"
The others hesitated, and then without a word Mr. Stobell worked one of
the casks out of the boat and began to roll it up the beach. The tent
still lay where it had fallen, but the case of spades had disappeared.
They raised the tent again and carried in the stores, after which Mr.
Chalk, with the air of an old campaigner, made a small fire and prepared
breakfast.
[Illustration: "Mr. Chalk, with the air of an old campaigner, made a
small fire and prepared breakfast."]
Day by day they scanned the sea for any signs of a sail, but in vain.
Cocoa-nuts and a few birds shot by Mr. Stobell--who had been an expert at
pigeon-shooting in his youth--together with a species of fish which Mr.
Chalk pronounced to be edible a few hours after the others had partaken
of it, furnished them with a welcome change of diet. In the smooth water
inside the reef they pulled about in the boat, and, becoming bolder and
more expert in the management of it, sometimes ventured outside. Mr.
Stobell pronounced the life to be more monotonous than that on board
ship, and once, in a moment of severe depression, induced by five days'
heavy rain, spoke affectionately of Mrs.
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