between the two he divided into four equal divisions and drewlines for one, two, and three o'clock. They were nearly two inchesapart, and having measured them exactly he added four more beyond, up toeight o'clock, as he thought the sun set about eight; and then sevenmore on the other side where the shadow would fall in the morning, as hesupposed the sun rose about five.
His hours, therefore, ranged from five till eight, and he added halflines to show the half-hours. When it was done the shadow of the gnomontouched the nine, so he shouted to Mark that it was nine o'clock. Heknew that his dial was not correct, because the hour lines ought to bedrawn so as to show the time every day of the year, and his would onlyshow it for a short while.
How often he had drawn a pencil-mark along the edge of the shadow on thewindow-frame in the south window of the parlour! In the early spring,while the bitter east wind raged, he used to sit in the old oak chair atthe south window, where every now and then the warm sunshine fell from abreak in the ranks of the marching clouds. Out of the wind the Marchsun was warm and pleasant, and while it lasted he dreamed over hisbooks, his Odyssey, his Faust, his Quixote, his Shakespeare's poems.
About eleven the sunshine generally came, and he drew a line on theframe to mark the hour. But in two days the verge of the shadow hadgone on, and at eleven left the pencil-mark behind. He marked it againand again, it went on as the sun, coming up higher and higher, describeda larger ring. So with his pencil-lines on the window-frame he measuredthe spring and graduated the coming of summer, till the eggs in thegoldfinch's nest in the apple-tree were hard set. From this he knewthat his sun-dial was not correct, for as the sun now each day describeda circle slightly less than before, the shadow too would change and theerror increase. Still the dial would divide the day for them, and theycould work and arrange their plans by it.
Had they had the best chronometer ever made it would have been of nofurther use. All time is artificial, and their time was correct tothem.
Mark shouted that breakfast was ready, so he went down, and they sat atthe table under the awning.
"Pan's been thieving," said Mark. "There was half a damper on the tablelast night, and it was gone this morning, and two potatoes which weleft, and I put the skin of the kangaroo on the fence, and that'sgone--"
"He couldn't eat the skin, could he?" said Bevis. "Pan, come here,sir."
"Look at him," said Mark, "he's stuffed so full he can hardly crawl--ifhe was hungry he would come quick."
"So he would. Pan, you old rascal! What have you done with thekangaroo skin, sir?"
Pan wagged his tail and looked from one to the other; the sound of theirvoices was stern, but he detected the goodwill in it, and that they werenot really angry.
"And the damper?"
"And the potatoes? And just as if you could eat leather and fur, sir!"
Pan put his fore-paws on Bevis's knee, and looked up as if he had donesomething very clever.
"Pooh! Get away," said Bevis, "you're a false old rascal. Mark, cuthim some of that piece of bacon presently."
"So I will--and I'll put the things higher up," said Mark. "I'll drivesome nails into the posts and make a shelf, then you'll be done, sir."
Pan, finding there was nothing more for him to eat, walked slowly backto the fence and let himself fall down.
"Too lazy to lie down properly," said Bevis.
After breakfast they put up the shelf, and placed the eatables on it outof Pan's reach, and then taking their towels started for their bath.
"It might have been a rat," said Mark; "that looks gnawn." He kickedthe jack's head which had been cut off, being shattered with the shot,and thrown down outside the gate. "But Pan's very full, else he wouldcome," for the spaniel did not follow as usual. So soon as they hadgone the robin returned to the table, took what he liked, ventured intothe hut for a minute, and then perched on the fence above Pan beforereturning to the wood.
Bevis and Mark swam and waded to Serendib again. There was a lightripple this morning from the south-east, and a gentle breeze whichcooled the day. They said they would hasten to construct the raft, soas to be able to shoot the water-fowl, but Bevis wanted first to try thematchlock with ball now he had fitted it with a sight. He fired threetimes at the teak-tree, to which Mark pinned a small piece of paper as abull's-eye, and at thirty yards he hit the tree very well, but not thepaper. The bullets were all below, the nearest about four inches fromthe bull's-eye. Still it was much better shooting.
He then loaded the gun with shot, and took it and a hatchet--the twowere a good load--intending to look in the wood for suitable timber, andkeep the gun by him for a possible shot at something. But just as hehad got ready, and Pan shaking himself together began to drag his idlebody after him, he thought Mark looked dull. It was Mark's turn tocook, and he had already got the fire alight under the teak.
"I won't go," he said; "I'll stop and help you. Things are stupid byyourself."
"Fishing is very stupid, by yourself," said Mark.
"Let's make a rule," said Bevis. "Everybody helps everybody instead ofgoing by themselves."
"So we will," said Mark, only too glad, and the new rule was agreed to,but as they could not both shoot at once, it was understood that in thisthe former contract was to stand, and each was to have the matchlock aday to himself. The pot and the saucepan, with the kangaroo and thejack were soon on, and they found that boiling had one great advantageover roasting, they could pile on sticks and go away for some time,instead of having to watch and turn the roast.
They found a good many small trees and poles such as they wanted not farfrom home, and among the rest three dead larches which had been snappedby a tornado. These dry trees were lighter and would float better thangreen timber. For the larger beams, or foundation of the raft, theychose aspen and poplar, and for the cross-joists firs, and bydinner-time they had collected nearly enough.
It was half-past one by the sun-dial when Mark began to prepare thetable; Bevis had gone to haul the catamaran planks up to the place wherethe raft was to be built. Under one of the planks, as he turned itover, there was a little lizard; the creature at first remained still asif dead, then not being touched ran off quickly, grasping the grasssideways with its claws as a monkey grasps a branch. With the end of aplank under each arm Bevis hauled these across to the other materials.
This time they had a nicer meal than any they had prepared: fish andgame; the kangaroo was white and juicy, almost as white as a chicken, asa young summer rabbit is if cooked soon after it is shot. It is theonly time indeed when a rabbit does not taste like a rabbit. If youtasted a young one fresh shot in summer, you would not care to eat themin winter, and discover that the frost improvement theory is aninvention of poulterers who cannot keep their stock unless it isbitterly cold. There was sufficient left for supper, and a bone or twofor Pan. The chopping they had done made them idle, and they agreed notto work again till the evening; they lounged about like Pan till thetime appointed to look for Charlie's signal.
When they went up on the cliff it was a quarter-past three by the dial,so they sat down in the shade of the oak where the brambles behind wouldprevent their being seen against the sky line. After awhile Mark crepton all fours to the sun-dial, and said it was half-past three, andsuddenly exclaimed that the time was going backwards.
The shadow of the gnomon slipped the wrong way; he looked up and saw alight cloud passing over the sun. Bevis had often seen the same thingin March, sitting by the southern window, when the shadow ran back fromhis pencil-line on the window-frame as the clouds began again to coverup the blue roof. Charlie was rather late to-day, but he gave thesignal according to promise: they saw him look a long while and thenmove away.
Presently, while Mark was preparing the tea, Bevis got the matchlock topractise again. They were always ready for tea, and it is a curiousfact that those who live much out of doors and work hard, likegold-diggers abroad, and our own reapers at home labouring among thegolden wheat, prefer it to anything whi
le actually engaged and in themidst of their toil; but not afterwards.
Bevis set up the rest in the gateway of the stockade, and took aim atthe piece of paper pinned on the teak-tree, which was between fifty andsixty yards distant. Twice he fired and missed the teak: then he letMark try, and Mark also missed; and a third time he fired himself. Noneof the four bullets struck either the tree or the branches; so, thoughthey could hit it at thirty yards, they could not rely on their gun atsixty.
Directly after tea they began to work again at the preparations for theraft, cutting some more poles and sawing up those they had already intothe proper lengths. Sawing is very hard work, causing a continualstrain upon the same muscles, with no change of position as possiblewhile chopping, and they were