FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   227  
228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238   239   240   241   242   243   244   245   246   247   248   249   250   251   252   >>   >|  
k in the manner he suggested, Francis, taking one of the irons, went to the bulkhead. One by one he tried the planks, from the floor boards to the beams above. "Well, captain, what is your report?" Matteo asked as he joined the rest. "My report is a most favourable one," Francis said. "By great good luck, the planks are nailed from the other side against the beams both above and below." "What difference does that make, Francisco?" "All the difference in the world. Had they been nailed on this side, there would have been nothing for it but to carry out our original plan--that is, to make holes through the planks with these irons, large enough for the saws to go through, and then to saw the wood out from hole to hole. As it is, I believe that with five minutes' work we could wrench a plank away. We have only to push the points of the irons up, between the beams and the planks, and use them as levers. The nails will be strong, indeed, if those irons, with two of us at each, would not wrench them out." The young men all leapt to their feet, pains and aches quite forgotten in the excitement of this unexpected news, and six of them seized hold of the irons. "Gently!" Francis said. "You must remember, there may be people going down there at present, getting up stores. Before we venture to disturb a plank, we must make the hole sufficiently large for us to spy through. This will be a very easy affair, in comparison with making a hole large enough for a saw to go through. Still, you will find it will take some time. However, we had better wait, as we agreed, till we have had our food." Chapter 16: The Recapture Of The Pluto. As soon as the hatch had been removed, and the bread and water lowered down, and they heard heavy weights again laid on the hatch, two of the party took one of the irons and began to bore a hole, while the others proceeded to eat their food. Several times, the workers had to be relieved. The iron penetrated comparatively easily for a short distance, but beyond that the difficulty greatly increased; and it was fully four hours before one of the workers, applying his eye to the hole, said that he could see a gleam of light through. In another quarter of an hour, the orifice was sufficiently enlarged to enable a view to be obtained of the central hold. It was comparatively light there, for the hatch was off, and they could see two men at work, opening a cask for some stores that were
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   203   204   205   206   207   208   209   210   211   212   213   214   215   216   217   218   219   220   221   222   223   224   225   226   227  
228   229   230   231   232   233   234   235   236   237   238   239   240   241   242   243   244   245   246   247   248   249   250   251   252   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

planks

 

Francis

 
stores
 

sufficiently

 

wrench

 

workers

 

comparatively

 

difference

 

report

 
nailed

lowered

 

removed

 
bulkhead
 

weights

 

Recapture

 
affair
 

However

 

comparison

 

proceeded

 

Chapter


agreed

 
making
 

quarter

 

manner

 

orifice

 
enlarged
 

opening

 
central
 

enable

 
obtained

applying
 

penetrated

 

taking

 
easily
 

relieved

 

Several

 
distance
 

suggested

 

difficulty

 
greatly

increased

 

disturb

 
favourable
 

minutes

 

levers

 

points

 
original
 
Francisco
 

joined

 
Gently