| Share page |
|
DRAWN BY A TURTLE 123 |
||
|
Breakfast over, I ordered Fritz to get ready to go to Tent House, where we had left the boat.
When we were leaving we could not find Jack or Ernest anywhere, and had to go without seeing them ; but on arriving at the bridge they burst upon us out of the undergrowth with loud shouts, begging to be allowed to go with us. This I could not permit for a moment, both on account of their mother's anxiety should they not return, and because she would be left without any sort of protection. To compensate them, however, for the disappointment so plainly shown on their faces, I told Fritz to give his watch to Ernest, and promised to give him another, as well as to bring one back for Jack from the ship.
I then sent the younger boys back with a message to their mother, which I had not had the courage to tell her myself—that we might be forced to pass the night on board, and not return till the evening of the next day.
We got into the boat, and gaining the current, quickly cleared Deliverance Bay, and reached the ship. When we had fastened our boat, our first care was to select fit materials to construct a raft, as Ernest had suggested.
I found a sufficient number of water-casks, and |
||