180

READY FINDS A TURTLE.

"Then you proved yourself not only thoughtful but kind, Master William: now while you and Juno fetch the stones, I will stow away under the trees all the things which I have brought down in the boat."

"Shall we let the goats and sheep loose, Ready?"

66

Oh, yes-there is no fear of their straying; the herbage here is better than on the other side, and there is plenty of it. They will remain here, you may depend upon it."

Well, I will let Nanny go as soon as Juno has milked her; but that will be the last thing to do before we go back. Now, Juno, let us see how many stones we can carry at once."

In an hour the fire-place was made, Ready had done all that he could, the goats were milked and let loose, and then William and Juno set off through the wood on their journey back.

Ready went down to the beach. On his arrival there, he observed a small turtle creeping up softly he got between it and the water, and succeeded in turning it over. "That will do for to-morrow," said he, as he stepped into the boat; and, laying hold of the oars, he pulled out of the bay to return to the

cove.

READY arrived at the cove, and, having hauled up the boat, proceeded to the tents, where he found the whole party anxiously listening to William, who was detailing what had been done. The arrange

ments for the next day were made as soon as Ready joined them. They then separated for the night, but Ready and William remained until it was dark, to catch the fowls and tie their legs,

182

THE TENTS TAKEN DOWN.

ready for their being put in the boat the next morning. At daylight they all were summoned to dress themselves as soon as possible, as Ready wanted to take down the tent in which Mrs. Seagrave and the children had slept; for, with the exception of Tommy, who had been admitted into the women's tent, as they termed it, the others had slept upon some canvass, which they had spread out under the cocoa-nut trees. All was bustle and confusion; and as soon as Mrs. Seagrave was dressed, the tent was taken down, and, with all the bedding, put into the boat. As soon as they had breakfasted, the plates, knives and forks, and some other necessaries, were also put in; Ready laid the fowls on the top of all, and set off by himself for their new location.

After he was gone, the rest of the party prepared for their journey through the cocoa-nut grove. William led the way, with the three dogs close to his heels, Mr. Seagrave with the baby in his arms, Juno with little Caroline, and Mrs. Seagrave with Master Tommy holding her hand, and, as he said, taking care of his mamma. They bade adieu with regret to the spot which had first received them after their dangers; looked round once more at the cove, and the fragments

DEPART FOR THE NEW RESIDENCE.

183

of the wreck and cargo, strewed about in every direction; and then turned into the wood. Ready arrived at the point, and was again on shore in less than two hours after he had set off. As soon as the boat was safe in, he did not wait to land his cargo, but going up to the turtle which he had turned the day before, he killed it, and cleaned it on the beach. He then went to where they had built up the fire-place with stones, made a fire, filled the iron saucepan full of water, and set it on to boil; he then cut up a portion of the turtle, and put it into the pot, with some slices of salt pork, covered it up, and left it to boil; and having hung up the rest of the turtle in the shade, he went back to the beach to unload the boat. He released the poor fowls, who were very stiff from being so long tied by the legs, but by degrees they recovered themselves, and were very busy seeking for food.

Ready took up all the plates, and knives and forks, and small articles, examined the saucepan, made up the fire again, and then returned for the bedding and canvass of the tents, with the spars which he had towed astern. It was two or three

hours before he had carried everything up, for it

was a good distance, and some of the articles were

184

ARRIVAL OF MRS. SEAGRAVE.

heavy, and the old man was not sorry when he had finished his task, and could sit down to rest himself.

"It's almost time that they should have arrived," thought Ready; "they must have started nearly four hours ago; maybe not so soon -it's no easy matter to get a convoy of women and children under weigh." Ready remained a quarter of an hour more, watching the fire, and occasionally skimming the top of the pot, when the three dogs came bounding towards him.

"Well, they are not far off now," observed old Ready.

This was true in six or seven minutes afterwards the party made their appearance, very hot and very fatigued. It appeared that poor little Caroline had been tired out, and Juno had to carry her; then Mrs. Seagrave complained of fatigue, and they had to rest a quarter of an hour; then Master Tommy, who refused to remain with his mamma, and had been running backwards and forwards from one to the other, had declared that he was tired, and that some one must carry him, but there was no one to carry him, so he began to cry and roar until they stopped for another quarter of an hour till he was rested; but as soon as they