The Castaways of the Flag (10 page)

           
The four men
went inside this cave, which was light enough for them to see all over it. It
was some twelve feet high, twenty feet wide, and fifty or sixty feet deep, and
contained several unequal recesses forming, as it were, so many rooms set round
a common hall. It had a carpet of fine sand, free from any trace of damp.
Entrance to it was through a mouth which could be easily closed.

           
"As I am
a boatswain," John Block declared, "we couldn't have found anything
better!"

           
"I
agree," Fritz replied. "But what worries me is that this beach is
absolute desert, and I am afraid the upper plateau may be so too."

           
"Let us
begin by taking possession of the cave, and we will attend to the rest
presently."

           
"Oh!"
said Frank. ''That is not much like our house at Rock Castle, and I don't even
see a stream of fresh water to take the place of our Jackal River!"

           
"Patience!
Patience!" the boatswain answered. "We shall find some spring all
right by and by among the rocks, or else a stream coming down from the top of
the cliff."

           
"Anyhow,"
Fritz declared, "we must not think of settling on this coast. If we do not
succeed in getting round the base of those bastions on foot we must take the
boat and reconnoitre beyond them. If it is a small island we have come ashore
upon, we will only stay long enough to set Captain Gould up again. A fortnight
will be enough, I imagine."

           
"Well,
we have the house, at all events," John Block remarked. "As for the
garden, who is to say that it isn't quite close by—on the other side of this
point, perhaps?"

           
They left the
cave and walked down across the beach, so as to get round the bastion.

           
From the cave
to the first rocks washed by the sea at the half-ebb was about two hundred
yards. On this side there were none of the heaps of sea-weeds found on the
left-hand side of the beach. This promontory was formed of heavy masses of
rocks which seemed to have been broken off from the top of the cliff. At the
cave it would have been impossible to cross it, but nearer the sea it was low
enough to get across.

           
The
boatswain's attention was soon caught by a sound of running water.

           
A hundred
feet from the cave, a stream murmured among the rocks, escaping in little
liquid threads.

           
The stones
were scattered here, which enabled them to reach the bed of a little stream fed
by a cascade that came leaping down to lose itself in the sea.

           
"There
it is! There it is! Good fresh water!" John Block exclaimed, after a
draught taken up in his hands.

           
"Fresh
and sweet!" Frank declared when he had moistened his lips with it.

           
"And why
shouldn't there be vegetation on the top of the cliff," John Block
enquired, "although that is only a stream?"

           
"A
stream now," Fritz said, "and a stream which may even dry up during
the very hot weather, but no doubt a torrent in the rainy season."

           
"Well,
if it will only flow for a few days longer," the boatswain remarked
philosophically, "we won't ask anything more of it."

           
Fritz and his
companions now had a cave in which to establish their quarters, and a stream
which would enable them to refill the boat's casks with fresh water. The chief
remaining question was whether they could provide themselves with food.

           
Things did
not look too promising. After crossing the little river the explorers had a fresh
and deep disappointment.

           
Beyond the
promontory a creek was cut into the coast, in width about half a mile, fringed
with a rim of sand, and enclosed behind by the cliff. At the far end rose a
perpendicular bluff, whose foot was washed by the sea.

           
This shore
presented the same arid appearance as the other. Here, too, the vegetable
growths were confined to patches of lichen and layers of sea-weeds thrown up by
the tide. Was it, then, on a mere islet, a rocky, lonely, uninhabitable island
in the Pacific Ocean, that the boat had come ashore? There seemed every reason
to fear so.

           
It appeared
useless to carry the exploration as far as the bluff which enclosed the creek.
They were about to go back to the boat when James stretched out his hand
towards the shore and said:

           
"What is
that I see down there on the sand? Look—those moving specks. They look like
rats."

           
From the
distance it did, indeed, look as if a number of rats were on march together
towards the sea.

           
'' Rats?''
said Frank enquiringly. "The rat is game, when he belongs to the ondatra
genus. Do you remember the hundreds we killed, Fritz, when we made that trip
after the boa-constrictor?"

           
"I
should think I do, Frank," Fritz answered ; "and I remember, too,
that we did not make much of a feast off their flesh, which reeked too much of
the marsh."

           
"Right!"
said the boatswain. "Properly cooked, one can eat those beggars. But
there's no occasion to argue about it. Those black specks over there aren't
rats."

           
"What do
you think they are, Block?" Fritz asked.

           
"Turtles."

           
"I hope
you are right."

           
The
boatswain's good eyesight might have been trusted. There actually was a crowd
of turtles crawling over the sand.

           
So while
Fritz and James remained on watch on the promontory, John Block and Frank slid
down the other side of the rocks, in order to cut off the band of chelones.

           
These
tortoises were small, measuring only twelve or fifteen inches, and long in the
tail. They belonged to a species whose principal food consists of insects.
There were fifty of them, on march, not towards the sea, but towards the mouth
of the stream, where a quantity of sticky
laminariae,
left by the ebb tide, were soaking.

           
On this side
the ground was studded with little swellings, like bubbles in the sand, the
meaning of which Frank recognised at once.

           
"There
are turtles' eggs under those!" he exclaimed.

           
"Well,
dig up the eggs, Mr. Frank," John Block replied. "I'll belay the
fowls! That's certainly ever so much better than my boiled pebbles, and if
little Miss Dolly isn't satisfied –"

           
"The
eggs will be warmly welcomed, Block, you may be sure," Frank declared.

           
"And the
turtles, too; they are excellent beasts—excellent for making soup, I
mean!"

           
A moment
later the boatswain and Frank had turned a score of them over on to their
backs. They were quite helpless in that position. Laden with half a dozen of
them, and twice as many eggs, they went back towards the boat.

           
Captain Gould
listened eagerly to John Block's story. Since he had been spared the shaking of
the boat his wound had been paining him less, the fever was beginning to go
down, and a week's rest would certainly put him on his feet again. Wounds in
the head, unless they are exceptionally serious, generally heal easily and
soon. The bullet had only grazed the surface of the skull, after tearing away
part of the cheek; but it had been within an ace of going through the temple. A
speedy improvement could now be looked for in the condition of the wounded man,
thanks to the rest and care which he could now obtain.

           
It was with
much satisfaction Captain Gould learned that turtles abounded in this bay,
which was named Turtle Bay in their honour. It meant the guarantee of a
wholesome and plentiful food, even for a considerable time. It might even be
possible to preserve some of it in salt and load the boat with it when the time
came to put to sea again.

           
For of course
they would have later to seek a more hospitable shore to the northward, if the
table-land at the top of the cliff proved to be as unfertile as that of Turtle
Bay, if it had no woods or grass lands, if, in short, the land on which the
passengers of the
Flag
had come ashore proved to be nothing more than a
mere heap of rocks.

           
"Well,
Dolly, and you, too, Jenny," said Frank when he got back, "are you
satisfied? How has the fishing gone while we have been away?"

           
"Pretty
well," Jenny answered, pointing to several fish lying on the poop.

           
"And
we've got something better than that to offer you," added Dolly, merrily.

           
"What's
that, then?" Fritz asked.

           
"Mussels,"
the girl answered. "There are heaps of them at the foot of the promontory.
Look at those boiling in the saucepan now!"

            "
Congratulations!''
said Frank. '' And you owe us congratulations, too, Jenny, for we have not come
back empty-handed. Here are some eggs –"

           
"Hens'
eggs?" Bob exclaimed eagerly.

           
"No;
turtles'," Frank replied.

           
"Turtles'
eggs?" Jenny repeated. "Did you find turtles?"

           
"A
regiment of them," the boatswain told her; "and there are lots more;
there are enough to last us all the time we shall be at anchor in the
bay."

           
"Before
we leave this bay," Captain Gould put in, " I think we ought to
reconnoitre along the coast, or climb to the top of the cliff."

           
"We'll
try it, captain," John Block answered. '' But don't let's be in a greater
hurry than we need be, since it is possible to exist here without touching what
we have left of the biscuit."

           
"That's
what I think, Block."

           
"What we
want, captain," Frank went on, "is that you should have a rest to
allow your wound to heal, and you to get back your strength. A week or two is
nothing to spend here. When you are on your feet again you will have a look at
things for yourself, and you will decide what is best to be done."

           
During the
morning they proceeded to unload the boat of all that it contained, the bag of
biscuit, the casks, the fuel, the utensils, and the clothing, and everything
was carried within the cave. The little stove was set up in the corner of the
bastion, and was first employed in making the turtle soup.

           
As for Captain
Gould, he was carried to the cave by Fritz and the boatswain; a comfortable bed
was waiting ready for him, made of dry sea-weed by Jenny and Dolly, and there
he was able to enjoy several hours' sleep.

           
IT would have
been difficult to find better quarters than those provided by this cave. The
various recesses hollowed out inside it made capital separate rooms.