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140 THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON |
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to be launched. But how could we manage this I She was an elegant little vessel, perfect in every part. She had a small neat deck, and her masts and sails were no less exact and perfect than those of a little brig. We had pitched and caulked all the seams. But in spite of the delight we felt at seeing her thus, the great difficulty still remained. The charming little vessel stood fast enclosed within four walls, nor could I imagine how to get her out. At last I thought, as everything else seemed hopeless, we might blow up part of the ship with gunpowder, and so release her. It was a dangerous thing to try, but it seemed the only way. Accordingly, I made a train and laid a charge of gunpowder under the bulkhead, which blocked in the pinnace on one side. When it was arranged, I set fire to the train, which was long enough to give us time to escape. Then I hurried on board the raft, into which I had previously sent the boys, who had no suspicion of what I had done.
On our arrival at Tent House, I put the raft in order, that we might be able to return to the wreck, when the noise of the explosion should tell me that the scheme had succeeded. Suddenly it came with such violence that my wife and the boys were alarmed. |
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