasoned. We have only to cut it ofi 
 
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. II3 
 
 the right length, split off slabs till we get a 
 rude square, and then hew it down to the right 
 dimensions with the axe and hatchet. That will 
 occupy us for two days at least, so let 's get to 
 work." 
 
 The event proved that Ned had underestimated 
 the length of time necessary for this work. The 
 hard, flinty yellow pine, seasoned as it was, was 
 very difficult to work. The axe and hatchet were 
 not very sharp at the outset, and before night both 
 were distressingly dull. The next day, what edges 
 they had were worn away, and it was difficult to cut 
 with them at all. Charley declared that he could do 
 nearly as well with his teeth, but he did not try that 
 experiment. There was no grindstone in the camp, 
 and none to be had, of course, and so the weary 
 boys had to make the best of a bad matter and work 
 on as they could with the dull tools. 
 
 On Thursday the keel was not yet quite done, 
 and the rice began to show the effects of the boys' 
 appetites. 
 
 " I say, fellows," said Charley, " one of us must go 
 for a fresh supply of rice." 
 
 " Yes," said Ned, " it is ripening now, and will all 
 
1 14 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. - 
 
 fall if we don't secure a good supply. You go, 
 Charley, won't you ? " 
 
 " Yes. I 'm worth less at carpenter's work than 
 either of you, so I '11 go. Pull off your trowsers, both 
 of you." 
 
 " Why, what 's — " began Ned. 
 
 " Yes, I know," interrupted Charley, " I Ought to 
 take a bag, or a sheet, or, still better, the spring 
 wagon ; but seeing that we have n't any wagon, or 
 bag, or sheet, or any thing else to carry rice in, ex- 
 cept trowsers, I 'm going to use trowsers ; and re- 
 membering the tattered condition of Jack's skin 
 after his trowserless stroll through the briars, I 'm 
 not going to use my own trowsers for a bag. So 
 off with your pantaloons, young men, and be quick 
 about it, for I 'm going to make two trips to-day and 
 bring in rice for the whole season." 
 
 Laughing, the boys obeyed, and Charley left them 
 at work in their shirts and drawers. He got back 
 to camp at dinner-time, fully loaded. After dinner- 
 he made his second trip, saying that he would return 
 about sunset. 
 
 Sunset came at its appointed time, but Charley 
 was not so punctual. It grew dark, and still Charley 
 
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. II5 
 
 did not appear. Ned and Jack began to grow un- 
 easy. They went out into the woods in rear of their 
 camp and called at the top of their voices, but re- 
 ceived no answer. 
 
 " I '11 tell you what, Ned," said Jack ; " we must 
 build a beacon fire. Charley has stayed late to fill 
 his trowser-bags, and has lost his way trying to get 
 back." 
 
 It was no sooner said than done. Pitch pine was 
 piled on the fire, and a blaze made that might have 
 been seen for many miles. The boys shouted them- 
 selves hoarse too, but got no answer. 
 
 After an hour of waiting, Ned said : 
 
 "Jack, I 'm going over to the rice patch to look 
 for Charley. Something serious must have hap- 
 pened. You stay here and keep up a big fire. If 
 I need you I '11 call at the top of my voice, and you 
 will hear me I think." 
 
 " But, Ned, it 's an awful undertaking to go from 
 here to the rice field on such a night. It 's as black 
 as pitch, and you are barefooted and almost naked ; 
 let me go." 
 
 " I know all that," said Ned, " but it would be 
 cowardly to abandon Charley, and for my life I can't 
 
Il6 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 see that you are any better equipped for the journey 
 than I am. You 're barefooted too, and as nearly 
 naked as I am." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose so," answered Jack, " but I don't 
 mind for myself" 
 
 " You stay here, you great big-hearted, generous 
 fellow ! " was all that Ned said in reply, as he started 
 away. 
 
 Both Jack and Ned knew that the journey thus 
 undertaken would be attended by no little danger 
 as well as sore discomfort and suffering. The 
 deadly moccasin and rattlesnake lurk in the grass 
 and weeds of that coast country, and the unshod 
 boy was in peril of their fangs at every step. He 
 was too brave a boy, however, to shrink from 
 danger when a real duty was to be done, and so he 
 set forth manfully. Taking a stick he struck the 
 ground frequently, as a precaution against the dan- 
 ger of stepping upon any snake that might be in his 
 path, and more than once he heard the~ venomous 
 creatures hiss angrily before scurrying away. 
 
 He pressed forward too eagerly to pay due atten- 
 tion to briars and brushwood, and so before he 
 reached the rice swamp his scanty clothing was 
 
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. ny 
 
 nearly torn from his body and his skin was badly 
 lacerated. His coat protected his shoulders and 
 arms, of course, but his legs, hands, and face suf- 
 fered not a little. 
 
 Meantime Jack kept up the beacon fire, suffering 
 scarcely less with anxiety and impatience than Ned 
 suffered from physical hurts. Poor Jack had the 
 hard task of waiting in terror and uncertainty. He 
 imagined all manner of evils that might have hap- 
 pened to Charley ; then he became anxious about 
 Ned, He shuddered to think of the dangers through 
 which his companion must be passing. The neces- 
 sity of inactivity was intolerable ; Jack could not sit 
 or stand still. He felt that he should go mad if he 
 did not keep in motion. He paced up and down by 
 the fire, as a caged tiger does. Finally, morbid fan- 
 cies took possession of him. He imagined that he 
 heard Ned groan in the bushes on his left. Then 
 he seemed to hear a cry of agony from Charley in 
 the woods on his right. Investigation revealed noth- 
 ing, and Jack returned to his waiting in an agony of 
 suspense. 
 
 It was after midnight when Ned returned, torn, 
 bleeding, worn out with exertion, and very lame 
 
Il8 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 from a wound in his foot. He had trodden upon 
 some sharp thing, a thorn or sharp spike of wood, 
 which had thrust itself deep into the flesh of his heel, 
 and the wound was now badly inflamed. 
 
 " Thank heaven, you are safe at any rate ! " ex- 
 claimed Jack fervently. " Did you find out any 
 thing about poor Charley ? " 
 
 " Nothing," answered Ned, returning Jack's warm 
 hand-clasp. " I went to the rice field and found the 
 place where he had been threshing, but no other 
 trace of him. He must have firtished threshing, how- 
 ever, and started homeward, as he left no threshed 
 rice there. I could not find a trail in the dark, of 
 course, and I can't imagine what has become of 
 Charley. I called him repeatedly, and went all 
 around the marsh, but it was of no use. Besides, if 
 he were anywhere in that region he would know 
 the way home, for I could see not only the light 
 from this fire but the blaze itself." 
 
 " Well, you stay here now and let me go," said 
 Jack, preparing to set out. 
 
 " What 's the use ? " asked Ned. " I tell you I 
 have done all that can be done until daylight. If you 
 go you '11 only run the risk of laming yourself, and 
 
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. Ilg 
 
 then there '11 be nobody fit to take up the search 
 when morning comes to make it hopeful." 
 
 This was so obviously a sensible view of the situ- 
 ation, that jack was forced, though reluctantly, to re- 
 main where he was. ^ 
 
 Hour after hour the two boys waited and watched, 
 keeping up the beacon fire, and occasionally investi- 
 gating sounds which they heard or thought that they 
 heard in the woods and thickets around them. Nat- 
 urally they talked very little. There was nothing to 
 talk of except Charley's disappearance, and there 
 was little to be said about that. 
 
 It began to rain, slowly at first, and in torrents 
 toward morning, but neither boy thought of going 
 into the hut for shelter. Indeed, neither boy seemed 
 conscious of the fact that it was raining at all. They 
 were aware only of the horrible suspense in which 
 they were passing the hours of a night which seemed 
 almost endless. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 IN THE GRAY OF THE MORNING. 
 
 AS the first flush of dawn appeared Ned said : 
 " Jack, we must n't lose our heads. You 
 know^ what you said after the wreck. You and I 
 have to look after Charley to-day, and we may have 
 need of all our wits and all our strength ; so, for his 
 sake, if not for our own, we must force a full break- 
 fast down our throats. It will steady as well as 
 strengthen us. I don't want any thing to eat, and I 
 suppose you don't, but we must eat for all that. We 
 have n't had a mouthful since noon yesterday, and 
 we '11 be fit for no exertion if we go on in this way." 
 
 " That is true," answered Jack ; " we must eat 
 breakfast." 
 
 " Very well ; then let 's be about it, so that we 
 may have it over by the time that it is fairly light, 
 and then we '11 lose no time in setting out." 
 
 120 
 
IN THE GRAY OF THE MORNING. 12 1 
 
 " You can't leave camp," said Jack ; " your foot is 
 awfully swollen and your leg too." 
 
 " Yes, I know," answered Ned, " but I am going 
 anyhow. We must find Charley, and maybe both 
 of us will be needed when we do." 
 
 While this discussion was going on the breakfast 
 preparations were advancing, and it was not long 
 before the two disconsolate fellows began the dif- 
 ficult task of forcing food down their unwilling 
 throats. 
 
 " What is our best plan of operations, Jack ? " 
 asked Ned. 
 
 " I scarcely know. Perhaps we 'd best go round 
 the island, one one way and the other the other, 
 shouting and looking. Then, if either finds Charley 
 and needs assistance the other will of course be 
 there soon afterward." 
 
 " Hardly," said Ned. "The island is pretty large, 
 and I suppose it is g. good many miles around it. 
 Would n't it be better to take a direct course ? " 
 "How?" 
 
 " Why, by going first to the rice swamp. There 
 we shall almost certainly be able to find and follow 
 Charley's trail." 
 
122 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Of course." answered Jack. " What an idiot I 
 was not to thing of that first ! The fact is, I believe 
 last night's anxiety, particularly while you were 
 away, was too much for me. I lost my head 
 a little, I think, and have n't quite found it 
 again." 
 
 " Listen ! What 's that ? " exclaimed Ned, rising 
 to look. As he did so, the bushes near the shore on 
 the left of the camp parted, and 
 
 " Bless me ! it 's Charley ! " shouted both boys in 
 a breath. 
 
 " Did you think I had run away with your trow- 
 sers? " asked the cause of all their anxieties, throw- 
 ing down the two pairs of pantaloons stuffed full of 
 wet rice. 
 
 "Gracious! Charley, where have you been?" 
 
 " We 've had an awful night ! " exclaimed Ned. 
 
 " Do I look as though I had had a particularly 
 pleasant one ? " responded Charley. " Do my dress 
 and general appearance indicate that I dined last 
 evening in the mansions of the great and slept 
 upon a bed of down ? " 
 
 " Well, no," said Ned, unable as yet to share 
 Charley's cheerfulness of mood ; " but really, Char- 
 
IN THE GRAY OF THE MORNING. 123 
 
 ley, we have suffered a good deal. You ought to 
 have come back to camp." 
 
 " Now, look here, fellows," said Charley, more 
 seriously than he had yet spoken, " if you think I 
 have n't known by instinct how much you would'suf- 
 fer because of my unexplained absence, you do me 
 great injustice. My situation through the night has 
 been none of the pleasantest, but the worst part of 
 it has been what I have suffered thinking of your 
 anxiety. Pray, don't imagine that I 'm totally desti- 
 tute of feeling." 
 
 There was a hurt tone in Charley's voice as he 
 said this, to which Ned responded at once. 
 
 " Forgive me, Charley," he said, holding out his 
 hand, which the other took. " I did not mean to 
 reproach you wrongfully. I know your warm heart 
 and generous soul." 
 
 " Yes," added Jack, " and nothing in the world could 
 have made us so happy as your safe return. But tell 
 us what has happened. Where have you been ? " 
 
 "Not a word until food is set before me," said 
 Charley, relapsing into his playful mood again. " I 
 am famished." 
 
 " All right," said Ned ; " we cooked enough to 
 
124 "^^^ WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 take with us, and we did n't eat much, so your break- 
 feist is ready. In fact I begin to be hungry myself, 
 now that you 've got back in safety." 
 
 "So do I," said Jack; "let 's begin over again, 
 and all breakfast together." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CHARLEY black's ADVENTURES. 
 
 " TV T OW, then," said Jack, when breakfast was 
 i- ^ fairly begxin, " tell us all about it, Charley." 
 
 " Well," replied Charley, " you know we 're 
 Robinson Crusoes." 
 
 " Oh ! stop your nonsense and tell your story," 
 said Ned, who was wildly impatient to hear of Char- 
 le}'s adventures. 
 
 " That 's just what I am telling," answered Char- 
 ley. " As I said, we 're Robinson Crusoes and I 've 
 seen the savages." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Why, Friday, of course, but that *s a mistake 
 too. His real name must be Thursday, and he is n't 
 tame either. Really I begin to believe Robinson 
 Crusoe fibbed." 
 
 " Have you gone crazy, Charley, or what is the 
 
 125 
 
126 THE WSECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 matter ? " asked . Xed. fa^inniiigr now to be really 
 alarmed lest his comrade's experience, whatever it 
 had been, had unsetded his mind. 
 
 " I never was more rational in my life," replied 
 the boy, with a smile ; ■ but you won't let me tell my 
 storj"" in my own way. Listen now and don't inter- 
 rupt You remember how fr^fatened Crusoe was 
 when he discovered the footpint in the sand ? " 
 
 " Yes, catainly." 
 
 "And how te afterward found the savage who 
 made it, and how disturbed he was to learn that he 
 was not really monarch of all he surveyed ? " 
 
 "Yes; well?" 
 
 " Well, I ve been tfaroi^ii a similar experience. 
 <Mily more so. This island k not uninhabited as we 
 supposed. There are savages on it, and they are 
 not tame savages either, like Qusoe's man Frida}", 
 but decidedly savage savages. Mj- man Thursday is, 
 at any rate. You see I call him Thursday because 
 I fiist saw him yesterday, and that was Thursday. 
 That 3 the way Ousoe hit upon a name ix his 
 savage, you remembo' ? " 
 
 ■ Yes, but tell us about it," said Jack. 
 
 - Listen, then. \ ou know I went mit to the rks 
 
CHARLET BLACK S ADVENTURES. i;- 
 
 [«aich and brought in one load. Tlien I went for 
 another, and after I filled the trowsers, I concluded 
 diat I 'd walk down toward the shore and return by 
 that route. As I went along by the edge of the 
 rice patch about sunset, I saw a foo^rint, just as 
 Crusoe did, but I did n't studj'^ it long, for presently 
 ::3 owner appeared. He was a big savage, and 
 Uack as night, and not in the least peacefiiL Indeed 
 he seemed very angry with me for some reason, for 
 he came running toward me. jabbering in his strange 
 language and setting his dog on me. I ran as &st 
 as I could toward that piece of woods over be^-ond 
 the rice swamp — more than a mile away firom here, 
 you remember, and on the other side of the island. 
 I had a good start, but it was a close shave. As I 
 approached the woods I picked out the tree I meant 
 to dimb, and when I got to it I went up fester than I 
 ;'.er climbed b^He, for the big ugly dog was close 
 behind me. He jumped up after me, but I drew up 
 my 1^ and he missed the foot he wanted. 
 
 " I was tired, and was awftilly out of breath ; but 
 I diought I had only to wait until the big n^ro 
 should come up — I could see him coming. Then I 
 would argue the matter with him and get him to be 
 
128 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 reasonable and call off his dog. You see I took him 
 for a negro, and did n't suspect that he was a savage. 
 I soon found out my mistake, however, for when he 
 came up and began swearing at me — I 'm sure it 
 was swearing, though, of course, I could n't under- 
 stand a word of it — I found that he talked Savage 
 and did n't understand a word of English. 
 
 " I was in a fix. My tree was about a mile and a 
 half from camp, even if you measure the distance in a 
 bee line, so there was no use in shouting for assist- 
 ance. There stood the raving savage jabbering at 
 me, and threatening me with his club ; and, worse 
 still, there stood his dog at the foot of the tree wait- 
 ing for a dish of Charley Black for supper. I rea- 
 soned with the savage, but he did n't understand me 
 any more than I understood him. The more I talked 
 the madder he got. Then I remembered having 
 read somewhere something about the ' eloquent 
 language ' of gestures, signs, and all that, which all 
 human beings are supposed to understand, so I tried 
 that awhile. I shrugged my shoulders, waved my 
 hands about, motioned to him to call off his dog and 
 go home, and did other things of the sort; but it 
 was n't of the least use. That savage persisted in 
 
THE ELOQUENT LANGUAGE OF GESTURE. 
 
CHARLEY BLACK'S ADVENTURES. 129 
 
 misunderstanding me, and his dog got madder and 
 madder. Finally, just to see if the benighted idiot 
 could understand sign language at all, I put my 
 thumb to my nose and twiddled my fingers at him, 
 at the same time shaking my other fisL He under- 
 stood that, and took further offence at it. In his 
 rage he tried to climb my tree to get at me, but he 
 was a rather clumsy climber and made little head- 
 way. When he got within reach I struck him a sud- 
 den blow with }our trowsers. Jack, which, being filled 
 chock full of rice, made a pretty good club. He 
 dropped like a shot squirrel, and his dog, thinking 
 that I had fallen, made a rush for him. For a moment 
 I flattered myself that now I should get awa}- while 
 the savage and the dog were explaining matters to 
 each other ; but in that I was disappointed. The 
 dog found out his mistake instandy, and the savage 
 got up, madder than ever. It was getting dark by 
 that time, but the savage thought he would have a 
 game of bat and ball with me while the light lasted, 
 anjhow, so he took good aim and threw his club at 
 me. I caught it a sharp blow with your trowsers, 
 and knocked it back to him. He threw again with 
 the same result The third throw went wide of the 
 
130 THE WRECK OF THE RED PIRD. 
 
 mark, and so I missed, but it did n't matter, for there 
 was no catching out to be done in that game — I sup- 
 pose the savage don't understand the rules of bat 
 and ball. 
 
 " Finally, after he had thrown a good many times, 
 his club lodged in the tree, and I climbed up and got 
 it. It was a good stout club — there it lies by the 
 fire — and I thought I might have use for it, so I 
 did n't throw it back at the savage's head, as I at 
 first intended, but kept it for future use. 
 
 " Night came on and the savage seated himself to 
 watch me. He kept very quiet, and made his dog 
 9top growling and snarling. At first I did n't under- 
 stand this. I began to think that he was going to 
 offer me terms, but he did n't. At last I saw what 
 he was at. He was waiting for me to fall asleep 
 and drop down ! 
 
 " There was nothing for it but to keep awake, 
 and as it was very cold I had to climb about a little 
 to keep myself comfortable, and that kept me 
 me from falling asleep. ■ 
 
 " The worst of it all was that I could see the big 
 fire you fellows made, and knew what anxiety you 
 were suiTering. I sat there in the dark, hour after 
 
CHARLEY BLACK'S ADVENTURES. i^i 
 
 hour, worrying and wondering if the daylight had 
 forgotten to come, and it was an awful time. The 
 rain came on at last, and I was quickly wet through. 
 The savage could n't sit long on the ground when 
 the floods came, so he got up and moved uneasily 
 about, but he would n't go away. His persistence 
 was ' worthy of a better cause.' After a little while 
 he began to collect bushes to make himself a 
 shelter, I suppose, or to sit on, or stand on — I don't 
 know what. It was slow work in the dark, and he 
 had to go away some little distance to get what he 
 wanted. While he was away on one of these little 
 trips an idea occurred to me, but as he was already 
 on his way back I could not act upon it at once, so 
 I sat still and waited. He went away again, fifty or 
 seventy-five yards into the woods — I could tell by 
 the noise he made breaking bushes. Then I tried 
 my plan. Climbing down to the lowest limb of the 
 tree, I could see the dog, dark as it was, standing 
 ready to receive me. Grasping the club in my right 
 hand, I dropped a pair of trowsers full of rice. The 
 dog, mistaking the bundle for me, was on it in an 
 instant, and the next instant I was on him. I 
 dropped on him purposely, and luckily my left foot 
 
132 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 Struck his neck. Of course I could not hold him 
 long in that way, but still it gave me a moment's 
 advantage, and during that moment I managed to 
 deal the brute two or three blows over the head 
 which, I think, must have crushed his skull. At 
 any rate he grew limber under me and never uttered 
 a sound. Hurriedly picking up the trowsers and 
 swinging them around my neck, I was about to run 
 when Mr. Savage came running out of the woods. 
 I still had the club in my hand, and quick as light- 
 ning I struck him with it and took to my heels. 
 'How badly I hurt him I don't know, but not so 
 badly as could have been wished, for he paused only 
 for a few seconds. Then 'he gave chase. I ran 
 with all my might, with him just behind. Presently 
 J .struck something with my foot — a grape-vine I 
 suppose — and came very near to falling, but man- 
 aged to save myself. Mr. Savage Thursday was 
 not so lucky. He struck the vine fairly and came 
 down like a big tree trunk. For a second he ut- 
 tered no sound. Then I could hear him swearing 
 in Savage, but by this time I was fifty yards ahead 
 of him, and by the time that he decided whether to 
 resume the chase or not I was too far away to inquire 
 
CHARLEY BLACK'S ADVENTURES. 133 
 
 what his decision was. It was so dark that if he 
 had followed he could n't have found me, so I 
 slackened my pace, and not long afterward dropped 
 into a walk, listening occasionally to hear if he was 
 coming. Hearing nothing, I plodded on. I did n't 
 know just where I was, so I thought my best plan 
 was to keep straight on until I struck the shore. I 
 passed a group of huts about a mile from my tree,)' 
 and I suppose the savages live there, as I heard 
 dogs barking, but I did n't stop to inquire. Finally 
 I came to the beach, and, believing that I was more 
 than half way round the island, I turned to the righl 
 and followed the shore till I got to camp. There, 
 that 's the whole story of the strange adventures of 
 Master . Charles Black, of his exploration of Bee 
 Island, his encounter with the savage, and his for- 
 tunate escape and return to his companions. How 
 did you hurt your foot, Ned ?" 
 
 Ned, who had risen and was Hmping about the 
 fire, explained his mishap, and in their turn he 
 and Jack told Charley of the events of the night as 
 seen from their point of view. Their story was less 
 fexciting than Charley's, but he was deeply interested 
 in it. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ON GUARD. 
 
 "T"! THO in the world can Charley's * savages ' 
 V V be, Ned?" asked Jack, when the story 
 was finished. 
 
 " Negro squatters," answered Ned ; " I did n't 
 think there were any on Bee Island." 
 
 " What do you mean by negro squatters ? " 
 " Why, negroes who, instead of hiring themselves 
 out or renting land, have simply squatted on the 
 island, cultivating little patches, and living by hunt- 
 ing and fishing. There are a good many on plan- 
 tations that have n't been cultivated since the war. 
 You see, when the war ended there were many 
 men who had large bodies of land — some of them 
 owning half a dozen big plantations — but with very 
 little capital. They have not been able, for want of 
 money, to resume the cultivation of aW tlieir aban- 
 
 134 
 
ON GUARD. 125 
 
 doned plantations, so there are many large tracts 
 still lying idle and unoccupied, and some of the ne- 
 groes, not caring to hire as hands, or to rent land, 
 have squatted here and there. They are generally 
 the worst of the negroes ; men without thrift, and 
 almost untouched by civilization. They prefer a 
 wild life, and live by fishing, hunting, and stealing 
 from choice." 
 
 " But, I say," said Charley, " my savage was n't a 
 tame negro at all. He could n't speak English I tell 
 you." 
 
 " No more can many others of the old sea-island 
 and rice-field negroes. They talk a jargon which 
 only themselves and the old-time overseers ever 
 understood. The fact is that many of them really 
 were savages before the war, — untamed Guinea sav- 
 ages. They or their parents were brought here from 
 Africa, and they lived all their lives here on these 
 coast plantations, rarely seeing a white person except 
 their overseers, and learning scarcely any thing of 
 civilized life. They were not at all like the negroes 
 up in Aiken, and all over the South for that matter. 
 They were simply savages who had learned to work 
 under an overseer, and when the war ended the 
 
136 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 worst of them relapsed into the ways of savage life 
 instead of trying to improve themselves as the ne- 
 groes everywhere else did. They had n't learned 
 enough to want to be civilized." 
 
 " But what did that fellow get after Charley for ? " 
 
 " Because we 've been robbing their rice field 
 without knowing it." 
 
 " I did n't think of that. I thought the rice was 
 wild — self-seeded." 
 
 "Probably it is," answered Ned, "but they re- 
 gard it as theirs for all that, just as they think 
 this island is theirs, although it belongs to my 
 uncle." 
 
 -" Now I know who stole our provisions," said 
 Charley. " But I say, boys, what 's to be done ? 
 Suppose the savages should attack us here ? " 
 
 " They may do that," answered Ned, " though I 
 don't think it likely. They want us away,' perhaps, 
 but they chiefly want us to let them and their rice 
 alone, and now that we know that it 's theirs by 
 some sort of right, we '11 let it alone and get on with 
 what we have on hand. The main thing now is to 
 build our boat. We must get on as fast as we can 
 with that." 
 
ON GUARD. 
 
 137 
 
 "That 's so," said Jack. "That must be the first 
 thing thought of, but still it seems to me we should do 
 something for our own defence. You see, Ned, if 
 they should attack us, we are helpless. We have n't 
 a thing to defend ourselves with, now that the gun 
 is gone, and it is n't right to trust too much to those 
 people's good-nature." 
 
 " Well, what can we do ? " 
 
 " A good many things ; I don't know exactly what 
 will be best as yet, but we must think it out while 
 we work on the boat. Then we can compare notes 
 and do whatever is best. We '11 work on the boat 
 until dinner-time, and then give the afternoon to our 
 defences. Perhaps we can make so good a begin- 
 ning that we need n't spend more than an hour or 
 two each day on that work after to-day.'' 
 
 "All right," said Ned ; " now let 's get to work on 
 the boat." 
 
 With a will the three boys set to work. The 
 stem- and stern-posts of the new boat were securely 
 fastened to the keel, and the difficult task of setting 
 up the ribs was begun. These ribs were so broken 
 that it required not a little planning and contriving 
 to make them answer the purpose ; but Jack was 
 
138 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 very ingenious, and under his direction Ned and 
 Charley managed to do some very clever splicing 
 and bracing, while Jack himself dealt with the most 
 difficult problems. 
 
 By mid-day about half the ribs were in their 
 place. 
 
 " We can begin to see the shape of our new 
 boat," said Ned, " and I 'm not sure she is n't going 
 to be prettier than the old Red Bird." 
 
 " By the way," said Jack, " what are we to name 
 her?" 
 
 " The Phoenix," suggested Charley ; then he 
 added: " No that won't do, because it is n't a case of 
 rising from ashes. The Red Bird was n't burned." 
 
 " No," said Ned, " that would be very absurd. 
 Suppose we call her Sea-Gull, because she came to 
 us — in her timbers at least — from the sea." 
 
 " Better call her ' axe, hatchet, and hunting- 
 knife,'-' said Jack, " because weare making her with 
 those tools. But if we must be poetical and sugges- 
 tive, why not call her Aphrodite? She, like that 
 fabled goddess, is sprung from the foam of the sea." 
 
 " Aphrodite it is," shouted Jack's companions, and 
 Charley added : 
 
ON GUARD. 139 
 
 " You 're the most classical and poetic youth of 
 the party, Jack, if you do pretend to sneer at us for 
 our sentimental fancy for an appropriate name." 
 
 " Very well," replied Jack, " you 're welcome to 
 think so ; but just now I want my dinner worse than 
 any thing else, and that is n't a mere sentiment I 
 assure you." 
 
 Dinner over, the preparations for defence were 
 begun. 
 
 " What plan have you thought of. Jack ?" Charley 
 asked. 
 
 " Let me hear from you and Ned first," answered 
 Jack. 
 
 " Well, I 've thought of earthworks," said Char- 
 ley ; "they say they are the best fortifications." 
 
 " Against cannon, yes," said Ned ; "but it 's only 
 because cannon can't batter them down as they can 
 masonry. Our problem is a very different one, be- 
 cause our savages have n't any cannon. What we 
 have got to do is not to make fortifications that can't 
 be battered down by artillery, but to fence ourselves 
 in in some way so that the negro squatters can't get 
 at us." 
 
 " Well, what 's your idea for that ? " asked Charley. 
 
140 THE WRECK OF THE MED BIRD. 
 
 " A stockade." 
 
 " Details ?" queried Jack. 
 
 " My notion is," answered Ned, " to set a line of 
 stockade around the camp, running it out into the 
 water on each side, making a big ' C of it. If we 
 make it ten feet high and slope it outward, it will 
 puzzle the squatters to get over it, and from the in- 
 side we can beat them off." 
 
 " But howshall we make the stockade ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Why, by digging a trench first, and setting 
 timbers in it, sloping them at the proper angle, and 
 filling in with earth." 
 
 " But could n't a strong man pull a timber down 
 by jumping up and hanging to it with his hands ? " 
 asked Charley. 
 
 " Perhaps so, if each timber stood alone," said 
 Ned, " but we '11 set a row of them in the ditch, and 
 then roll a log in behind them before filling up. 
 Then we '11 set another row and roll in another log, 
 and so on. Then, in order to pull down a post it 
 will be necessary to lift the whole of the log that is 
 behind it, together with all the earth that lies on top 
 of the log, and that is more than any half dozen men 
 can do." 
 
ON GUARD. 141 
 
 "That 's an excellent idea," said Jack; after think- 
 ing awhile, " but the job is too big to be completed 
 to-day. We 'd better follow my plan first, and make 
 the stockade hereafter." 
 
 " What 's your plan ? " 
 
 " To build a sort of wall of timber around the 
 camp. It is n't half so good as a stockade, because 
 of course it is easily climbed over ; but it is better 
 than nothing, and will do for one night." 
 
 " But I don't see," said Charley, " that we can 
 build a timber wall half so quickly as we can make 
 the stockade. To do it we have got to cut enough 
 logs to make a pile all around the camp, and that 
 will take ten times as many logs as it will to make 
 the stockade." 
 
 " That is true," said Jack, " and, besides, small 
 timbers, five or six inches in diameter, will do as 
 well for the stockade as big logs, and in the present 
 state of our axe that is a consideration not to be 
 despised. I surrender. Ned's plan is by odds the 
 best one. Let 's get to work at it, and if we don't 
 finish it to-day, we '11 patch up the deficiency in some 
 way. Luckily we have digging tools." 
 
 The soil of the coast and islands of South Carolina 
 
142 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 is a light vegetable mould, mixed with sand, and be- 
 low it there is sand only. There are no rocks, no 
 stones, no pebbles even, and no stiff clay ; and all 
 this was greatly in the boys' favor. The trench 
 grew very rapidly as they worked. Jack and Ned 
 dug, while Charley, who was more expert with the 
 axe than either of his companions, cut down small 
 trees and trimmed them into shape for the stockade, 
 making each about fourteen feet long, so that when 
 set in the ditch it would project about ten feet above 
 ground. 
 
 The digging of the ditch was the smallest part of 
 the task. Its length, in order to enclose the hut, 
 the well, and the boat, had to be about one hundred 
 and fifty feet, so that a great many sticks of timber 
 were necessary. 
 
 " We must set them about six inches apart," said 
 Jack, " so as to use as few as we can at first. If neces- 
 sary, we can fill in the gaps afterward ; but a man 
 can't get through a six-inch crack, and by setting 
 them in that way each post, with its half of the two 
 cracks, will occupy about a foot of space." 
 
 But to cut a hundred and fifty pieces of .timber 
 with a dull axe was no small job, and when night 
 
ON GUARD. 143 
 
 came on the boys had only twenty-five of them set 
 up in their places, while as many more were ready 
 for use. This was discouraging, and in their weari- 
 ness Ned and Charley felt very much disheartened 
 indeed. Jack alone kept his spirits up. 
 
 " It 's very good work so far as it goes," he siid, 
 looking at the line of timbers all leaning outward 
 from the camp, " and when we get it done it will 
 puzzle all the squatters in South Carolina to take our 
 fort." 
 
 " Yes, if we ever do get it done," said Charley, de- 
 spondently. 
 
 " Now, Charley," said Jack, " none of that. We 've 
 been in a tighter place than this, and you especially 
 ought not to be downhearted. You 're ever so much 
 better off than you were this time last night, when 
 that darkey had you treed ; and you 're better off 
 now than Ned is, with his game foot." 
 
 " Poor fellow," said Charley, looking at Ned as he 
 limped into the hut with difficulty. 
 
 " The fact is," continued Jack, " we 're tired out, 
 and so things look blue to us, but they '11 look better 
 in the morning. You see we got no sleep last night, 
 besides wearing ourselves out with anxiety and ex- 
 
144 ^-^^^ WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 citement, and we have worked like convicts all day. 
 We '11 feel better and brighter after we get some 
 sleep, and things that look gloomy and discouraging 
 now will look bright and hopeful enough to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 "That 's true/' said Ned, coming out of the hut 
 again, " and it would be much better for us if we 
 could quit work right now, and sleep for ten hours 
 without waking, but we can't." 
 
 " Why not ? " asked Charley, who was utterly 
 worn Qut. 
 
 " Because we 've some more work to do that must 
 be done before we sleep," answered Ned. " What 
 we have done for defence is of no good at all as it 
 stands. We must have a barrier, around the camp 
 to-night." 
 
 " How shall we make one? " asked Jack. 
 
 " With brush. We have plenty of it already cut 
 in the shape of the tree tops we 've trimmed off in 
 getting our stockade poles." 
 
 " Brush won't make a very good defence," mut- 
 tered Charley. 
 
 " No, but it will be much better than no defence 
 at all," replied Ned. " It is n't easy to climb over a 
 
ON GUARD. 145 
 
 well-packed brush pile, particularly if the brush is so 
 laid that all the branches point outward, and that 's 
 the way we '11 lay it. It won't take long to make a 
 wall of that kind, and we can remove it little by lit- 
 tle, as we set the poles hereafter." 
 
 This plan commended itself to Jack, and Charley 
 submitted. Poor fellow, he was too weary to take 
 any active interest even in plans for defence. The 
 brushwood was brought and carefully placed in po- 
 sition. It was not sufficient to make a wall all the 
 way around, but only a small gap was left near the 
 water. 
 
 " Shall we cut more brush to-night, Jack ? " asked 
 Ned. 
 
 " No, I think we need n't. When we go to set- 
 ting poles to-morrow, the brush we remove will do 
 to close the gap with, and for one night we can watch 
 so small an opening. We need rest and sleep now 
 more than any thing else. You and Charley lie 
 down. I 'm the freshest one of the party, I think, 
 and so I '11 stand guard for a good while before call- 
 ing either of you." 
 
 " Stand guard ? " asked Ned ; " what for ? " 
 
 " Why, it won't do at all for all three to sleep at 
 
146 THE WKECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 once. We mig^t be attacked -vibSle. asleep. If diere 
 •were no danger erf" that -we need n't have thought of 
 a stockade at aD." 
 
 Sleepy and tired as Ned and Charley were, they 
 recognized the necessity for this watchfulness. It 
 was very hard for the three weary fellows to take 
 their turns at standing guard that night, but they did 
 th^ duty. Jack took a long turn first, and Ned fol- 
 lowed him, so that Charley got a good sleep of sev- 
 eral hours, and was much refireshed before lus pe- 
 riod of watching b^an. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A NEW DANGER. 
 
 THE night brought its alarms with it Every 
 noise in the woods round about startled the 
 alert sentinel, and there always are noises at night, 
 not only in the woods but in houses also, as we all 
 find out, when for any reason we are awake and on 
 the alert. It seemed to each of the boys during 
 this night, that there never were so many sounds 
 which could not be explained : crackling noises, like 
 those which are produced by the breaking of dry 
 sticks under foot ; sounds of footsteps, and of hard 
 breathing; a thousand different sounds, in short, 
 each of which seemed for the time being surely to in- 
 dicate the stealthy approach of some foe. 
 
 Morning came at last, however, and no ill had be- 
 fellen the camp. It was voted at breakfest that this 
 day should be devoted exclusively to fortification, 
 
 147 
 
148 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 security being deemed of more pressing importance 
 than escape from the island. 
 
 By steady persistence the work was carried for- 
 ward until the line of tall, leaning pickets was more 
 than half-way round the camp. This at least re- 
 duced the space to be watched through the night to 
 less than half its former length, and as the night 
 passed quietly with no sign of an enemy about, it 
 was unanimously resolved, the next morning, that 
 Sunday should be kept as a day of rest, the opinion 
 being that the completion of the stockade could not 
 now be called a work of necessity. 
 
 During Sunday night, however, the boys had 
 reason to modify this opinion somewhat. About 
 two o'clock Ned, who was on guard at the time, 
 armed with a big club, awoke his companions, say- 
 ing, in a whisper : 
 
 " Get up, quick! There 's somebody about." 
 
 The two sleepers sprang to their feet quickly, 
 and, seizing their clubs, joined Ned outside the 
 hut. 
 
 By way of precaution the boys had cut a con- 
 siderable number of short, thick, and very heavy 
 clubs, which could be made to serve a good purpose 
 
A NEW DANCER, 1 49 
 
 as missiles. Thrown with violence from the hand 
 they were likely to be of much greater service than 
 stones or brickbats would have been, if such things 
 had been at hand. Armed with these clubs the boys 
 peered and listened. For a while they heard 
 nothing. Then a low growl came from the bushes, 
 and the sound of a sharp blow followed it immedi- 
 ately. Evidently one of the squatters was sneaking 
 around the camp, and when his dog growled he 
 struck it to secure silence. 
 
 The boys waited a long time but heard nothing 
 more. Finally, in a low whisper, Ned said : 
 
 "There can't be more than one of them here." 
 
 " No, I suppose not," answered Jack, " but let 's 
 be quiet and see what he wants." 
 
 All became still again, and as the boys from their 
 hiding-place could not be seen by any one in the 
 bushes, the prowler had every reason to suppose 
 that they were asleep. After perhaps an hour's 
 waiting, Jack whispered : 
 
 " I see him; he is crawling on his stomach to the 
 fire. H — sh ! let 's see what he wants." 
 
 The man could be seen only in dim outline until 
 he reached the fire, and, taking a smouldering 
 
1 50 THE WRECK OF. THE RED BIRD. 
 
 brand, blew it to quicken its burning. The light 
 thus created revealed his face, and the sight was not 
 a pleasant one to the boys. They saw in their 
 visitor as ugly and forbidding a specimen of un- 
 tamed humanity as one often meets. He was a 
 negro of the small, ugly, tough-looking variety, seen 
 nowhere in this country except on the South Caro- 
 lina and Georgia coast. About five feet two inches 
 high, he had a small, flat head, large, muscular arms 
 and body, short legs, and no clothing except a sort 
 of sack with head- and arm-holes in it, worn as a 
 shirt. His brow was so low and retreating, that his 
 eyes seemed to project beyond it. His nose was 
 flattened out as if it had tried to spread itself evenly 
 all over his face. His thick lips were too short 
 to cover his big teeth, and it is hardly necessary to 
 add that he looked far less like a rational human 
 being than like some wild animal. 
 
 When he had satisfied himself that his brand waL. 
 burning, he crept a few paces further, and his pur- 
 pose was revealed. He meant to set fire to the 
 pile of plank that the boat was to be built of. 
 
 " Quick now," said Jack, " give him a volley of 
 clubs and then charge ! '' 
 
' GIVE HIM A VOLLEY AND THEN CHARGE ! 
 
A X£IF- DAXGES. 
 
 151 
 
 It was no sooner said than done. Standing at 
 less than twenty feet distance, the boys threw one 
 club each at the intruder, and then, snatching other 
 dubs, one in each hand, rushed upon him. Rising, 
 he knocked Jack down.^but was brought to his own 
 knees by Charley's club. At that moment the 
 man's dog, a surly-looking brute, seized Charley, 
 and it required die combined efforts of all three 
 boys — ^for Jack was up again in an instant — to beat 
 the creature off. WTiile they were engaged in this, 
 the dog's master, finding himself outnumbered and 
 overmatched, took to his heels and the camp was 
 clear, for the dog quickly followed, howling with 
 pain. 
 
 "" Are you much hurt, Charley ? " was the first 
 question asked when the enemy's retreat left the 
 boys firee to think of themselves. 
 
 " I 'm pretty severely bitten," was the reply, " but 
 luckily it s in the fleshy part of my thigh, and the 
 flesh is n t torn. One of you must have struck very 
 quickly, or I should n't have got off so easily. See," 
 he eotntinued, when the fire had been stirred into a 
 blaze, '■ the brute buried his teeth, but let go again 
 without shaking me." 
 
152 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Yes, I saw him jump at you, and tried to hit him 
 before he got hold," said Ned. " I must have struck 
 him just as he seized you — half a second too late 
 to save you entirely, but I hit him fairly on the 
 head." 
 
 "And he had to let go of me to howl," said 
 Charley, who, in spite of his pain, was in good spirits 
 after the exciting encounter. " By the way, are you 
 hurt, Jack ? " 
 
 " I 've an earache," said Jack, turning his head and 
 showing an inflamed and swollen ear ; " but I 'm glad 
 that fellow did n't hit me fairly in the face, as he meant 
 to do. It would have settled the question of photo- 
 graphs for me for all time, I think. Why, if I had 
 caught that blow on the face my nose would have 
 been distributed over the rest of my countenance as 
 evenly as his is." 
 
 " You look solemn, Ned," said Charley ; " are you 
 hurt too ? " 
 
 " No, but I 'm thinking." 
 
 " Well, out with your thought then. What is 
 it ? " 
 
 " Only that we 're fairly in for it now." 
 
 "In for what?" 
 
A NEW DANGER. 153 
 
 " War." 
 
 "War?" 
 
 " Yes. You don't suppose we 're going to have 
 peace with the squatters now, do you ? They '11 at- 
 tack us in force as sure as sunrise and sunset." 
 
 " Well, it 's my opinion that one of them, at least, 
 has got as much of us as he wants," said Charley. 
 
 "Very likely," answered Ned; "but now he '11 
 want to give us something, by way of returning the 
 compliment. He '11 bring all his friends with him 
 next time." 
 
 " But I don't see what we 've done that they 
 should interfere with us." 
 
 " Oh ! don't you ? Well, that 's because you don't 
 look at the matter with their eyes. You see, when 
 we first came here they did n't object. They took 
 a fancy to our coffee and flour and bacon, and the 
 rest of it, and helped themselves, but they did n't in 
 the least object to us or our presence. Having got 
 all we had for them to steal, they let us alone. But 
 when they found that we were getting rice out of what 
 they called their field, it put a new face on the mat- 
 ter, and they objected. You baffled the one that 
 got after you, and he hurt himself trying to catch 
 
154 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 you. That was another offence on our part, and so 
 this fellow that was here to-night determined to get 
 even with us by burning us out. He has been 
 pretty badly whipped, arid he is n't likely to forget 
 it. He '11 bring all his friends here and we must 
 take care of ourselves, for we shan't get any coddling, 
 I can assure you, if we fall into their hands." 
 
 " You are right, Ned," said Jack ; " and now we 
 must really take care of ourselves. It 's nearly 
 morning, and we may as well get breakfast at once 
 and get an early start. We must be ready to re- 
 ceive those fellows when they come.'^ 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A CAMP-FACTORY. , 
 
 BREAKFAST was finished before daylight that 
 morning, and -when it was over the three 
 companions resumed work upon their fortification. 
 Ned stopped long enough to catch some shrimps for 
 dinner, but with that exception there was no break 
 at all in the morning's work, and dinner-time found 
 the boys tired as well as hungry. The afternoon 
 was spent quite as industriously, and when night 
 came the fort, though still incomplete, was well ad- 
 vanced toward security. 
 
 " Now," said Ned, when supper-time came, " we 
 have had rather too much of shrimps, I think, and of 
 oysters too. I 'm going out with the net to-night 
 to catch some fish for to-morrow. What do you two 
 propose to do ? " 
 
 " I 'm going to make some more clubs,'' said 
 
 155 
 
156 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 Charley. " We 've something like a fort now, and 
 the next thing is to provide an abundance of ammuni- 
 tion." 
 
 "By the way," said Ned "why can't we make 
 some better arms ? " 
 
 " Of what sort ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Well, bows and arrows, for example. We can 
 make arrow-heads out of some of our copper bolts, 
 and they are weapons not to be despised — what are 
 you smiling at, Charley ? " 
 
 " Oh ! nothing ; I was only wondering what good 
 bows and arrows would do without bowstrings." 
 
 Ned's countenance fell ; then he joined in the 
 smile of his companions, and admitted that his little 
 plan had been very imperfectly worked out in his 
 head. 
 
 " I might make some blow-guns out of the canes," 
 he said, " but they 're not worth making. I have 
 killed birds with them, but I 've tried them thor- 
 oughly and they won't shoot hard enough to drive 
 an arrow-head half an inch into a pine plank ; so 
 they would be worthless for our purposes." 
 
 " Yes," said Jack, " I think we may make up our 
 minds that we 've got to get on with no better 
 
A CAMP-FACTORY. 1 57 
 
 weapons than our clubs for general use, with the axe, 
 hatchet, and digging tools to fall back upon as a 
 last resort. To use such things means to kill, and 
 of course we don't want to do that." 
 
 " No, of course not. We only want to protect 
 ourselves and make these squatters let us alone. We 
 don't want to do the poor creatures any unnecessary 
 harm." 
 
 Saying this, Ned took the net and went away in 
 search of fish. When he had gone Jack said : 
 
 " Charley, let 's build a platform to fight from." 
 
 " I don't quite understand you," said Charley. 
 
 " Well, you see the stockade is ten feet high, and 
 slopes outward, and so it won't be easy for anybody 
 to scale it ; but it is n't impossible, particularly if one 
 has time to put up a pole or two to climb on. My 
 notion is that we must be prepared to interfere with 
 anybody who tries to do that. We must build a sort 
 of platform all around inside the stockade, about six 
 feet from the ground ; it need n't be any thing more 
 than a row of poles laid against the stockade and 
 supported by some forked stakes. We can then 
 stand up on these poles and look over the top of the 
 stockade. If anybody tries to climb up, we can 
 
158 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 beat him back from there, while if we were on the 
 ground inside here, we should be nearly helpless. 
 It won't take you and me more than half an hour or 
 so to rig the thing up." 
 
 "That 's a good idea," repliisd Charley ; " and we 
 need the platform more to-night than we shall at any 
 time hereafter." 
 
 " Why? " 
 
 " Because if those fellows mean to attack us they 
 will do so at once. If we escape to-night we 're not 
 likely to be attacked at all." 
 
 " I don't know about that," answered Jack. " On 
 the contrary, I think they '11 let us alone to-night, 
 because they '11 expect us to be on the lookout for 
 them. They have no special fancy for getting their 
 heads broken, and when they come they will try 
 to take us by surprise. At least that 's my notion." 
 
 " Then you think they are likely to attack us later 
 this week or next ? " 
 
 " Yes, at any time except to-night. They will wait 
 for us to make up our minds that they are n't com- 
 ing at all." 
 
 " Well — \}s\z!i fabula docet that we must n't make 
 up our minds in that direction at all." 
 
A CAMP.FACTORY. I $9 
 
 " Exactly. We must be as alert two weeks hence 
 as we are now — if we 're here so long. But come, 
 let 's get to work." 
 
 Cutting some forked stakes, which did not need 
 to be driven far into the ground, because they were 
 to be leant toward the sloping stockade, the boys 
 placed them in position, and laid poles from one to 
 another until the line stretched all the way around 
 the enclosure. It was easy to walk upon these poles 
 all the way around, and when standing upon them 
 the boys' shoulders were above the top of the stock- 
 ade. 
 
 Near the water, on each side, an entrance to the 
 stockade had been made, and a movable piece of 
 timber, with a notch in it and a brace behind, served 
 to close each of these gates ; and when thus closed 
 and fastened from the inside, the gates were as se- 
 cure as any other part of the fortress . 
 
 Jack's prediction that the enemy would not appear 
 on Monday night was verified. The whole of that 
 week, indeed, was passed in complete quietude. 
 
 Having made their fortress reasonably secure, the 
 boys resumed work upon the boat on Monday and 
 continued it throughout the week ; but they gave 
 
l6o THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 only one half of each day to that task, devoting the 
 other half to the work of strengthening their fort. 
 The posts, as we know, were originally set six inches 
 apart for the sake of hurrying the work, but this was 
 not intended to be a permanent arrangement. As 
 fast as they could the boys filled up the spaces thus 
 left, and by Saturday night the fort was complete, so 
 that its inmates felt entirely confident of their ability 
 to beat off any attack the negro squatters might 
 choose to make. 
 
 Meantime the boat approached completion, though 
 there was, perhaps, a week's work, or a little less, 
 still to be done upon her. 
 
 " We must caulk her seams," said Ned on Sun- 
 day, as the boys sat chatting round their fire, " with 
 moss instead of oakum, and then we '11 coat her all 
 over with pitch." 
 
 " By the way," answered Charley, " we 've got to 
 make the pitch. Do you know how, Ned ? " 
 
 "Not very well," replied Ned, " but I think we 
 can make out." 
 
 " I know," said Jack ; " I 've seen tar made in the 
 North Carolina tar country, and pitch is only boiled 
 tar." 
 
A CAMP-FACTORY. l6l 
 
 " Very well, then, you shall superintend that job," 
 said Ned ; " you know that was our bargain, to make 
 each fellow manage the things he understood best." 
 
 " You 'd better make a lot of salt, then, right away, 
 beginning to-morrow morning." 
 
 " Why ? You don't use salt in making pitch, do 
 youi^ 
 
 "No; but I shall want the big kettle to boil the 
 tar in, and, it won't be fit for use as a salt kettle after 
 that." 
 
 . " Then we must cook up all our rice too," said 
 Charley. 
 
 " No, we need n't," said Ned ; " it would spoil 
 if we did, and we can cook it, as we need it, in the 
 coffee-pot." 
 
 Early the next morning these preparations were 
 begun. Charley got his salt factory at work, Ned 
 worked at the boat, and Jack made preparations for 
 tar-burning. He began by digging a pit about fout 
 feet square and two feet deep. Then — at a distance 
 of about a foot — he dug another pit about three feet 
 square and four feet deep. He packed the wall of 
 earth that separated the two pits as firmly as he 
 could, and then, cutting a long joint of cane for a 
 
1 62 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 tar pipe, he passed it through this wall, from a point 
 exactly at the bottom of the shallow pit. He in- 
 clined it downward a little, so that the tar might 
 easily run though it and fall into the deeper pit. 
 
 Having finished this part of his work, Jack went 
 into the woods near the camp and prepared a large 
 quantity of " fat " pine for burning. Piling this in 
 the shallow pit, and heaping it two or three feet 
 above the level ground, he took the shovel and cov- 
 ered the pile with earth to a depth of a foot or 
 more, leaving a single opening through which he 
 could set fire to the mass. His object was, by smoth- 
 ering the flames in this way, to make the fat, resin- 
 ous pine burn slowly, creating a roasting heat un- 
 der the earth, and thus, as it were, melting the tar 
 out of the pine. If he had not covered the wood 
 with earth, it would have blazed up and burned 
 to smoke, resin and all, making no tar at all. 
 
 When all was ready the pile was set on fire, and 
 as soon as it had caught well, Jack covered the single 
 opening with earth, and the mound smoked like a 
 volcano. Pretty soon a little stream of smoking-hot 
 tar began trickling through the cane-tube into the 
 deep pit. 
 
A CAMP-FACTORY. 1 63 
 
 Night had now come on, and the smoke from the 
 tar-kiln, catching the light from the camp-fire, 
 glowed with a peculiar red color, and gave a pict- 
 uresque air of strangeness to the camp. 
 
 " You 've started a young volcano, Jack," said 
 Charley, as helooked at the smoking mound. 
 
 " Yes. An improvement on Crusoe," said Ned ; 
 " he had no volcano on his island. But what a 
 quantity of smoke the thing does make. It looks 
 as if more material came out of the mound in 
 that way than you put into it in the shape of 
 wood." 
 
 " Yes, and so a gallon of water will fill a big 
 room if you make it into steam." 
 
 " What is smoke anyhow ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " It is composed of several things," answered 
 Ned, " but chiefly of carbon. Indeed, all that you 
 can see in smoke is carbon." 
 
 " Then why does n't it burn ? " 
 
 " It would if it were kept in the fire long enough ; 
 but the light vapors that rise from the fire carry the 
 particles of carbon with them, and so they get out 
 of the fire before they are burned. The smoke is 
 simply so much wasted fuel, and many plans have 
 
164 "^^^ WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 been made to save it in factories where the cost of 
 fuel is great." 
 
 " There 's a big waste in making tar, then," said 
 Charley. 
 
 " Not half so much as you think," said Jack. 
 " They don't waste the smoke up in the North Caro- 
 lina tar country." 
 
 " How do they burn it? " 
 
 " They don't burn it, but they catch it and sell it." 
 
 " How do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, they have wire screens stretched over the 
 tar-kilns, and as the smoke strikes them the fine 
 particles of carbon stick to them. I have seen 
 masses of them hanging down many inches from 
 the screens, and very pretty they are too." 
 
 " But what do they do with the stuff? " asked 
 Charley. 
 
 " Sell it. It is called lamp-black, and it brings a 
 pretty good price." 
 
 " That is close economy, is n't it ? " 
 
 " Yes, but it is frequently by just such ' margins ' 
 as that that manufacturing becomes profitable. It is 
 a very poor and desolate-looking country up there 
 in the tar-making districts, and I remember hearing 
 
A CAMP-FACTORY. 165 
 
 a man say once, as we passed through it : ' This is 
 the country where they waste nothing ; they bark 
 the trees to get resin ; they distil the resin and make 
 turpentine ; what 's left is rosin ; when the trees die 
 they bum them to make tar, catch the smoke for 
 lamp-black, and there are n't any ashes.' " 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE. 
 
 THE tar flowed freely during Monday night and 
 Tuesday, and by the time that Tuesday's 
 labors were finished, there was enough in the deep 
 vat to make all the pitch that was required. The 
 salt-making was finished too, and the big kettle was 
 ready for use the next day in boiling the tar to make 
 pitch of it. 
 
 On Tuesday evening Ned determined to go fish- 
 ing, as he did nearly every night when the tide was 
 at a proper stage. He had learned now the spots 
 most frequented by the mullets, and usually suc- 
 ceeded in bringing back a good supply of them to 
 camp. The boys had grown very tired indeed of 
 their restricted diet. For three weeks now they had 
 not tasted meat of any kind — for they never re- 
 peated their snake supper, — but had lived on fish, 
 
 1 66 
 
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE. 167 
 
 shrimps, o)'^sl:ers, and a few crabs ; and being with- 
 out bacon or any other kind of fat with which to fry 
 their fish, they could not make an appearance of 
 variety by changing the way of cooking them. 
 They had to eat every thing boiled, or roasted, or 
 broiled on the coals, and in the absence of butter and 
 other seasoning for broiled fish, the roast, baked, 
 broiled, and boiled all tasted alike. They had lost 
 their relish for such -food as they could get, but 
 having nothing else they were forced to eat it. 
 
 On this Tuesday night Ned remained away from 
 camp longer than usual, and at about eleven o'clock 
 Charley went to bed, Jack mounting guard. About 
 an hour later Jack waked Charley, saying : 
 
 " I 'm uneasy about Ned, Charley. It must be 
 midnight and he has n't come in yet." 
 
 Charley sprang up quickly, and the two looked 
 and listened. Finally it was decided that as 
 Charley was less able to run than Jack — because of 
 the dog-bite, which had not yet entirely healed, — he 
 should remain on guard while Jack should go .out 
 in search of Ned. 
 
 Ten minutes later Jack came back, running as 
 quietly as he could, and hastily pushed through the 
 
1 68 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 eastern gate. Fastening this, he exclaimed in an 
 excited way : 
 
 " The squatters are all around us, and I 'm afraid 
 they 've captured Ned." 
 
 "Why."* Where are they? Tell me all about 
 it, quick." 
 
 " I don't know much about it myself," answered 
 Jack. " I only know that as I walked down along 
 the shore in the direction that Ned took, I almost 
 stumbled over one of the squatters. I retreated, of 
 course, and by keeping in the bushes and looking 
 and listening, I made out that there were at least 
 half a dozen of them about. As I could see noth- 
 ing, and hear nothing of Ned, I 'm afraid they 've 
 caught him. You see they came right along the 
 shore where he was wading about and fishing, and 
 if they had n't caught him, of course he would have 
 run in to give us the alarm. Poor fellow! I won- 
 der if they '11 kill him ? " 
 
 " I 'm afraid of worse than that," said Charley, sol- 
 emnly 
 
 "What? " asked Jack. 
 
 " I 'm afraid they '11 flog him. That would be hor- 
 rible ! for my part I 'd a good deal rather be killed, 
 and I 'm sure Ned would." 
 
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE. 169 
 
 " Yes, of course," said Jack. Then, after a pause, 
 he added : 
 
 "I '11 tell you what, Charley, we must n't let that 
 happen." 
 
 " How '11 we help it? " 
 
 " Well, they won't try that till after they 've made 
 their attack on the fort. They '11 simply tie Ned, 
 and keep him till they 're through with us, and so 
 we have time to make a diversion in his favor. 
 We 've got to give them battle outside the fort. If 
 we can drive them off we may find Ned. When he 
 finds what 's up he '11 let us know where he is 
 quickly enough." 
 
 " Yes, if he has n't been carried too far away al- 
 ready," said Charley. " At any rate, we '11 try. 
 Where were the darkies when you saw them ? " 
 
 " About two hundred yards away, in the woods 
 near the shore." 
 
 " All right. Now let 's remember that we 've got 
 to stick together, and that our object is to do not as 
 much but as little fighting as necessary, and to get 
 past the enemy if we can, and go on down the shore 
 in search of Ned. We must n't stop to do any un- 
 necessary fighting." 
 
\yo I'HE WRECK OP THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " No, we '11 try first to creep past without any 
 fighting at all," said Jack. 
 
 Arming themselves with their best clubs the 
 two boys crept out of the eastern gate and made 
 their way as secretly as they could through the 
 woods. They saw two of the squatters, but man- 
 aged to slip past them without discovery, and 
 when they had got well beyond them they made 
 their way rapidly along the beach, calling Ned at 
 the top of their voices and listening for his an- 
 swer. At last they heard a shout in reply, but it 
 seemed a long way off, and singularly enough it was 
 in the direction of the camp. Turning around, they 
 were filled with horror and amazement at what they 
 saw. A great red blaze was shooting up from the 
 camp. 
 
 " They 're burning us out ! " exclaimed Jack. 
 
 " Yes, and they must have Ned there with them. 
 His shout came from that direction." 
 
 " Come, let 's run with all our might. We may 
 get there in time to save Ned at any rate ! " 
 
 They ran like deer-hounds and were quickly at 
 the burning camp. 
 
 They encountered three of the negroes just out- 
 
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE. 
 
 171 
 
 side the camp, but coming upon them by surprise 
 they were able to run past and to enter the gate be- 
 fore their enemies could lay hold of them. Once in- 
 side they fastened the gate log. As they did so and 
 turned they discovered that they had caught one of 
 their assailants — a negro boy not older than them- 
 selves — inside. This lad showed fight, but with two 
 against him he was quickly secured, and tied with 
 the boat's anchor rope. 
 
 Then Jack and Charley had time to see the extent 
 of the mischief done. The stockade itself was un- 
 injured, and thus far the boat also was safe, but the 
 vat of tar was afire, and the bush hut in which the 
 boys slept had either caught from the blazing tar or 
 been set on fire by the negro boy. It was obviously 
 too late to save the hut, even if the boys had been 
 free to work upon it, as they were not, for the dan- 
 ger to the boat, which lay very near the fire and 
 was already scorching, was too great to be trifled 
 with. Jack managed to rescue the salt from the hut, 
 and then he and Charley began wetting moss and 
 laying it over the boat. 
 
 "This won't do. Jack," said Charley ; "those ras- 
 cals outside will make their way over the stockade 
 
172 TH^ WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 if they are n't watched. Can't you keep the moss 
 wet now? " 
 
 " Yes, I '11 attend to that. You go to the plat- 
 form at once. If you need me call out and I '11 
 come." 
 
 Charley sprang to the platform, and was none too 
 soon. The negroes outside, hearing the cries of 
 their imprisoned companion, were already trying to 
 make their way within the enclosure. One of them 
 having climbed upon the shoulders of another, had 
 taken hold of the top of the stockade, and in another 
 second would have drawn himself up. In that case 
 the boys would have had to encounter him on equal 
 terms, and perhaps another squatter would have 
 been over the wall by that time. Luckily the light 
 from the burning tar revealed the situation to Char- 
 ley in an instant. Running along the platform to 
 the point of danger, he rapped the knuckles of the 
 climber with a degree of violence which at once 
 ended his climbing. He dropped to the ground as 
 if his hands had been cut off at the wrists, and then 
 Charley began offensive measures. Throwing his 
 clubs one after another — for a large supply of them 
 had been stored along the platform — he compelled 
 
A NIGHT OF ADVENTUKE. 173 
 
 the assailants to beat a retreat. They threw some 
 sticks at him in return, but he managed to dodge 
 them, and Jack joining him for a few minutes, the 
 pair fairly drove the assailants off. Then Jack re- 
 turned to his task of protecting the boat, while 
 Charley, promenading all the way around the barrier, 
 kept guard against surprises. 
 
 No further assault being made, and the fire gradu- 
 ally dying down until the boat was no longer in 
 danger, Jack and Charley had time to think of Ned 
 again, and their anxiety was intense. 
 
 " At least we 've got a hostage/' said Jack, "and 
 perhaps poor Ned will be able to arrange for an ex- 
 change. At any rate I hope so. There must be 
 some of them who can speak English, and, besides, 
 Ned understands their jargon a little." 
 
 " Well, we '11 hope for the best," said Charley, 
 " but ought n't we to make another effort to find 
 Ned ? " 
 
 " I don't see what we can do," said Jack. " They've 
 carried him off by this time, and to follow in the 
 dark would be useless." 
 
 " Yes, that 's true. Listen ! What was that ? " 
 
 Jack listened, but could hear nothing. 
 
174 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " What did you hear? " asked he. 
 
 " I thought I heard Ned shout." 
 
 Jack gave a loud, long call, and then the two lis- 
 tened again. A shout in reply was this time dis- 
 tinctly heard. 
 
 "That 's Ned," said Charley. 
 
 " Yes," answered Jack. " He 's making all the 
 trouble he can, I suppose, to delay their march and 
 give us time to catch up. Come, Charley, we musi 
 rescue him." 
 
 Again the boys sallied out, this time through the 
 western gate. They ran along the shore, stopping 
 occasionally to halloo and to listen for Ned's replies, 
 which came promptly now, 
 
 "They are n't getting on very fast with him," 
 said Jack ; " we 're gaining on them at any rate." 
 
 Again the boys ran. When they made their next 
 pause to shout, they were astonished to hear Ned 
 cry out, in his natural voice, from no great dis- 
 tance : 
 
 " Is every thing burnt up ? " 
 
 Strangely enough the voice seemed to come from 
 the water on the right, and both Jack and Charley 
 were bewildered by the fact 
 
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE. 175 
 
 " Where on earth are you ? " called Jack. 
 
 " Here," answered Ned, " out here on the oyster 
 reef." 
 
 The moon was near the zenith, and by carefully 
 scanning the sea the boys could make out the figure 
 of Ned, standing knee-deep in water, about fifty 
 yards from shore. What to make of the situation 
 they did not know. 
 
 " What are you doing out there, Ned ? " cried 
 Jack. 
 
 "I 'm waiting for the tide to go down. Never 
 mind me, but tell me about the fire. Did it burn 
 the boat ? " 
 
 " No, only the tar in the vat and our hut. The 
 boat is safe, and so is the stockade." 
 
 " How did it catch fire ? " 
 
 " Why, the squatters set it afire while we were out 
 hunting for you." 
 
 " Have they been there, then ? " 
 
 " Yes. Have n't they had you prisoner ? " 
 
 "Not a bit of it But don't stand there talking. 
 Go back and take care of the camp. When the tide 
 goes down I '11 return. Hurry now, or those rascals . 
 will get in again and burn the boat." 
 
176 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " But what in the world " 
 
 " Never mind that now. Go on to camp. You 've 
 no time to lose. I '11 make explanations when I 
 get there." 
 
 The necessity for hurrying back was plain enough, 
 and so, without further delay. Jack and Charley 
 started toward the camp at a brisk trot. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A CALCULATION OF PROFIT AND LOSS. 
 
 WHEN they arrived at camp Jack and Char- 
 ley found every thing as they had left it, 
 except that their prisoner was gone. Examination 
 showed that he had gnawed the rope with which he 
 had been bound, and thus had set himself free. 
 
 At first the boys were disposed to regard this as 
 a mishap, but a moment's reflection convinced them 
 of their error. 
 
 "Now that we know that Ned is safe," said 
 Charley, " we have no use for that rascal. We 
 should have set him free in the morning at any 
 rate." 
 
 " By the way," said Jack, " what do you make of 
 Ned's performance ? '' 
 
 " I can't make it out at all," said Charley. 
 
 " He must have been cut off from camp by the 
 
 177 
 
178 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. , 
 
 squatters and forced to take refuge out there on the 
 oyster reef." 
 
 "No, the squatters came from the other direction, 
 don't you remember? And, besides, Ned did n't 
 know there had been any of them about until . we 
 told him." 
 
 " I '11 explain all that for myself," said Ned from 
 the outside, " if you '11 be good enough to take down 
 the gate log and let me in." 
 
 This was quickly done, and Ned entered, first 
 pushing in the cast net well filled with fish. As he 
 straightened himself up a glad " hurrah!" came from 
 both his companions, who saw in his hands a turtle 
 weighing" at least twenty-five pounds. 
 
 " Hurrah ! Now we shall have a taste of meat 
 again. Where did you get that fine fellow, Ned ? " 
 
 " On the oyster reef," answered Ned ; " that 's how 
 I came to be out there." 
 
 " Well, tell us all about it now." 
 
 " Oh, there is n't a great deal to tell. When I 
 left camp, I went down along the shore to the east 
 and caught a few fish, but not many. Then I de- 
 termined to try the other side of the camp. I 
 strung my fish on a limber switch and came back. 
 
A CALCULATION OF PROFIT AND LOSS. 175 
 
 intending- to leave them here before going on ; but 
 as I passed I saw that the gate was closed, so I 
 walked around without bothering you fellows, and 
 went on toward the west. I fished along at one 
 place and another, and finally I got to fishing in the 
 shallow water between the oyster reef and the shore, 
 where the mullets seemed to be holding a public 
 meeting or something of that sort. The tide was 
 low then, though it was coming in, and the oyster 
 reef was out of water. Finding that my switches 
 were full of fish, and being nearer the reef than the 
 shore, I thought I 'd just take a look over the reef 
 to see if I could find a small turtle. I had seen one 
 out there several days ago, and my mouth watered 
 so for a piece of meat that the thought of turtle 
 made me wild. So, swinging my strings of fish 
 over my neck, I crept about in the moonlight — for 
 the moon showed a little through the trees by that 
 time, — and after a pretty thorough search I spied this 
 fellow scrambling along over the oyster bed. It 
 seemed, from the slow progress he made, that the 
 shells hurt his bare feet as much as they did mine ; 
 but that was probably only in appearance, for when 
 he saw me creeping up on him he made better 
 
l8o THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 time, and if I had n't been so bent upon having 
 some meat for breakfast, he would have got away. 
 As it was I forgot my bare feet long enough to catch 
 the gentleman. Then I tried to go ashore, but the 
 tide had come up and I could n't. That is to say, I 
 could n't wade ashore, and to swim was to lose my 
 turtle ; so I made up ray mind to stick it out till the 
 tide turned. I had to stand in water up to my waist 
 at high tide, but I did n't mind that. I was n't wor- 
 ried till I saw the blaze here at camp, and heard you 
 fellows yelling. I answered, but you stopped call- 
 ing, so I supposed it was all right. I waited two or 
 three hours longer, till the blaze began to die down. 
 Then you fellows began calling again, and you came 
 to me. You know the rest. I came ashore as soon 
 after you left as the water would let me. Now tell 
 me all about matters here. Where 's your pris- 
 oner? " 
 
 The boys soon recounted the adventures of the 
 night. 
 
 " What is the measure of damage."* " Ned asked 
 when the story was ended. 
 
 " The hut is destroyed," said Charley ; " and the 
 tar," added Jack. " We can make another hut in an 
 
A CALCULATION OF PROFIT AND LOSS. i8l 
 
 ',-iour, but the destruction of the tar just as we were 
 ready to use it is a more serious matter." 
 
 " Yes, it will delay us a couple of days longer with 
 the boat," said Ned, "and that 's a pity. Let's 
 see, this is Wednesday morning — for it 's nearly 
 daybreak now. If this had n't happened we might 
 have got away from here by next Wednesday, 
 — -just four weeks from the day we came. Now, 
 however, we shan't get away before the Friday or 
 Saturday following." 
 
 " Well, that will be the appointed time," said 
 Charley. 
 
 "The appointed time?" asked Ned, "what do 
 you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, don't you remember ? You told Maum 
 Sally we 'd be gone a month, and she warned you 
 not to stay a day longer than that." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I forgot that ! It will be curious, won't 
 it, if we get away Saturday ? I had n't the least 
 thought of staying a week when we came." 
 
 " Nor I," said Jack. " If we had suspected what 
 we were coming to we never would have come at 
 all, I imagine." 
 
 " I don't know about that," said Charley, doubt- 
 
l82 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 fully. " We came for adventures, and we 've had 
 them, if I know what such things are. And we 've 
 really had a good deal of fun." 
 
 "That 's true," said Ned ; " we could n't expect to 
 sleep on feather beds, or to have much luxury of any 
 kind on such an expedition. And, after all, our little 
 hardships have n't hurt us. My foot is about well 
 now, and your dog-bite, Charley, is in a fair way to 
 heal. So, if we get away safely we 're all the better 
 for the trip. It will all seem like fun when we get 
 back to school and think about it." 
 
 " I dare say we 've sharpened our wits a trifle 
 too," said Jack. " We 've learned how to take care 
 of ourselves in the woods, and we shall be a good 
 deal quicker and sounder in our thinking for this 
 experience." 
 
 " Well, it 's clear that we are not sufficiently 
 sharpened up yet," said Charley, " or else some one 
 of us would have seen before this precisely what the 
 fire has done for us." 
 
 " What is it, Charley ?" 
 
 " Why, every grain of rice that we had in the 
 world was in the hut, and of course it is all burnt up." 
 
 " The mischief! " exclaimed Ned. 
 
A CALCULATION OF PROFIT AND LOSS. 183 
 
 " That 's a calamity," added Jack, " but we must 
 get more to-day." 
 
 " Yes," said Ned, " if the squatters have n't gath- 
 ered it all." 
 
 " Don't let us meet trouble half way," said Jack ; 
 " it will be time enough to give up the rice when we 
 find that we can't get it. Meantime, let 's have some 
 turtle steak for breakfast. Then we '11 see what is 
 to be done." 
 
 In spite of the lack of rice and all other substitutes 
 for bread, the boys enjoyed the broiled turtle more 
 than any thing they had eaten for a fortnight at least. 
 
 After breakfast they " scouted " a little, to make 
 sure that there were none of the squatters on their 
 side of the island. Then Charley climbed a tall tree, 
 the plan being that he should watch for squatters 
 while Ned and Jack should gather rice, so that they 
 might not be surprised at their work. 
 
 The rice had been cut, and very little remained of 
 it ; but here and there a little clump of it was still 
 standing in the grass and bushes around the patch, 
 and a hard morning's work enabled the boys to se- 
 cure enough of these gleanings to last them for ten 
 or twelve days. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Charley's secret expedition. 
 
 WHILE Charley sat in the tree-top scanning 
 the island in search of possible squatters 
 who might interfere with the gathering of the rice, 
 he saw something else that put a new idea into his 
 head, and before his watch was done he had quite 
 made up his mind to do something brilliant which 
 would surprise and delight his companions. 
 
 What he saw was nothing more remarkable than 
 a calf, or rather a young bull, perhaps a year old, 
 browsing in the edge of a thicket half a mile or more 
 to the west of the camp, and not many hundreds of 
 yards from the shore. There is nothing rernarkable 
 in such a sight as that, but the circumstances of this 
 case were peculiar, and so the sight set Charley, 
 thinking. 
 
 In the first place, he remembered what Ned had 
 
 184 
 
CHARLEY'S SECRET EXPEDITION. 185 
 
 told him and Jack about the wild cattle on the island, 
 and reflecting that it had been a good many years 
 since the original stock of animals were abandoned, 
 he could not help regarding this yearling bullock as 
 something more than a mere bullock. It was game ; 
 a wild animal roaming at will over unoccupied lands, 
 and to kill it would be quite as good sport as deer- 
 stalking or bear-hunting. 
 
 Then, too, Charley and his companions were really 
 in sore need of meat. An exclusive diet of fish, 
 oysters, and other such things soon wearies the pal- 
 ate, and becomes exceedingly distasteful. It is true 
 that Ned's turtle had somewhat broken this monoto- 
 ny, but the relief had been only partial, and the 
 boys very eagerly craved meat — beef, mutton, or 
 pork. They had made no effort to get such meat, 
 only because they had no idea that any such was to 
 be had. 
 
 The snake dinner had never been repeated. It is 
 true that the snake was savory, and the boys had 
 spoken truthfully when they declared themselves 
 pleased with it. But that was while their hunger 
 lasted, and when they had finished they had no 
 longer a keen appetite to oppose to prejudice, so 
 
1 86 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 that, with full stomachs, the old objections returned, 
 and all three boys were seized with a peculiar loath- 
 ing for the food they had eaten. Perhaps it was 
 only because they had eaten too much ; but, what- 
 ever the reason was, the fact remained that they 
 were all sickened by the thought of what they had 
 eaten, and, while they said nothing about this feel- 
 ing, no one of them ever proposed to repeat the ex- 
 periment of eating snake. 
 
 Now Charley meant to have an abundance oi 
 meat against which no such objection could be urged. 
 Here was a fat young steer whose beef was to be had 
 for the taking. How to get it was at first a perplex- 
 ing question. There was no gun with which to 
 shoot the bullock, and there were no dogs in camp 
 with which to chase it ; but after some reflection 
 Master Charley was confident that he could kill the 
 animal with the means at disposal. 
 
 He said nothing about either his discovery or his 
 purpose when his companions returned to camp, be- 
 cause he wished to give them a complete surprise. 
 
 He merely said that he wanted to make a little 
 hunting expedition, and that perhaps he might suc- 
 ceed in knocking over a rabbit or some other animal 
 
CHARLEY'S SECRET EXPEDITION. 187 
 
 good to eat. His companions had little hope of any 
 such good luck, but they offered no objection, and 
 Charley, arming himself with the hunting-knife and 
 the hatchet, set forth on his quest. 
 
 He found the bullock not far from the place at 
 which he had seen it before, quietly browsing in the 
 edge of the timber. After carefully reconnoitring 
 the position, Charley went into the woods and crept 
 upon the animal very cautiously through the thick 
 undergrowth. His plan was to creep up in this way 
 until he should be within a few feet of his prey, and 
 then, springing forward suddenly, to strike the bul- 
 lock between his young horns with the hatchet. 
 Charley had seen a butcher kill a large steer by a 
 comparatively slight blow, delivered at the right 
 place on the animal's head, and he was very sure that 
 he knew where to strike. 
 
 As he crept up he carefully avoided making any 
 kind of noise, but when within a dozen feet of the 
 place from which he meant to spring, he made a 
 misstep, broke a stick, and alarmed the bullock, which 
 quietly trotted away. 
 
 Charley was disappointed, but by no means dis- 
 heartened. He had only to begin over again, and 
 
1 88 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 proceed more cautiously next time. He crept very 
 slowly and consumed nearly half an hour in his ap- 
 proach. This time he broke no sticks and made 
 no noise of any kind. Nearer and nearer he drew. 
 He could hear the bullock's breathing, but still he 
 must get nearer. A log lay just in front of him, 
 and he could not well spring over it before striking, 
 without alarming the animal and missing his aim. 
 He must creep around this obstruction first, and this 
 he did successfully, but the bullock, though not 
 alarmed, moved away just before Charley reached a 
 position from which to strike. It did not run, but 
 quietly walked away to nibble some grass which 
 grew at a spot a dozen paces distant. 
 
 This second disappointment shook Charley's al- 
 ready strained nerves considerably, but, impatient 
 as he now was, he controlled himself and resumed 
 his silent advance. Luckily the animal's head was 
 turned directly away from him, and that fact greatly 
 lessened the danger of his discovery. His chance 
 was now so good, indeed, that a few moments more 
 might have brought his attempt to a comjaletely suc- 
 cessful issue, if he had been content to follow his 
 original plan. But just as he was in the act of 
 
CHARLEY'S SECRET EXPEDITION. 189 
 
 springing forward to deliver his blow, with every 
 prospect of success, a new thought struck Charley. 
 It was easy to spring upon the bullock's back, and 
 from that point Charley thought he could deal not 
 one, but many successive blows, thus making sure 
 work of what might not otherwise be sure. 
 
 Accordingly he leaped upon the animal's back, 
 and as he did so the startled creature sprang forward 
 through the bushes, nearly unseating his rider. The 
 blow which Charley tried to deliver was a disastrous 
 failure. He missed the brute's head, and the 
 liatchet slipping from his hand, was hurled into the 
 thicket. 
 
 Charley had no time to think of the hatchet, how- 
 ever. The infuriated bullock plunged headlong 
 through the thicket and then across an open glade 
 and into the woods again, going in the direction of 
 the camp, and Charley had all that he could do to 
 keep his seat. He was beaten black and blue by 
 the saplings encountered ; his face was scratched, 
 and his clothes torn almost to shreds. Still, seeing 
 that the bullock was going toward the camp, he held 
 on, with an unreasoning impression that, once at the 
 camp, the animal would be secured. 
 
I go THE WRECK OF THE jRED BIRD. 
 
 Jack and Ned happened to be outside the stockade 
 when Charley came dashing past, but of course they 
 could do nothing, and a moment after they caught 
 sight of their companion, he was swept from his seat 
 by an overhanging branch of a tree, and the fright- 
 ened buljock continued his impetuous flight alone. 
 
 Jack and Ned hastened to their friend's assistance. 
 For a moment Charley seemed stunned, but he soon 
 came to himself sufificiently to ask in a querulous 
 tone : 
 
 " Why did n't you head him off? " 
 
 It was not easy to convince Charley that they had 
 been entirely powerless to capture the bullock, so 
 fixed had been his determination to secure so valua- 
 ble a prize ; but after a while he began to see matters 
 in their true light, and to understand that Ned and 
 Jack could not have stopped the animal, even if they 
 had been prepared for his coming, as in fact they 
 were not. 
 
 Then Charley examined his own bruises, which 
 were pretty severe, though no bones were broken. 
 
 " The worst of the damage," he said, after awhile, 
 " is the loss of the hatchet, and I suppose we shall 
 find that." 
 
CHARLEY'S SECRET EXPEDITION. jgi 
 
 "Did you lose the hunting-knife too?" asked 
 Jack. 
 
 " There ! " exclaimed Charley ; " what an idiot I 
 am, to be sure ! I had that in my belt all the time, 
 and I might have got the beef if I had only thought 
 to use it ! " 
 
 This was true enough. While going through the 
 thicket, Charley had enough to do to cling to the 
 back of the bullock, but while crossing the open 
 glade he might easily have drawn and used the long 
 hunting-knife if he had thought of it. But he had 
 not thought of it, and it was now too late for the 
 thinking to do any good. 
 
 " It is just as well as it is," said Ned. 
 
 " Just as well ! " exclaimed Charley ; " well, I 
 don't see that. I don't know how it is with you, 
 but for my part, I 'd relish a beefsteak just now." 
 
 " So would I," answered Ned ; " but that yearling 
 is n't ours, and we 've no right to kill it, I suppose." 
 
 " Why not ? it 's a wild animal, is n't it ? " 
 
 " I hardly think so. The squatters must have 
 killed all the wild cattle long ago, and this tame 
 calf probably belongs to them," 
 
 " Well, they helped themselves pretty freely to 
 
192 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 our things, so I should n't be a bit sorry if I had 
 killed the animal while I thought it a wild one," 
 said Charley, rather ruefully. 
 
 The search for the hatchet was a somewhat pro- 
 tracted one, but that important tool was found at 
 last, and so, if Charley's effort to replenish the 
 camp larder did no good, it at least did no harm 
 beyond bruising that young huntsman's limbs, 
 scratching his face, and tearing his clothes. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE LAUNCH OF THE " APHRODITE." 
 
 CONTRARY to their expectations, the boys 
 were left in peace by their enemies after 
 that last unsuccessful attempt to burn their camp. 
 
 The tar-kiln was promptly rebuilt, and by Satur- 
 day night a new supply of tar was ready. Early on 
 Monday morning the work of converting this tar ^ 
 into pitch, by boiling it, was begun. This was 
 necessarily a slow process, because the kettle was 
 small and the space to be covered was large, for the 
 plan was to paint the whole outside surface of the 
 boat with the pitch, in order to make it as water- 
 tight as possible. As soon as the first kettleful of 
 pitch was ready, it was carefully applied while smok- 
 ing hot, care being taken to work it well into the 
 seams. Then another kettleful was set to boil, and 
 
 so the work went slowly forward. As the pitch 
 
 193 
 
1 94 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 cooled it became hard, like varnish, and the effect 
 was to stop all leaks pretty thoroughly. 
 
 At first the boat sat right side up, but raised upon 
 the blocks on which she had been built, so that it 
 was easy to pass under her ; but in applying the 
 first kettlefijl of pitch the boys discovered the awk- 
 wardness of this position, and determined to turn the 
 Aphrodite bottom upward, for the sake of conven- 
 ience. This was a difficult task, as the boat was too 
 heavy for the combined strength of the three young 
 ship-builders ; but it was necessary to accomplish it, 
 and Jack's mechanical skill devised means for the 
 purpose. Cutting some long poles to serve as 
 levers, and a large number of short, stout sticks, he 
 directed his companions to raise one side of the boat 
 with the levers. While they held it up he quickly 
 built two cribs of the short sticks, one at the bow and 
 the other at the stern, and when the levers were re- 
 moved the boat rested easily upon these. Then a 
 new bight was taken with the levers, and the side 
 of the boat was raised a few inches further. Build- 
 ing the cribs up to support her in this position, 
 Jack directed the boys to repeat the operation 
 again and again, each time supporting the boat 
 
THE LAUNCH OF THE "APHRODITE." 195 
 
 by increasing the height of the cribs. Finally he 
 said : 
 
 " Now one more bight will throw her over, but 
 we must get ready first to ease her down, or else we 
 shall strain her." 
 
 " How can we do it ? " asked Ned. 
 
 " By setting some poles up at an angle on cribs. 
 I '11 show you." 
 
 With that he went to the other side of the boat 
 and built some cribs about five or six feet away 
 from the gunwale on which the boat rested ; carry- 
 ing these up as high as his head, he took a number 
 of straight poles and placed their ends on the ground 
 just under the gunwale, resting'^ the other ends upon 
 the tall cribs. This made a slanting framework, the 
 bottom of which was against one gunwale, while the 
 top was not more than a few feet distant from the 
 other edge of the boat. 
 
 " Now," he said, when this was done, " she has 
 only to fall a foot or two forward ; her weight will be 
 on her face then, and we '11 ease her down by draw- 
 ing out the crib-sticks." 
 
 " I see a better way than that," said Ned. 
 
 " Very well. What is it ? " 
 
ig6 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 " Let 's throw her forward first ; then I '11 show 
 you." 
 
 Resting, as the boat was, almost upon her gun- 
 wale, it was easy to push her forward, and when 
 that was done she was a little more than half-way 
 over. 
 
 " Now," said Ned, " instead of lowering that upper 
 gunwale, let 's lift the lower one with the levers, and 
 block it up. We need n't raise it more than a foot ; 
 then she '11 show her whole under-side to us just as 
 well as if she lay flat on her face." 
 
 " Yes," said Jack, after studying the matter, " and 
 it will be all the easier to turn her back again." 
 
 " Have we got to turn her back again ? " asked 
 Charley, whose arms and back had been pretty 
 severely taxed in the effort to reverse the position 
 of the boat. 
 
 " Well, no," said Ned, " not if we can make up 
 our minds to launch her, bottom upward, and to ride 
 back to Bluffton on her keel. Otherwise we must 
 turn her right side up before we launch her." 
 
 " It won't be hard to turn her back, Charley," said 
 Jack. " She '11 be nearly on edge, you see, and it 
 won't require lifting — only a litde pushing. But 
 
THE LAUNCH OF THE "APHRODITE: 1^7 
 
 come, let 's raise this gunwale. Six inches will do, 
 I think." 
 
 One more application of the levers served the pur- 
 pose, and the work of applying the pitch was re- 
 sumed. 
 
 No other difficult problem presented itself, and by 
 noon on Thursday the pitching was complete. Be- 
 fore turning the Aphrodite back again, Jack and 
 his companions cut some long, straight poles, and 
 made an inclined plane of them from the blocks on 
 which the boat rested to the water. They removed 
 all the bark from these poles, so that they should be 
 as smooth as possible. 
 
 Then the boat was turned back into position, her 
 side toward the water. It was necessary now to 
 lift her up lyitil her keel should rest upon the in- 
 clined plane, down which she was to slide, of her 
 own weight, into the sea. This was a somewhat 
 difficult task, requiring the use of the levers and a 
 good deal of blocking up as the levers raised the 
 boat, inch by inch. It was accomplished at last, 
 however, and, suffering neither strain nor other injury, 
 the Aphrodite slipped into the sea, and rode grace- 
 fully upon the water. 
 
igS THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 "Three cheers for the new boat!'' cried Charley, 
 and with a will they were given. 
 
 " Now, then," said Ned, " we can begin to see the 
 end of our adventures. Let 's see. We 've only 
 to make some oars, and then we can be off." 
 
 " When shall we start .'' " asked Jack. 
 
 " Well, this is Thursday evening. We can finish 
 three oars — two for rowing and one for steering — by 
 to-morrow evening." 
 
 " Then we? can make an early start on Saturday 
 morning," said Jack. 
 
 " Not very well," said Ned. " The tide will be 
 against us until about one o'clock or half-past, and 
 the Aphrodite is too heavy for two oars against 
 tide." 
 
 " Why can't all three row ? " asked Charley, who 
 persistently refused to understand any thing about 
 the management of boats. 
 
 " Because then we should have two oars on one 
 side and only one on the other, and we 'd go around 
 in a circle. We can only use two oars, while the 
 odd fellow steers. We '11 be able to rest in that 
 way, too, by taking the steering-oar turn and turn 
 about" 
 
THE LAUNCH OF THE "APHRODITE." igg 
 
 r 
 
 " Then we '11 get away when the tide turns on 
 Saturday," said Jack. 
 
 " Yes, or a little before, — say at noon. That will 
 give us plenty of time." 
 
 " And we '11 get back to Blufifton," said Charley, 
 " exactly at the time appointed with Maum Sally, 
 I wonder if she '11 have some supper ready for us." 
 
 " If she don't she 'II have to get some pretty 
 quick," said Ned. " I won't let her scold me till 
 she sets supper before us, and she won't be happy 
 till she gives me a good ' settin' to rights,' as she 
 calls it." 
 
 " Had n't we better wait until we get to Blufifton 
 before we order that supper ? " said Jack ; " there 's 
 ' many a slip,' you know." 
 
 " What a croaker you 're getting to be. Jack ! " ex- 
 claimed Charley. " What 's to bother us now, I 'd 
 like to know? We 've got a good boat, we can 
 make oars to-morrow, and Ned knows the way." 
 
 " Oh, certainly ! " replied Jack. " I suppose we 
 shall get there safely, and I 'm not in the least dis- 
 posed to croak. I only thought that you and Ned 
 were a trifle hasty in your assumption that every 
 thing is to go perfectly smooth with us. For the last 
 
200 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 month things have had a pretty fixed habit of going 
 the other way." 
 
 " Well, but we 've conquered our difficulties now, 
 and there 's nothing that I can think of to stand in 
 the way of our getting off at the appointed time. 
 And if we leave here at noon on Saturday, what can 
 happen to prevent our arrival at Bluffton that even- 
 mg? 
 
 "I 'm sure I don't know," said Jack; " nothing at 
 all, I hope. But when I think what a chapter of 
 accidents we 've been through, I am disposed to 
 wait till I see Maum Sally, before I get my mouth 
 ready for the supper she 's to cook." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE VOYAGE OF THE " APHRODITE." 
 
 SATURDAY dawned soft and warm. After 
 breakfast the boys cooked the few provisions 
 that remained, intending to eat their mid-day niieal in 
 the boat, as a mere luncheon, and to satisfy their 
 appetites with better food of Maum Sally's preparing, 
 when they should arrive at Bluffton. 
 
 They filled the coffee-pot with drinking water^ 
 for the water kegs of the Red Bird had been lost in 
 that boat's mishap, — and bestowed their other scant 
 belongings on board. The moment that the outgo- 
 ing tide grew slack they began their homeward 
 voyage, giving the old camp three lusty, farewell 
 cheers, and parting with their old associations there 
 with a touch of real regret. 
 
 For the first mile or two Ned and Jack were at 
 the oars. Then Charley relieved Ned, as the boat 
 
202 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 drew out from among the low-lying marsh islands 
 into a broad stretch of water. 
 
 The wind was blowing in from the sea, not strong- 
 ly, but steadily, and after an hour's rowing Jack saw 
 that Ned was rather uneasily watching some light, 
 low-flying banks of mist which were scudding along 
 overhead. 
 
 " What is it, Ned ? " he asked. 
 
 " Nothing of importance — or at least I hope so." 
 
 " Well, what is it ? Do those little clouds mean 
 ram r 
 
 " I wish they did," said Ned ; " but they 're not 
 clouds, at least In the usual sense, and I 'm afraid 
 they don't mean rain." 
 
 " Out with it. We 're partners in all our joys and 
 sorrows," said Charley, " so let 's hear all about the 
 clouds that are n't clouds but something else. What 
 are they?" 
 
 "A sea fog," answered Ned ; " this breeze is com- 
 ing in from the sea laden with moisture, and those 
 clouds just above us are banks of fog." 
 
 " Well, what of it ? " 
 
 " We shall be shut in in five minutes," said Ned. 
 " Look ! you can't see half a mile now, and it is set- 
 
THE VOYAGE OF THE " APHROD/TE." 203 
 
 tling right down upon us, growing thicker ev6iy 
 minute." 
 
 It was as Ned said. The wall of thick fog was 
 closing in, and it was already impossible to see any 
 thing except the waste of water around them. A 
 few minutes later even the water could be seen for 
 only a few yards around. 
 
 " Lie on your oars, boys," said Ned. 
 
 " Why not row on ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " Because I don't know which way to steer, and 
 rowing may only take us out of our course/ 
 
 " Can't you hold your course straight ahead ? " 
 
 " No. That would be possible in a fog if rowing 
 always drove a boat straight ahead, and if there were 
 no cross currents in the water ; but both ' ifs ' stand 
 in the way. Without a compass nobody can keep 
 a boat in any thing like a straight course in such a 
 fog. The tide is running up, and so if we don't row 
 at all we shall drift in the right direction, at least in 
 a general way, while if we row, we may go all 
 wrong." 
 
 " How long is such a fog likely to last ? " asked 
 Jack. 
 
 "It is impossible to tell. A change in the wind 
 
204 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 or in the state of the atmosphere may clear it 
 away at any moment ; or it may last a week." 
 
 " A week ! " exclaimed Charley ; " what shall we 
 do if it does ? We have n't an ounce of food left, 
 and only a little water," looking into the coffee-pot. 
 
 " We need n't manage the whole week this after- 
 noon," said Jack. " It will be better to keep cool 
 and do the best thing that can be done every minute. 
 Just now, Ned says, the best thing is to drift with 
 the tide, so we '11 drift, and wait, and keep our wits 
 about us so as to see any chance that offers for doing 
 better." 
 
 Jack spoke in a cheerful voice, and his tone of 
 courage served to brace his companions somewhat, 
 but it was plain to all three that their position was 
 really one of great danger and uncertainty. It was 
 Jack's excellent habit, however, to grow strong and 
 courageous in difficulty or danger ; he never al- 
 lowed himself to become panic-stricken, or to do 
 foolish, frantic things. 
 
 " Jack," said Charley after a while, " I don't be- 
 believe there 's any whine in you." 
 
 " I don't know," replied Jack ; " I hope there is n't. 
 What good would whining do ? " 
 
THE VOYAGE OF THE "APHRODITE." 205, 
 
 An hour passed, and still the fog grew thicker. 
 Another hour ; the breeze had ceased to blow, and 
 the gray mist lay like a blanket over the water. It 
 seemed piled in thick layers, one on top of another. 
 It was so dense that it could be seen floating be- 
 tween one of the boys and another, like smoke from 
 a cigar. The boys could see its slow writhing and 
 twisting in the still air, moved as it was only by their 
 breath, or by the occasional movements of their bod- 
 ies. It would have been impossible in such a fog to 
 see a ship twenty feet distant. 
 
 For still another hour and another the boys sat 
 still in the boat, rarely speaking or in any way break- 
 ing the awful silence of the fog-bound solitude. 
 
 At last Ned bent his head down close to the gun- 
 wale to scan the surface of the water. 
 
 " I see marsh grass here," he said, " but it is com- 
 pletely under water. Watch for any that shows 
 above the surface, and if you see any catch hold of it 
 and hold on." 
 
 The boys bent over, one on one side, the other on 
 the other. Presently the protruding tops of the tall 
 marsh grass appeared above the water, and seemed 
 to float slowly by. Several times Jack and Charley 
 
2o6 THE WRECK OP THE RED BIRD. 
 
 caught small bunches of it, but the impetus of the 
 drifting boat was too great, and the gcass was pulled 
 up from the muddy bottom. After a little while, the 
 water growing shallower, the grass showed higher 
 above the surface, while it increased also in quantity, 
 impeding the motion of the boat. Then each of the 
 boys seized a bunch and the boat was brought to a 
 stand. 
 
 " There, that 's better," said Ned, as the motion 
 of the boat ceased. - 
 
 " Why don't you want to drift ? " asked Jack. 
 
 " Because it is about the turn of the tide," answered. 
 Ned, " and I don't want to drift in the wrong direc- 
 tion." 
 
 " Then why did n't you cast anchor when you 
 first saw from the grass that we were in shallow 
 water? " 
 
 " Because I don't want to be caught here on a 
 marsh- island if I can help it." 
 
 " I don't understand," said Jack. 
 
 " Well, you see it is about high tide now, and we 
 have drifted upon one of the many mud banks 
 covered with this marsh grass. Some of them are 
 covered with water at high tide, as this one is, but 
 
THE VOYAGE OF THE "APHRODITE." 207 
 
 quite bare when the tide is out. When I saw that 
 we were drifting over one I wanted to stop the boat, 
 to avoid being carried back again toward the sea ; but 
 we 're in danger of getting left here high and dry on 
 a mud bank when the tide runs out, and that would 
 be a bad fix to get into. So instead of dropping 
 anchor, we '11 simply hold on by the grass, and as 
 the tide goes out we '11 try to work off into deeper 
 water." 
 
 " I see," said Jack. , 
 
 " I^ wish I could, then," said Charley, who had 
 recovered his spirits ; " if I could see I 'd steer for 
 Bluffton." 
 
 " Come, Charley," said Ned, " this is no joking 
 matter, I can assure you. It 's growing quite dark 
 now, and unless the fog lifts very soon we may be 
 stuck here in the mud, for the night at least ; suppose 
 you give her a few stokes with the oars, boys ; the 
 tide is falling rapidly, and we must get off this bank." 
 
 The boys rowed slowly, Ned steering and watch- 
 ing the water. It grew steadily shallower, so he 
 turned the boat "about, convinced that the direction 
 he had taken was toward the centre of the bank, 
 instead of toward the deep water. He had not 
 
208 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 gone far in the new direction however, before the 
 keel scraped the mud, and another change had to be 
 made in the course. Still the keel scraped, in what- 
 ever direction he turned. 
 
 " Pull away with all your might, boys ! " he cried ; 
 " if we don't reach deep water in five minutes we 're 
 stuck!" 
 
 Jack and Charley bent to their oars, and for a few 
 minutes the boat slipped forward through the tall 
 marsh grass. But her keel was dragging in the soft 
 mud, and as the tide was rapidly running out, the 
 boat sank deeper every minute. 
 
 " Pull away, as hard as you can ! " cried Ned, see- 
 ing that the speed was rapidly growing less. " Here, 
 you 're exhausted. Jack ; let me take your oar. Now, 
 Charley, give it to her ! " 
 
 The oarsmen bent to their work with the strength 
 of desperation, but the keel was now completely 
 buried in the mud, and the whole bottom of the 
 boat rested in the slimy ooze. Do what they would, 
 the boys could drive her no further. 
 
 " Stuck ! " cried Jack. 
 
 " Yes, stuck, fairly stuck, and in for a night of it, 
 fog or no fog," said Ned. 
 
THE VOYAGE OF THE "APHRODITE.- 209 
 
 " What 's to be done ? " asked Charley. 
 
 " Nothing now, except go to sleep if we can. 
 It 's so cold and raw that we '11 find that pretty hard 
 work. I wish we had brought a lot of moss for 
 blankets." 
 
 " But what if the fog lifts in the night ? " asked 
 Charley. 
 
 " Well, what if it does ? We can do nothing now 
 till the tide comes in to-morrow morning. We 're 
 high and dry now, and the tide will continue to run out 
 until one or two o'clock to-night. Then it will turn, 
 but we shan't be afloat again till very nearly high 
 tide, — say about seven or eight o'clock to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 " Yes," said Jack, " and as we have eaten nearly 
 nothing since morning, and have nothing to eat till 
 we get to Bluffton, we shall need all the strength 
 we can get from sleep. So let 's sleep if we 
 can." 
 
 Bestowing themselves as comfortably as they 
 could, the three worn-out, half-famished lads did 
 their best to sleep ; but there was very little chance 
 of that. No sooner had they ceased to exert them- 
 selves, than the penetrating cold of the fog, which 
 
210 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 had already saturated their scanty clothing, made 
 them shiver and shake as with an ague fit. 
 
 They were obliged occasionally to go to the oars 
 for exercise, in order to keep their blood in circula- 
 tion, and so there was no chance of any thing like 
 sleep beyond an occasional cat nap. Not long be- 
 fore dawn it began to rain, and Ned, who had been 
 dozing, suddenly sprang up, crying out : 
 
 " What 's that ? rain ? Good ! " 
 
 " Why, 'good'?" asked Charley, shivering ; " I 'm 
 damp enough already." 
 
 " Good, because if it rains hard the fog will dis- 
 appear." 
 . " Why ? " 
 
 " Because it will be converted into rain, and fall. 
 A fog disappears always either by rising and floating 
 away, or by falling in the shape of rain ; and this 
 one means to fall, I should say, if I may judge by 
 the way it is coming down now." 
 
 It had, indeed, begun to pour. The condition of 
 the boys was thus rendered still more uncomfortable 
 than before, but at least their prospects were bright- 
 ened by way of compensation, and as the steady 
 downpour cleared the air of the dense fog, theff 
 
THE VOYAGE OP TITE "APHRODITE." 211 
 
 spirits bounded up again in spite of all the discom- 
 forts of their situation. 
 
 " I say, Jack," said Charley, " are you a prophet 
 or a weather witch ? " 
 
 " Neither, so far as I am informed," replied Jack ; 
 " why do you ask ? " 
 
 " Only because I suspect that you either foresaw 
 this fog or created it." 
 
 " I don't see the force of your suspicion," said Jack. 
 
 " Don't you remember how you croaked about 
 slips between the cup and the lip when Ned and I 
 were so sure of getting to Bluffton ? " 
 
 " Yes, of course ; but I did n't really expect any 
 thing of this nature. I only spoke generally." 
 
 " Out of the abundance of your wisdom. But I 
 won't make fun, for you were right." 
 
 " And, besides," said Ned, " the situation just 
 now is n't a bit funny. There 's a young river run- 
 ning down my back, and I 'm in for a good scolding 
 from Maum Sally when I see her. She '11 scold me 
 for overstaying my time, for wrecking the boat, for 
 losing my boots, for spoiling my clothes, and for 
 every thing else she can think of. And yet, though 
 you '11 hardly believe it, I heartily wish I could be 
 sure of getting that scolding very early this morning." 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MAUM SALLY. 
 
 DAYLIGHT came about five o'clock, and Ned 
 made use of the earliest light for looking 
 about him and determining his position. So buried 
 was the boat in the tall marsh grass, that he had to 
 stand upon the highest part of the bow in order to 
 see at all. At first he could make out very little, 
 but as it grew lighter — for, the rain having ceased, 
 the light gained rapidly toward six o'clock — he was 
 able to make out the bearings pretty well. 
 
 " I say, fellows," he said, turning to his companions, 
 " we made a centre shot. If we had tried, in the 
 broadest light of the clearest day, we could n't have 
 put the Aphrodite more exactly in the middle of this 
 marsh bank." 
 
 Further inspection showed that this judgment was 
 accurate. The boat lay precisely in the middle of the 
 
 212 
 
MAUM SALLY. 213 
 
 little island, which stretched away two or three 
 hundred yards on each side. 
 
 The tide had risen enough by half-past six for the 
 water to lick the sides of the boat, but it would be a 
 full hour or more before the Aphrodite would float 
 up out of the mud, and even then it would be neces- 
 sary to wait awhile longer for deeper water, before 
 trying to push her great bulk through the rank 
 marsh grass. 
 
 " Why not hurry matters by getting out and push- 
 ing the empty boat ? " asked impatient Charley, who 
 had already declared himself to be in a state of 
 actual starvation. 
 
 " Just take one of the oars, Charley," said Ned, 
 " and feel of the bottom we should have to walk 
 
 If 
 
 on. 
 
 Charley took the oar, pushed it through the roots 
 of the grass, and then, with scarcely an effort, plunged 
 its whole length straight downward through the soft 
 mud. 
 
 " Ya — as, I see," he drawled, as he drew the oar 
 out again ; " it is n't precisely the sort of lawn that 
 one would choose for walking about on in slippers." 
 
 Just then oars were heard, and looking in the 
 
214 "^^^ WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 direction from which the sound came, Ned suddenly 
 cried out : 
 
 " Hi ! Maum Sally ! Hi there ! here we are, out 
 here in the marsh ! " Then turning to his compan- 
 ions, he said : 
 
 " It 's Maum Sally in the little boat. I wonder 
 where she 's going this early on Sunday morning." 
 
 Maum Sally did not leave him long in doubt on 
 this head. Rowing her boat as far into the grass 
 and as near to them as she could, she came to a 
 stop at about a hundred and fifty yards from the 
 Aphrodite. Then standing up in her boat, placing 
 her bare arms akimbo, and tossing her red-turbaned 
 head back, she began : 
 
 " Now, look heah, young Ned ! what you mean 
 by dis heah sort o' doins ? Did n't you promise me 
 faithful to be back agin in a month .■* An' ain't de 
 month done gone, an' heah you is a idlin' about on 
 a ma'sh, an' it Sunday mawnin' too ? Jes' you come 
 straight 'long home now." 
 
 After she had spent her first breath in a tirade 
 which was half scolding and half coddling, — for that 
 was always her way with Ned, whom she had 
 spoiled all his life, from the cradle upward, — she 
 
MAUM SALLY. 21 5 
 
 paused long enough for Ned to explain that he and 
 his companions could not go to her until the tide 
 should rise at least a foot more. 
 
 "Now listen, boys," he said; "she '11 keep it up 
 till the rising tide brings her to us, and we 're in for 
 an hour of it." 
 
 " Why not persuade her to go back and get break-^ 
 fast ready by the time we get there ? " asked Jack.' 
 
 '■ Go back ? Not she. My month was up yester- 
 day, and as I didn't put in an appearance, she set 
 out to find me and bring me home this morning, 
 and you just bet she won't go home without me. 
 She '11 row this way as fast as the rising water will 
 let her, and she '11 keep on scolding and coddling 
 me all the time. Then she '11 jump in here and hug 
 me as if I were her long-lost baby boy. Hear her ! " 
 
 Maurti Sally fulfilled Ned's prediction to the letter. 
 As she drew nearer, and made out the forlorn condi- 
 tion of the young Crusoes, discovering, little by 
 little, how ragged they were, she scolded more and 
 more savagely, while Ned laughed and heartily en- 
 joyed it all, taking pains to direct her atten- 
 tion to the various losses he had sustained, and 
 hinting now and then at the difficulties he had en- 
 
2i6 THE WRECK OF THE RED BIRD. 
 
 countered and the dangers he had passed. Each 
 word of his gave Maum Sally a new theme for her 
 scolding, and as the little boat pushed itself up to 
 the big one she leaped from the one into the other, 
 changing her tone, manner, and expression in the 
 very middle of a sentence, somewhat thus : 
 
 " I tell you, young Ned, ef I gits my ban's on 
 you, you ugly, provokin', no 'count young scape — 
 darlin', blessed boy, aint ole Sally happy to git her 
 arms roun' you agin, and hug you jis like you was 
 a baby agin ; an' now I 's got you safe in these arms 
 >agin, I tell you I 's happy." 
 
 The sudden change in the sentence occurred just 
 as Maum Sally stepped from one boat into the 
 other, and fell upon Ned with that savage fury of 
 affection which only a dear old black nurse can feel. 
 
 To row out of the marsh when the water grew a 
 little deeper, and then to row home to a late but 
 toothsome breakfast, was easy enough now. Then 
 a long day of complete rest followed, and the whole 
 story of the wreck of the Red Bird was a memory 
 merely. 
 
 THE END.