as he was, to shout
and sing for joy as I supported him with my left arm to the shore.
However, in the middle of a laugh that a hyaena might have envied, I let
him accidentally slip, which extinguished him in a moment.

"After this happy deliverance, we immediately began our search for your
dead body, Ralph, and you have no idea how low our hearts sank as we set
off, day after day, to examine the valleys and mountain sides with the
utmost care. In about three weeks we completed the survey of the whole
island, and had at least the satisfaction of knowing that you had not
been killed. But it occurred to us that you might have been thrown into
the sea, so we examined the sands and the lagoon carefully, and
afterwards went all round the outer reef. One day, while we were upon
the reef, Peterkin espied a small dark object lying among the rocks,
which seemed to be quite different from the surrounding stones. We
hastened towards the spot, and found it to be a small keg. On knocking
out the head we discovered that it was gunpowder."

"It was I who sent you that, Jack," said I, with a smile.

"Fork out!" cried Peterkin, energetically, starting to his feet and
extending his open hand to Jack. "Down with the money, sir, else I'll
have you shut up for life in a debtor's prison the moment we return to
England!"

"I'll give you an I.O.U. in the meantime," returned Jack, laughing, "so
sit down and be quiet. The fact is, Ralph, when we discovered this keg
of powder, Peterkin immediately took me a bet of a thousand pounds that
you had something to do with it, and I took him a bet of ten thousand
that you had not.

"Peterkin was right then," said I, explaining how the thing had occurred.

"Well, we found it very useful," continued Jack; "although some of it had
got a little damp; and we furbished up the old pistol, with which
Peterkin is a crack shot now. But, to continue. We did not find any
other vestige of you on the reef, and, finally, gave up all hope of ever
seeing you again. After this the island became a dreary place to us, and
we began to long for a ship to heave in sight and take us off. But now
that you're back again, my dear fellow, it looks as bright and cheerful
as it used to do, and I love it as much as ever."

"And now," continued Jack, "I have a great desire to visit some of the
other islands of the South Seas. Here we have a first-rate schooner at
our disposal, so I don't see what should hinder us."