The Wireless Officer
CHAPTER XXIX
Repairs and Renewals
At sunrise on the following morning Peter scaled the highest point ofthe island, hoping that in the clear air his range of vision would beincreased sufficiently to make out land.
He was disappointed. Nothing of the nature of land was in view. Thehorizon, clear and well defined, surrounded him in an unbroken circle.
He was considerably troubled in his mind over the situation. Desertislands were all very well in their way, provided there was a chance ofgetting away from them. Evidently this island was well out of theregular steamer track, while sailing vessels, running between The Capeand India and the Federated Malay States, would pass well to theeastward in order to take full advantage of the monsoons.
The boat was practically useless as a means of leaving the island. Hadthere been a supply of nails in the locker, Peter would not havehesitated to fasten a sheet of painted canvas over the holes in thegarboards, and then risked a dash for Madagascar. But without suitablematerial that was out of the question.
Naturally of an inventive turn of mind, Peter thought out half a dozenplans to make the boat seaworthy; but, as fast as he worked out asolution of the difficulty, objections apparently insurmountable causedhim to reject the scheme and start afresh on another tack.
His previous error in navigation rather damped his enthusiasm, but withPreston on the road to recovery he was no longer dependent on himself.The Acting Chief had had years of experience of the Indian Ocean, and,knowing the set of the chief currents and the direction of theprevailing winds, would be of material assistance in navigating theboat--provided she could be made seaworthy.
Still pondering, Mostyn descended from the bluff and walked towards thecamp. A more urgent problem demanded his attention: that of cateringfor the needs of his companions and himself.
The biscuits would not last out much longer, coconuts were unsatisfyingfare, and apt to have injurious effect if used as a staple form offood. Whether the island possessed other resources, either animal orvegetable, had yet to be seen. Preliminary investigations had drawnblank in that direction.
Returning to camp, Mostyn found the others busily engaged in gettingbreakfast. Mahmed had found some oysters, many of them a foot indiameter, while the lascars had surprised and killed a small turtle.
It was rather a curious fact that Mrs. Shallop, childishly ignorant onmost matters, was an authority on cooking. She just "took on" theturtle as a matter of course, and by the time Peter returned thechoicest parts of the animal were stewing over a wood fire. In theabsence of a suitable pot, for the baler was far too small, theself-constituted cook had employed the shell of the turtle as areceptacle for the stew. The oysters were eaten raw, flavoured withthe vinegary milk of a young coco-nut.
But the success of the meal was the result of Mahmed's investigations.He had wandered towards the main coco-nut grove on the southern pointof the island and had discovered a number of "jack-fruits", a speciesof bread-fruit. These had been sliced and roasted, forming a goodsubstitute for bread. The lascars, however, disdained the fruit, andwere content with the seeds, which they bruised and cooked in coconutshells.
For the moment the grim spectre of starvation had been driven away.
"I've been thinking, Peter," remarked Olive during the rest-interval."Couldn't we make a canvas boat? We have plenty of sail-cloth, and wecould use timbers and planking out of the damaged boat."
"Might," admitted Mostyn. "It would take some doing, and after all itwould be a frail craft to carry seven people. We might try it."
He thought over the matter, and the more he did so the greater becamethe difficulties. Even in calm water a canvas boat, unless properlyconstructed of suitable materials, is a sorry craft. In thehigh-crested waves of the Indian Ocean she would not stand a dog'schance.
Yet Olive's suggestion was not without good result. Based upon theidea, Peter's thoughts returned to the damaged boat. Could that not bepatched with canvas and strengthened by woodwork so that it would beonce more seaworthy?
"By Jove, Olive!" he exclaimed. "I believe you've put me on the righttack. Come on down to the boat. We'll take the lascars with us andsee what's to be done. The sooner we get away from this place thebetter."
Olive did not agree with the latter remark, although she made noaudible comment. She was rather enjoying the novelty of the situation.Peter, on the other hand, had got over the glamour of desert islands.An exciting time upon a coral island in the North Pacific had cured himof that. It wasn't to be regretted from a retrospective point of view,but he did not hanker after a repetition.
By the aid of a tackle composed of the halliards and main-sheet blocksthe boat was canted over and finally lowered keel uppermost. The fullextent of the damage was then apparent. There was a jagged hole aboutnine inches in diameter through the garboard strake and the strake nextto it on the port side about five feet from the stem. On the starboardhand was a smaller hole close to the bilge keel, while there was aslight fracture on the same side eighteen inches from the stern-post.
"Rather a lash-up, what?" exclaimed Peter, as he noted the damage."Guess we'll be able to tackle that."
He first directed one of the lascars to trim the jagged holes with theaxe. The next step was to smooth down the planking adjacent to thegaps by means of canvas and wet sand. This done, the boat was liftedon to her side and the bottom boards removed. A corner of the axe wasthen employed to remove the brass screws from the stern-sheet benches,while the gratings were sacrificed for the sake of the brass brads thatsecured them.
This task occupied the whole morning.
After lunch, work was resumed. Strips of painted canvas, smeared witha sticky substance smelling of turpentine, were laid over the holes andtacked down with the brads. Over this canvas the dismemberedbottom-boards were firmly screwed. In less than an hour and a halfthis part of the work was completed.
The boat was then turned over on her keel, and the holes levelled flushwith the inside planking by means of clay found in the bed of thelittle stream. Over this additional canvas was tacked and pressed intoposition by strips of wood from the bottom boards, struts being fixedbetween them and the under side of the thwarts to counteract thepressure of the water.
Well before sunset the task of making the boat water-tight wascompleted, and Peter surveyed the result with intense satisfaction.
"To-morrow," he declared to Olive, who had been working as steadily asanyone, "to-morrow we'll test her. I don't think she ought to leakvery much."
"Aren't we going to explore the island, Peter?" asked the girlwistfully.
Mostyn capitulated.
"Yes, certainly, if you wish," he replied. "We can do that easily in afew hours. I don't suppose you'll find it particularly interesting.You see, the weather looks as if it will be fine for some days, and Inaturally want to take advantage of it. What do you say to a jauntbefore breakfast? We could take something to eat with us, of course.That will leave the forenoon clear for testing the boat."
This suggestion was acted upon, and soon after dawn on the followingday Peter and Olive set out on their tour of exploration.
It was a very enjoyable walk for both: to Mostyn because of thecompanionship of a jolly, unaffected girl; to Olive, because of thenovelty of it all. But there was nothing of an adventure about it.The island was devoid of anything of a romantic nature. There were nocaves, no traces of former inhabitants. It would have taken ahigh-flown imagination to weave a thrilling story round that isolatedchunk of earth rising out of the Indian Ocean.
They saw no signs of animal life, beyond a few turtles basking on thecoral sands, and an occasional lizard scooting for shelter under thetrees. There was not a bird to be seen or heard.
Nor did the vegetation give much variety, although Olive discovered agrove of orange trees on the northern extremity of the island. To herdisappointment the fruit was intensely bitter and quite unfit to eat.
They returned in time for bre
akfast, and were greeted warmly byPreston. Mrs. Shallop eyed them with marked disapproval. Although sherefrained from making any remark, there was a specially sour look uponher face. Perhaps she regretted having given her companion herdismissal, since by so doing she no longer had control over the girl'sfreedom.
Directly the meal was over, Peter took one of the lascars down to thebeach. It was a perfect day for testing the boat, as the water was assmooth as a millpond, and the tide being full there was littledifficulty in launching the repaired craft.
To Mostyn's delight and satisfaction the boat answered admirably. Thecanvas stood well, and beyond a few drops of water leaking through theseams owing to the action of the sun's rays, the boat was practicallywatertight.
Quickly the good news was conveyed to the others at the camp, andpreparations were begun for the voyage.
Mrs. Shallop had baked quite a quantity of jack-fruit, and had preparedabout thirty pounds of turtle-flesh, treating it with brine in order topreserve it for future use. The water-beaker was filled at the stream,and additional water carried in the shells of fully-matured coco-nuts.By two o'clock in the afternoon, just as the north-east breeze sprangup, the camp was struck and the gear stowed away on board the boat.
"Now, old man," said Peter to the Acting Chief; "no mistake this time.You set the course and I'll see that it's kept."
"Right-o!" agreed Preston.